The boys sat quietly on the deck, looking at the trees at the backyard swaying whenever the warm breeze passed by. It was calm and peaceful at first, but eventually they began to feel awkward when time passed by and neither could say anything. Well, it was better than they started fighting again, but Minsun was taking too long for just ‘some drinks and snacks’. Taecyeon thought he should check on her and might as well help her. He suddenly got up but before he headed inside, he paused and turned around.

“I’m going to check on Minsun,” he told Nichkhun out of courtesy. Even though they weren’t on good terms with each other, Taecyeon just didn’t want to be rude. He quickly got inside and had a feeling that Khun wanted to come along, but he guessed he was just tired and decided to just enjoy the fresh air outside.

Anyway, Taecyeon was glad that for once Nichkhun decided not to join him whatever he decided to do with Minsun. The only reason that Taecyeon was able to be so patient the whole day, aside from Minsun being there between them, was because he couldn’t really blame Khun for his actions, even after all these years, Taecyeon still think that whatever happened between them from the past was his fault after all.

Taecyeon followed the narrow corridor and tried to look for the kitchen based on his instinct. It wasn’t long before he saw Minsun with a full tray in her hands, standing still behind a wall at the arch that led to the living area. It seemed like she was intently listening to the conversations between her mother and her grandmother. Taecyeon paused at his spot, which was right before turning into the hallway that led him to where Minsun was. He debated with himself whether he should continue or not. While he was contemplating the decision, he could hear the conversation at the living room getting heated. One of them raised their voice, and he could quickly recognize that it was Minsun’s mother, Jihee.

“Minsun is MY daughter, in case you forgot!”

“What does ‘daughter’ means to you? Explain it to me.” Halmeoni retorted calmly, but her voice still sounded strict.

“Don’t play games with me! Are you trying to say that I can’t take care of my daughter well? Besides she’s all grown up, she doesn’t need people looking after her days and nights!”

Halmeoni sighed. “That’s why I don’t want to hand her over to you. Because you don’t understand. You only think of-”

“Eomoni. She’s my daughter and you know I’ll have her back. If you keep being stubborn, I will do whatever it takes to get her back, even through legal means!”

CRASH!

Taecyeon who was quietly listening regained his focus and realized that he was eavesdropping on things he wasn’t supposed to. Then, he looked at Minsun and saw all the ceramic pot and cups in scattered, small pieces all over her feet. He quickly ran towards her to help, but stop mid way when Jihee suddenly appeared at the arch door. She angrily stared at the two of them, and then at Minsun again. Minsun returned her stare with a confused, shocked look. Her eyes widened in fear, her lips trembled as if she was freezing.

“Have you been listening?” Came Jihee’s crisp voice, breaking the silence.

Minsun just continued looking at her just like before. She couldn’t answer Jihee’s question. She still couldn’t even sunk in the reality that her mother would say such thing to her own mother. Minsun couldn’t believe what was happening, she couldn’t even think.

Jihee sighed and palmed her forehead. “Minsun,” her voice softened compared to when she was arguing with halmeoni but she still sounded a little angry. “You know that I’m doing all these for your future, don’t you?”

Minsun still couldn’t say anything. Taecyeon saw how her jaw was hanging and trembled, a clear sign of Minsun wanting to retort back to her other, but words couldn’t found their way out of , it was as if she was choking on them instead.

And Minsun didn’t like how that felt.

“Minsun, are you okay?” 

Teacyeon looked over his shoulder when Khun suddenly entered the scene. Khun made his way around Taecyeon and stood close to Minsun. He took her hand and could instantly felt her fingers titghtened in his grip, but her wide, shocked eyes were still glued on Jihee.

Jihee sighed and palmed her face. “Khun, can you please do something about her? Tell her that this is just-”

“I got it Mrs. Jung.” Nichkhun quickly cut off Jihee’s speech, because he knew whatever she says would only hurt Minsun further. He shook a bit the hand that he was holding, as if telling Minsun to pull herself together.

“Minsun,” he softly whispered to her, “Come on, we shouldn’t be here,”

Minsun looked away. Her chest moved up and down as she took several deep breathes.

“Come on,” Khun whispered again. Slowly, he led her away from the scene, brushing past Taecyeon.

“Come on Taec.” He said quietly.

