"So have you asked Seungwan out on a date again?", Mrs.Do asked her son loudly, as she cut vegetables for pasta on the kitchen counter that evening.

"No...", Kyungsoo replied uncertainly. He was sitting just outside the kitchen, working on his laptop. They had to report to Mrs. Park tomorrow on the progress of their presentation, which was zero as of now. He was emailing Soojung and Seungwan some material to read on.

"Why? I thought the date went great?", His mother asked in a concerned tone.

"Well, it did....", He said lazily.

Come to think of it, I do owe her a lunch, he thought. He had been less than civil on their date, and it was only fair if he made up to her by treating her. Simply saying sorry wasn't going to cut the deal.

"I'll ask her again maybe", He replied, still concentrated on his work.

"Hyung, you know this girl?", Jongin asked Kyungsoo in a surprised tone as he came into the dining room, his eyes on the elder’s laptop.

"Who?", Kyungsoo looked up to see Jongin pointing at Soojung's email profile on his laptop screen. "Oh, Soojung you mean? Yeah she's in my presentation group", he replied flatly, concentrated on his cell, texting Seungwan, whose number he’d shortly procured. He failed to see the gleam in Jongin’s eyes that followed his answer.

"Mom, has the soup boiled yet?", Kyungsoo averted his attention from the laptop. He was in charge of cooking traditional today, while his mother made some much needed Italian since she’d been pretty busy the past week, hardly able to sleep after coming back from the office let alone cook for them. Ever since Kyungsoo’s father had died, and his mother had gotten busy with the office affairs, he’d taken it upon himself to help her as much as he could, whether it was household work or office work. He’d always had interest in cooking, and his skills had only enhanced over the years with practice.

"It’s almost done", Kyungsoo announced, after tasting it.

"Hyung, can you help me with this question first?", Jongin called out from the dining room, bent on his Math work.

"I'll come in a minute", Kyungsoo informed his mother, wiping his wet hands as he went out to help his brother.

_

Taeyeon sighed as she sat at her table in the library that afternoon. What Baekhyun had said earlier, was still ringing in her ears. And it was getting to her. Her gaze diverted to a small poster, displayed near the Romance Books section and she felt a peculiar sensation on reading what was written on it: Why do we always fall so hard, for the one who will never pick us up?

She sighed again. That's who he was I guess. Was it just the painful memory of him being there and then not or was it her own mental being, she didn't know but it just took her back to that day. That fateful day when she had finally said yes, a decision she would come to regret later.

"Hello sunbae!", Baekhyun greeted mischievously from the other side of the rack that Taeyeon was picking a book from.

Taeyeon sighed "You again", she said blocking out his face from her sight as she put the book back. "What do you want?", she stepped aside.

The guy had been roaming around her for the past three days since they’d met. At first, she’d just ignored him, but lately it was getting bothersome. He always appeared out-of-nowhere and startled her.

"Can't you please give me tutoring lessons?", The short guy asked in a way that Taeyeon thought could be considered cute. Not that it was very cute.

"Why do you need them? And why from me?", Taeyeon pushed her glasses up her nose. She knew he was a junior and she did often give out tutoring lessons, but the guy didn’t really seem like the studious kind and his insistence was making her suspicious.

"Because you're the best, sunbae!", He stated. "You're the one who got the 1^st prize at the creative writing competition last year right? And you placed second in your class this year"

"Why don't you go and ask the one who placed first?"

"Well....", Baekhyun rubbed the back of his neck. "He's busy with things I guess, and he's scary", He said the last sentence in a whisper, like it was a forbidden secret.

Taeyeon smiled at his comment. "Fine", She made a show of groaning. She could only keep on rejecting someone for so long. Maybe she was being too judgmental, the guy could really be serious about needing lessons for all she knew.

"Really? Thanks a lot!", Seeing the delight on his face, a strange sensation grew in the pit of Taeyeon’s stomach. She looked away.

"So when do we start?"

"When are your first assessment exams?", Taeyeon asked.

"In a week....", he answered sheepishly.

Taeyeon sighed, understanding the cause of his poor grades. "Well I guess then, we'll have to start tomorrow?"

"That's great! So where and when should we meet?", Baekhyun asked cheerily, like he had achieved something.

"Here at the library of course. After classes", Taeyeon said in a flat tone.

