"Hi there, beautiful."

It all started with those words he said to me in the university cafeteria. It was during one of the early days of the start of Junior year.

I was startled. More shocked, actually. Even the rest of our circle of friends who were all present were dumbfounded too. Yes, it was right in the presence of Yoong too.

From then on, Taeyeon has been constantly becoming sweeter and sweeter to me as the days went on. He calls me pretty or cute whenever he sees me around. He greets me every morning and bids goodbye every after school. He constantly engages in a conversation from time to time too.

Yet, I still don't have a freaking clue why he started on this 'scheme' of his. He has a girlfriend, you know. Don't you think it's a bit inappropriate?

Yes. He has a girlfriend and it was none other than my former friend back in junior high school, Sunny Lee, the Monkey Face. I saw them the other day when I was hanging out with Tiffany and the others in a Sushi Bar. They even call each other Huggy Bunny and Huggy Wubsie. Uggh. I wanna puke.

Monkey Face was my rival back in the days. She made my life miserable for years just because of a petty reason of hers. All she did to me was so uncalled for. She's bad news, I tell you. That is why I think Taeyeon is making a gigantic mistake in dating that woman.

Oh. Wait. Here he comes.

"Hi, pretty Jessica." Taeyeon said as he found me before I enter my college building.

"Err- hi." I greeted back.

"For you." He handed me an origami of a daisy made out of white and yellow stationery papers. "I've been practicing. Hope you'll like it."

"Th-thanks."

"See you around." he smiled lastly then skipped towards his college building. It was just right beside mine.

Origami this time? Really?

With this gesture, though, it makes me wonder if he really is serious on Monkey Face. Maybe he really isn't?

"Taeyeon seems to be on the run." Hyoyeon said as she popped beside me.

"What do you think this is, Hyo?" I stared at the origami.

"A paper folded nicely to resemble a daisy?"

I looked at her boringly. "I am not asking for any of your sarcastic remarks, Hyoyeon."

"Oh. You meant the way he acts nowadays? I gotta be honest with you. I haven't had a single conversation with him ever since the start of the school year so I cannot help you with that."

"I see..."

We started to walk together to head inside. "Do you know what's going on with Yoong?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"He's always been ill-tempered lately."

"Oh."

Honestly, I noticed it too. Yoong has been very very hotheaded recently. I don't even have a clue why. Though, oddly, he's not showing it to me. He's venting it out to something else. I found him breaking the face of his sparring partner in his boxing class yesterday. It was truly horrifying, I swear.

"So?" Hyoyeon said, snapping me out from my thoughts. "What are you planning to do about it then?"

"About what?"

"About his temper? It's obvious you're not affected by it but you have to do something. We're suffering here, you know."

"I want to figure out the source too, okay. Maybe once I get it, I can find a way to ease his temper down."

"He has not crossed paths with Taeyeon yet, has he?"

"Thank goodness they haven't yet. I swear I don't know what I'll do just in case."

"Jess." she said and stopped us from walking.

"Yes?"

"We both know Taeyeon's the source. Yoong might not be around whenever Taeyeon approaches you but it seems to me your boyfriend already has a feeling about it."

"So, what should I do?"

"Whatever these attempts from Taeyeon right now, you better make him stop. Confront him. You're already determined with your relationship with Yoong, right?"

"Yes. Of course."

"Then, it's the only way."

---

Hyoyeon's right. It's the only way. I have to make Taeyeon spill up what the hell is going on with his mind.

I decided to look for him during my free period today. I found him inside the library studying a book upside down. It's perfect timing too as we're the only ones in the mezzanine of the library. I sat in front of him. He's still so occupied with reading that his eyebrows even furrow as he mumbles the words he was reading.

"Taeyeon." I said.

That somewhat startled him. Then, he chuckled, "Oh. Hello there, beautiful."

"We need to talk."

"Err-- okay." He set the book aside and gave his complete attention to me. He's smiling too.

"Why have you been starting on calling me beautiful?"

He chuckled, "Because you are beautiful?"

"It's inappropriate for you to say it out loud."

"How could that be inappropriate? I am just acknowledging your prettiness. That's it."

"Still, I want you to stop."

"There's nothing wrong describing you that way. Tell me, are you not beautiful?"

"I uhhmm---"

"You know yourself you are beautiful. So, why you don't want to be called one?"