Taecyeon bowed to halmeoni and Jihee before he followed Khun outside. When he reached the main gate, he saw that Khun was already leaning on his car, waiting for him, and Minsun was sitting at the backseat, staring far outside the window, and he could guess her expression didn’t look good. Khun stood up as soon as he saw Taecyeon.

“What’s up?” Taecyeon asked, still confused with everything that happened just now. 

“We need to get her away from here for a while. Do you know any good place to get her calmed down?”

“Actually,” Taecyeon took a brief glance at Minsun before he looked at Nichkhun again, “I do.”

“Great, let’s go there,”




They stopped on a quiet hill at the outskirt of Seoul. It was an old temple that Taecyeon and his team usually stopped by when they were having their drills and jogged up the hill. The place was serene and the air fresh, but what he liked most about the place was the view of of the city. It always motivated him whenever he saw the vast view of the city, it gave him the feeling that the world was so much larger than he ever saw it and there were so many things yet to be achieved, and that kept him working harder.

However, it was the first time for him to be there when it was dark. The city view was ten times more amazing.

As soon as the car stopped, Minsun opened the door and mindlessly walked towards the edge of the hill so that she could be closer to the view. Her eyes stared listlessly at the twinkling, colourful lights coming from the city. Even though she couldn’t hear the noise of the bustling city, but she could tell that the city was always alive from the way the lights kept moving.

Nichkhun and Taecyeon got out of the car too, but they just stood there, quietly watching Minsun from her back. Probably the two had the same thing running through their mind; how to cheer her up. Based on that small portion of conversation that Taecyeon heard, he knew well that Minsun’s family wasn’t exactly in its best  condition, and that she was hurting so much.

Taecyeon walked around the car, attempting to get close to Minsun, but Khun who was waiting at the other side of the car quickly stretched out his arm in front of Taecyeon, and gave him a forbidding look.

“Let me talk to her.” Khun said, looking serious. “I know what’s going on, so let me,”

As much as Taecyeon hated hearing that from Khun’s mouth, Taecyeon gave up this time knowing that Khun was right. He knew Minsun better, he even knew her family, and most importantly, he knew that Khun would never hurt Minsun. Taecyeon leaned on the door, crossed arm, his eyes not leaving from Minsun as Khun made his way carefully towards her from her behind. He could hear her sighing when he got close.

“Minsun,” he softly called her. Minsun didn’t turn to look at him. She couldn’t even describe her feelings at the time. She felt anger, sadness, regret, disappointment, just about everything negative compressed into her head, it was too much sometimes she felt like she couldn’t even breathe. Minsun sighed again and palmed her face, and then carelessly putting her wildly blown locks behind her ear, unintentionally messing up her hair.

“Minsun, are you okay?” Khun slightly tidied up her hair by giving them one long brush with his fingers, but Minsun seemed like she was too occupied with her thoughts to even realize what he was doing. She was usually sensitive wih such gestures.

“I can’t believe she said that.” Minsun shook her head.

“You can talk about it with her again. She might change her mind.”

“I don’t know. She’s changed. It seems like she’s going to really do that,” Her eyebrows scrunched up, she looked really worried. Nichkhun could tell there were thousands of things running through her mind right then. He was about to reply her, but she continued first.

“She’s going to do exactly what she did before, maybe worse. She’s going to take everything away from me. She’s taking away halmeoni, my friends, she’s taking away my life too,” Minsun murmured, as if she was speaking continuosly while her mind was elsewhere. To Khun, it was painful to see her like that. She was always matured, composed, way more than kids her age. When he saw her losing her composure just like just now, it was heartbreaking.

“But I’ll always be here,”

“What if she takes you away from me too? You always speak for me, and she always listens to you. But what if she doesn’t anymore?”

“Nonsense. She likes me. She’ll never let you be away from me.” Khun smiled gently, assuring her.

Minsun’s expression didn’t look any better even a bit. She still looked troubled. The tears that was b by her eyes was forced not to fall. She hated herself for being so weak. She knew this day would come sooner or later, but yet she still couldn’t prepare herself for it.

When a tear fell down her cheek, she quickly brushed it away, roughly, like she was mad at herself.

“Minsun, stop thinking. Just let out your feelings, even if it’s only this once. Please?” He persuaded her gently.