"Here?", Baekhyun's expression changed from excited to disappointed.

"Yeah, be here at 3:00 sharp. I don't like late-comers", Taeyeon warned as she grabbed her bag from the table and started to leave.

"Okay", Baekhyun replied. "Bye!”

_

From: 082 55 3456 xxxx

Hi! Do Kyungsoo here. Please save this number.

Seungwan smiled and saved it before replying with a smiley.

"Who was that?", Soojung asked, poking her nose into her space.

"No one. Just....Yah!", Soojung had snatched the phone from her hands before she even had the chance to complete her sentence. The girl’s mouth made an 'O' when she saw the message.

"You even gave him your number! That was fast!"

"Her number to who?", Taeyeon, who’d arrived from her at the libarary  several minutes ago, looked up from her mobile at Soojung's remark.

"Give it back!", Seungwan took her phone back from Soojung, blushing.

"To Kyungsoo!", The girl replied to Taeyeon who raised her eyebrows.

"So I guess you people really have started to....", Taeyeon started with a straight face but trailed off, and she and Soojung broke into laughter. Seungwan turned a deeper shade of crimson at Taeyeon's comment. It was true she wasn't really sure where they stood right now, but she was sure of one thing: she didn't want to stay away from him anymore. She had stayed away from him for the past 7 years thinking how the feelings she had were just infatuation, and hoping that they would go away, but where had that gotten her? And especially after what he’d said that day, it had made her rethink her approaches.

"What? It’s not like that you guys! We simply exchanged numbers so that we can contact each other more easily regarding the presentation", Seungwan tried to explain to her friends.

"Oh really? He didn't ask me for my number though? I am in the presentation group too", Soojung scoffed and Seungwan sighed, not having an answer.

"He'll ask you for it soon, you'll see", Seungwan tried to pacify her friends.

"Yeah, I don't think I'll give it to him though", Soojung said playfully. "He's not my type you see"

Seungwan sent her a glare. But her attention got reverted back to her mobile as she received another text.

From: Kyungsoo Sunbaenim

I e-mailed you and Soojung some material to read on regarding our presentation, please do go through it. Also try and think up some ideas as we have to report to Ma'am Park tomorrow.

"Hey, check your email, Kyungsoo sunbae sent us some material regarding the presentation", Seungwan told Soojung who just mumbled in response.

Then she replied to his message.

To: Kyungsoo Sun-baenim

Sure 🙂

She received another text soon afterwards.

From: Kyungsoo Sunbaenim

Seung-wan shii?

.

 Yes?

.

The next text came after a few more minutes.

From: Kyungsoo Sunbaenim

Nothing 🙂 See you tomorrow.

.

See you, she replied back, smiling, thankful for how the day had turned out.

_

Baekhyun rolled his bed and looked up at the ceiling.

He hadn't been able to get the image of Taeyeon out of his mind all day, how her expression had become solemn when he had blurted out why he’d called her by her name. It had brought back memories, that he hadn't thought of in a long time.

He felt nostalgic, as he thought about their days back in High School, the good times he spent with her. All the smiles and laughs and even the tears that they shared. He felt a strange sense of longing, thinking about how she used to smile and get shy whenever he about anything. The way she used to blush every time he touched her, even if it was by mistake. It wasn't that he didn't notice all the signs. He did. He just chose to play blind, dreading what was inevitable.

As he contemplated on the questions in his mind, Baekhyun sighed. I was such an idiot. It wasn't like he had developed no feelings for her, he had. She was a friend, someone he wanted to protect but he never thought of it as love. Maybe because he was too afraid of losing his image. Being the school playboy who every girl dreamed of, he couldn't fall for a shy nerdy girl. He didn’t want to appear soft. Whether it was out of selfishness or cowardice, he had rid his mind of whatever he thought he was developing for her.

Stop thinking about it Baekhyun, it's all in the past, said a voice inside him. She has moved on and so, have you.

You miss her, don't you? Asked another voice inside him.

"No, I don't", he whispered to himself an unconvincing tone, and turned, closing his eyes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Sorry for being later than usual at updating, I've been really busy with tests. Med school :(

Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. It gave more insight into Baekhyun and Taeyeon's past. What do you think happened between them?

Thankyou for subscribing and reading. Take care!