"Fine. Just--- how about touching my hand? Kissing my hand? Even just those little skinship. Please, whatever those are for, stop it." Yes, did I forget to mention that detail? He err--- initiates that kind of kinship sometimes when he greets me too.

He sighed, "I find that unfair."

"I have a boyfriend. How could that be unfair?"

"Well, I always see Yuri doing the same to you. He even kisses you on the cheek sometimes. He got a girlfriend too and I do too. So, why opting me out?"

"You are my ex, okay. This is too awkward for me."

"As far as I am concerned, Yuri was your ex too, wasn't he?"

"We were fake dating."

"Still, he's your ex too." He smiled mischievously then went back to his reading. "Anything else, beautiful?"

I sighed deeply. I am not going to win this argument. I know. So then, I decided to just wait for the right moment to ask him about his sudden change of treatment on me. I stayed at the same table and studied for my next class, Architectural Engineering.

Everything about this book feels alien to me. I hate architecture and I hate engineering. And these two combined into one concept makes me want to just take my life right away. I've been in Architecture since last year and until now I am just hanging by a thread. I still don't understand a single thing about my course. Seriously, I shouldn't have said yes to my dad on transferring to Se Kyung.

I can't just ask for Yoong his help on this, okay. I know that guy is extremely intelligent but he's too occupied with his advanced studies right now. Accounting and law are clearly way different from my course. I can't just make him study this too just to help me out. Well... I guess I really just have myself now.

I couldn't help but just redirect my attention to something else, though, while I was 'studying'. I am really bothered by the way Taeyeon reads his book. Why is it upside down? It's ridiculous. Also, he's too much making this weird goofy face while reading it.

"Taeyeon." I called.

"Yup?" he responded while still focused on reading.

"Can you at least act normal even with just reading a book?"

He looked at me in a very serious manner, "Are you telling me I am weird all the time?"

"Err---"

He chuckled, "Relax, I'm just kidding." He focused back on the book. "You might find this weird but Yuri's the one who taught me this technique."

"What? Yuri? Has he been infected by Tiff's weirdness too?"

"Come on. We both know Yuri has become weirder ever since he started dating Fany." Then, he explained, "Look. Reading upside-down is actually a technique to have a better understanding of what you're reading. If it's upside-down, your brain actually functions double time because it's trying to read it back upright so, it gets to be more drilled inside your head."

"Well... okay. That could be an acceptable reason. You're making it look like it's not working, though."

"Surprisingly, last semester, it worked for me. My score went up a bit. It's just that, now it is not since this subject is not really something I am fond of. This topic is alien to me."

I read the title and it's a book about personal financial management. "How come you're studying that?" I asked.

"Well, part of the curriculum is to learn basic finance stuff." Then, he mocked a chuckle, "And they call this basic. Really?"

"I see. What course are you taking again?"

"Civil engineering." Then, he looked at my book. "I would choose that subject of yours any time than this one."

"I'd rather take that one too than this one."

"Oh yeah, it just came to me. You're a CEO of a finance company at the moment, right?"

"Not exactly full-time, though. But, yeah."

"So, this is something basic to you, right?"

"Well... Yeah, I guess? And this is something basic to you too, right?"

"That actually is not basic."

"Oh."

He chuckled, "I believe that's one of your major subjects for this semester. And you're already on your third year so definitely, that is not basic."

I sighed deeply, "I don't even know how I passed the second year."

"Why still studying Architecture? I'm pretty sure there's an available slot for you in Finance. You can shift any time you want."

"You know me. I don't exactly back out when I already set foot inside the house. I already invested so much time and effort into this. I can't exactly throw it away. Better see the end of it then get back studying what I want again."

"So you'd rather waste more time then?"

"Exactly. I don't want any unfinished business."

"Then, why not just transfer back to Finance first. Finish that. Then, come back to Architecture?"

"You know what? You're actually pretty smart."

He complained, "Yah! I am smart!"

I chuckled, "I'm just messing with you. You see, I want to continue my finance major in Ah In rather than in this university. Higher quality. I took some subjects in Finance here and I gotta say, the method of teaching here isn't really my liking. So yeah, I decided to just finish Architecture first."

"I see... That actually makes sense. It's a good decision, then."

"Thank you."

And then it was a weird kind of silence that has erupted. Well, basically, after that, he started to look at me weirdly as if he's planning on something. From time to time, he keeps on stealing glances at m