Minsun was surprised of herself when such simple words broke the thick walls surrounding her heart. Tears started to pour out heavily from her eyes. She tried to look away, to hide her face from him, but Khun quickly pulled her thin frame into his warm embrace. She didn’t return his hug, but she finally let go of herself and leaned onto someone else as she sobbed hard into his shoulder.




Taecyeon who had been watching from afar decided that he should stop watching. He turned around and waited for a while. It just hurt him too much, watching her cry, and especially in the arms of another guy. 

Taecyeon walked away, going downhills. He quietly enjoyed the serenity and the fresh air for a short while before he started jumping up and down a couple of times, warming himself up. He decided to jog his way home. 






Miryung High
11.00 a.m.

As usual, during recess, Taecyeon would sit with Junsu as they ate the food they brought themselves. There were times when he was feeling diligent and got up early to prepare for his lunch box, but apparently, today was when he wasn’t feeling it. On the way to school, he just grabbed a red bean bun and a box of fresh milk from the canteen.

“How about last Friday’s homework?” Junsu asked as he adjusted the frame of his glasses before he feed himself a full spoon of rice.

“Oh, yeah. I’ve done that too. But there is one question that I couldn’t figure out. When does the teacher want that?”

“Tomorrow,”

“I want to discuss about it with you after this.” Taecyeon took another bite from the bun. It was usual for them to talk about their homeworks or exam questions during recess.

“Sure.”

“Hey, Taecyeon.”

Taecyeon looked up at a classmate who suddenly approached him. For some reason, Nichkhun too suddenly paid his attention on Taecyeon.

“I think someone is looking for you,” the boy winked and then pointed with his thumb to the door over his shoulder.

Taecyeon turned around and saw a familiar face, looking slightly anxious, quietly scanning over the classroom. When Taecyeon stood up, his generous height was too obvious for her to notice because her eyes caught him right away.

Taecyeon made his way to the door, and stood in front of her, in a way that he blocked her from being seen by his classmates, given his size. He did it almost naturally, because they both never really show themselves together in public, except for their occasional pictures together uploaded on the gossip blog by whoever that Channuneo was, but Taecyeon always kept in his mind anyway that things should go slowly with Minsun.

Minsun seemed comfortable when he did that though.

“What is it?” Taecyeon asked with a light smile on his lips.

Since he was standing really closely with her, Minsun had to tilt her head back to see his face.

“I brought you lunch.” She said softly, almost a bit too shyly, as if it was her first time talking to him. She held the lunch box towards him, gently nudging his abs with the cloth-wrapped box.

Taecyeon took it with one hand, but quickly caught Minsun’s hand with his other hand when she was about to turn to leave. Minsun couldn’t bear standing there any longer when she started to hear people whispering about them and whistled teasingly. Taecyeon seemed to take the situation well. He was calm and kept smiling throughout.

“Let’s eat it together.” He said gently.




Taecyeon brought her somewhere quieter, and with less people. It was the track field. At one end of the long bleachers, there was a really big, shady tree. The students loved to hang out there, but usually on a hot day like that most students preferred to be in the class.

They both sat under the tree. Minsun bent her legs and hugged her knees. Like a turtle, she slightly hid the lower part of her face behind her knees while Taecyeon unwrapped the lunch box. 

“Wah,” he said when he saw the content of the lunchbox. There were sweet and sour chicken, fancy looking hot dog, kimbap, all sorts of side dishes nicely arranged in the small box and a portion of delicious looking mixed rice.

“Did you do all this?” Taecyeon seemed greatly delighted when he saw the lunch. 

Minsun gently nodded.

“I’ll eat first,” He said, and then picked up a piece of chicken with a pair of chopsticks that Minsun had prepared along the lunchbox.

Minsun quietly watched him. She grabbed on her skirt when her palm started to wet with sweat from her nervousness.

“I’m sorry,” she suddenly said, softly. Her words were a bit muffled since she was hiding her face behind her knees, but Taecyeon heard her well since the surrounding was quiet except for the sound of the blowing wind passing by.

“Hm?” Taecyeon raised an eyebrow.

“About yesterday night,”

“Oh, that,” Taecyeon smiled gently. He put down the chopstick, next to the lunchbox. He leaned back, supporting his body with his hands and looking at the empty track field. He looked very relaxed doing so.

“How are you feeling right now?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” Minsun bent her neck, further tucking her face behind her knees. Her whole face was hidden now. It was depressing enough that her mother acted that way, but right now she was so embarrassed for crying so hard last night, in Nichkhun’s arms while Taecyeon was watching. She felt so bad for Taecyeon and angry at herself for letting such thing happened.

Taecyeon guessed she didn’t know that people weren’t used to seeing her looking vulnerable. She made him felt like pulling her towards him and wrap her with his strong arms. Taecyeon held back instead, but his hand was hovering above her head, and he decided with just gently patting her head.

She slowly looked up again when he did that.

“Have you talked to your mother again?”

“We will, tonight. Khun oppa will be there too,”

Realizing what she had just said, Minsun quickly looked away. She wanted to apologize again, but she was embarrassesd all over again. After putting so much effrot to confront Taecyeon, she just had to mention Khun’s name in front of him.

For some reason, Taecyeon found Minsn easy to be read. She might not be as expressive as others, but she couldn’t lie, or hide what she felt inside. He knew well why she was acting that way. In fact, he knew the moment she said ‘I brought you lunch’.

“I… I…” she stuttered.

“Minsun, it’s okay. That’s not important now. You can’t help it. Me neither,”

Minsun stared at the ground, still feeling too shy to look at him in the eyes.

“But,” Taecyeon continued. When he spoke gently, his voice sounded deeper and soothing. “Whatever happens in the future, don’t keep it to yourself, okay? Talk to Gohee, or Munhwa, or even Khun. And of course, you can always talk to me too,”

Minusn nodded slowly.

“Come on, let’s eat.”

“But I made it for you,”

“I can’t eat alone. Or do you want me to feed you?” Taecyeon asked, smirking.

Minsun didn’t answer to that, but she slowly reached for the chopstick and picked a random piece of hot dog. She chewed the small piece slowly because she wanted Teacyeon to have most of the food. Taecyeon realized that, and he couldn’t help but to fall for her deeper.




“Ohohoho,” Chansung looked at the pictures he managed to snap with his newly bought digital camera. Junho who was sitting beside him tapped his shoulder so that he would look at him, and offered Chansung a high five.

More materials to be uploaded on Gossip Boy blog tonight.






They had a match that day, and Miryung High was the host for the match. The gym was flled with so many students, in fact, a lot of them couldn’t find any seat anymore that they had to stand up or sat on the floor because the principal was giving full support for the school’s team and asked evrybody to wacth the game and give them support. The students gladly did that. After all, the basketball team was the pride of their school, plus, they get to skip class, even just for a while.

Minsun was on the way to the gym with Munhwa and Gohee when they suddenly paused their steps, because there was Nichkhun waiting in the hallway before the last turn towards the gym. He was leaning by the wall, his hands in his pocket and his blazer, inspite being summer, hanging by one arm. He seemed like he was waiting for the girls, or at least one of them because he straightened up when he saw them.

“Minsun,” he said gently.

Minsun understood him. She told Munhwa and Gohee to go ahead first. Khun must had wanted to talk to her about Taecyeon. She didn’t expect it to be this soon though. They had just met last night at her home, the big, expensive one where her parents resided for the moment, her real home supposedly, to discuss about her mother wanting Minsun to move in back. She thanked him for being there, he always was though, he knew Minsun needed him for situations like that because apparently, Jihee trusted him more than her own daughter.

At least Khun managed to persuade her mother that Minsun wasn’t ready yet, and to let her live with halmeoni for the time being, and only returned home for the weekends, or on special occasions. And Minsun greatly thanked him for that.

“Oppa,” Minsun took a step closer to him. She had been closer to Khun these days, and last night reminded her how close they were when they were younger. She used to feel bothered at his presence since he was so popular, but now it didn’t matter. She felt safe and happy whenever she saw him because she knew Khun will always be there for her.

Her lips curved up into a light smile, which he returned immediately.

“I want to talk about Taecyeon.”

Sh eknew. If he didn’t have to rush home last night because of an important dinner with his parents’ friends, he would have talked about it sooner. 

“I knew it,” Minsun said.

“Are you really serious about him?”

Minsun nodded. “Yes, I am.”

His expression faltered. And he didn’t even attempt on hiding his disappointment.

“I’m trying my best to make our relationship works. I won’t ask you to help me for this, but I really hope you’ll understand my decision.” Minsun added.

He chuckled biterly. “I know,”

Minsun looked at the ground. Khun never told her, so she was always doubting if he really likes her. She kept saying to herself that he was just being a great big brother to her, but sometimes, his actions proved otherwise. He could be a little posessive. She wished he wouldn’t, because she didn’t want to hurt him.

“Do you really trust him? What if he hurt you?” Khun asked, but this time, he was the one who looked vulnerable. He couldn’t look into her eyes, but stared at the floor instead.

“Oppa,” she said, her tone as if begging him to stop thinking that way. “Everything will be fine. Even if I’m hurt, I won’t cry, at least not in front of you,”

Khun heaved a heavy sigh, as if letting go of something he had kept for so long. “I just want to hear that from your own mouth, so I could tell you, that I’ll never interfere between you both anymore.”

Minsun looked up, into his eyes, trying to find the truth. Nichkhun quickly put up a smile, not wanting to make the situation anymore awkward.

He put his palm on top of her head, this time treating her like a real little sister. “Also, whatever happen in the future, just don’t think too much about it, okay? Be strong, my little Minsun,” he teased, which made Minsun smiled again.

“Thank you, oppa,” she said.

“Also, tell him I say good luck,” Khun added.




When Minsun entered the gym, she saw that Gohee was already with Jaebum, just like usual, tying her handkerchief on Jaebum’s wrist before the match started. Minsun on the other hand watched the couple, looking uneasy. Not because she was jealous or anything, but because she was worried that she didn’t think of anything to do for Taecyeon despite staying up late thinking about it. 

She was still waiting by the bench for the team players, but Taecyeon hadn’t appeared yet. He seemed a bit late, which made her felt more anxious.

When he appeared from the back door, the crowd, particularly the girls, went into a screaming frenzy. Minsun became slightly more nervous than before. 

“Minsun,” Taecyeon’s eyes caught her soon after he entered the hall. He slightly jogged towards her because she seemed awkward standing there alone since Gohee was with Jaebum and Munhwa was still preparing in the locker room.

Minsun smiled gently. “Are you ready?”

Taecyeon nodded. He smiled. “Yup.”

Despite the noise of the screaming fangirls and boys n the background, the silence between them still felt awkward.

“Um…”

“Yeah?” Taecyeon quickly replied.

“On the way here, I saw Khun oppa. He wanted me to tell you something.” Minsun looked a bit careful. Taecyeon didn’t seem to be annoyed or displeased at the mention of Khun’s name though.

“What is it?” He asked naturally. 

“He said good luck.” 

Taecyeon seemed to be in a deep thought for a while. Minsun did felt some suspense, waiting for his reaction. She was worried if she spoiled his mood, especially before a match. It wasn’t long though, before a smile appeared on his beautiful, heart-shaped lips again. Taecyeon raised his arm, and then rested it gently on top of her head, just like what Khun did before. He realised the crowd went wilder when he did that, but he wasn’t sure if they were cheering for him and Minsun or something else, he couldn’t care less either.

“Thanks,” he said. Minsun slowly loosened up a bit, even though she wasn’t sure if he thanked her or Khun. And now that she thought about it again, she wasn’t sure whether Khun was wishing him good luck on his game today or on him dating her. However, she found him patting her head like that comforting. She felt less awkward, and less shy about being with him. Again, the hall filled with scream when they saw the TaecSun action. Jaebum and Gohee used to get that too, but these days they were all already used to them, so their attention were now averted to TaecSun, which made Gohee felt pleased that she was no longer the main topic of the school. It was just like how Chansung and Junho labeled Taecyeon and Minsun the Brangelina of Miryung High.

“If you win, I’ll make you another lunch.” Minsun finally smiled casually.

“Promise?”

Minsun nodded. She offered her pinky, and without hesitating, Taecyeon linked his pinky with hers and then swiftly brushed his thumb against hers. 

“Good luck,” she said again.

Taecyeon nodded and then averted his attention to Coach Cho and s. Taecyeon clapped his hands hard.

“Gather around, guys!”




“She’s pretty good at this,” Wooyoung mumbled as he watched the interaction between Minsun and Taecyeon.

Munhwa gently slapped his arm. “Stop being nosy. Come on, let’s gather around.”