My palms were sweaty as I stood in front of the hotel she said she would be in. I stared at the fancy building’s exterior for a while before I had the courage to go inside it. As I entered the doors, I was overwhelmed by the number of people I saw.

Without second thoughts, I already knew that most of the population of the place were rich people. They were everywhere. Girls who had extravagant dresses with overpriced jewelry hanging in every possible part of their body and boys who looked respectful with their expensive suits filled the place. I shyly made my way across the lobby, hoping that I wouldn’t get too much attention. I felt out of place as it is.

Just as I was about to be successful in maneuvering my way out of the crowd, I felt a hand grab my wrist. I turn around to see Taeyeon smiling beautifully at me. “You made it!” She said breathless. I smiled back. “Yeah.”

I saw her check out my outfit and said, “You look great!” Thank God she liked it and thank God for Jessica’s fashion sense. “You look great too!” I reciprocated the compliment although the word great was an understatement. She smiled broadly at me once more. “Let’s go this way.” She tugged me by my hand which I didn’t fail to notice. Her hands felt smaller than mine and impossibly soft. I felt tingly inside as soon as we made contact, which I did my hardest to ignore.

We made our way through the crowd, me not taking away my gaze at our joined hands. She suddenly stopped walking and it distracted me from what I was looking at. I glanced up and scanned the area. We were inside a huge hall, hosting a grand formal party. I felt my jaw drop at the sight. Everything was gorgeous and dazzling like in the movies. Plus, they looked expensive.

Before what was happening settle inside me, I felt her walking again, dragging me along with her. We finally stopped in front of a table where she motioned for me to sit, which I did, while she sat beside me.

There were other people on the table which acknowledged our presence by giving us a smile, which I awkwardly reciprocated. Meanwhile, Taeyeon looked natural and gave back the smiles the people were giving her. Duh? She’s an idol. Of course she’s an expert at this.

“Sooyoung-sshi, would you like something to drink?” She whispered to my ear suddenly. The music wasn’t that loud but the chatter of the people are. My attention was diverted to her. Then I realized something. What am I doing here again?

Before I was able to speak, she was already standing halfway from her seat. I followed her retreating figure, still needing answers from her, but she suddenly disappeared in the sea of people.

After a few minutes of Taeyeon’s absence, someone from my table began talking to me. “Hello!” Said the guy sitting beside me. I wasn’t really sure if I should talk to him but he was giving me this smile, which I found cute. And by the way, this doesn’t happen that often coz I have high standards. “Hi.” I said back.

“I’m BaekYeon.” He said holding out his hand. “Sooyoung.” I said taking it.

“So how come I haven’t seen you around here before?” He asked, still wearing his cute smile.

“Because, it’s her first time here. She’s my date.” A nonchalant voice said which I recognized immediately. My eyes widened and whipped my head towards the other direction. Taeyeon was placing a glass of iced tea in front of me while she sat beside me again.

“Oh! Kim Taeyeon-sshi!” The guy’s eyes widened in recognition as well but it was gone as fast as it came. “I’m so sorry to bother you.” He bowed and stood up leaving the two of us alone.

I stared at Taeyeon, trying to look for explanation, which finally she noticed. “Oh, Sooyoung-sshi, sorry about that.” Her face suddenly apologetic and regretful. “I just really don’t like these people.”

“Uhh… okay..” I’m trying to choose my words so that I wouldn’t offend her in any way. “So what are we doing here?” Her full attention was on me now. Finally, some answers.

She giggled a bit and flashed that awfully cute smile (which was way way cuter than the guy’s smile, by the way) and said, “You’re really not a fan of our group aren’t you?” I shook my head in response, puzzled, trying to link the connection between what I was saying and what she was saying.

“I’m the daughter of one of the richest CEOs here in Korea so I have to attend parties like these all the time.” She said humbly as possible. I nodded my head in understanding, forcing myself not to ask a lot of questions that were taking over my head as of the moment. Didn't she say her father was an optometrist? It was so confusing but I didn't think it was the right time to ask so I resulted to saying, “So if I’m a fan of your group, I would know that?” She chuckled and said, “I guess. Coz it’s written all over our online forums.” ‘Oh.’ was my automatic response.

“So you hate these people because?”

“Well, first of all, I really don’t wanna be here. And second, I don’t like the attention given to me.”

“But you catch attention all the time because you’re a celebrity, right?” I asked, completely confused every minute that was passing. I didn’t realize that Kim Taeyeon was such a complicated girl.

She smiled at me again, and said. “Do you find this party boring? Let’s go somewhere else.” She grabbed my hand and before I knew it, we were out of the hotel doors.

Not for a million years that I would think I will be in this situation. Taeyeon and I were at the park, sitting on two swings. I’ve been staring at her for the longest time and this was the only time that I felt that it was alright to do that.

“So you see, I didn’t really need to inherit my father's companies. I just need to attend social parties like earlier. I have sisters for that.” She said, her gaze far away as if she was remembering a sad memory. “I wanted to be successful on my own, that’s why I became a singer. I want to prove something to myself.”

I continued listening to her stories while still admiring her beauty. Although she looked lonely, she still somehow appeared to be beautiful. My breath was getting heavy at the moment as I was watching her sway back and forth slowly.

“Then you must be really proud of yourself right now and your family too.” I said. “Since you’re already successful and all.” I just stated the obvious because I don’t want to imply anything.

She huffed and smirked at the same time. She shook her head and said, “I don’t think so.”

“Can I ask why?”

“No.” She said bluntly. But then I guess she felt bad because she suddenly returned the stare that I was giving her for the past ten minutes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause all these trouble.”

“It’s okay.” I automatically said. “Don’t worry about it. I understand that you can’t open yourself up to just anyone.” She smiled sadly at me, like she wanted to tell me every thing but she couldn’t. So she stared on the ground, watching her feet move across the sand below the swing set. “But I would also like to say that I’m not just anyone. If you ever needed someone to talk to, you can always come to me. I’ll listen.” She returned her gaze back to me again, a grateful smile playing on her lips.

“Thank you Sooyoung-sshi.”

“You can drop the honorific and just call me Sooyoung.” I said smiling.

“Well, then… Thanks Sooyoung.”

“You’re welcome.”

We sat quietly for a while. The silence wasn’t uncomfortable. It was relaxing in fact. Like two friends just hanging around the park. But there was something that was bothering me the entire night. I just had to ask this or else I would drive myself crazy thinking about it.

“Uhh.. if I may ask…” I slowly said, carefully breaking the silence.

“Ne?” Taeyeon encouraged me to go on, her full attention on me. I felt my heart beat fast again, knowing that she was studying me closely.

“Why me?”

I didn’t need to explain any further. From her reaction, I think she already figured out what I meant. “I don’t know.” She said simply after a few grueling seconds of waiting for her reply which felt like forever.

“Oh, alright.” I wasn’t satisfied with her answer. I mean seriously. How can you accept that from someone? But I let it pass and I didn’t argue. So instead, I planned to ask another question which I thought was important.

“I got another question.” I broke the building silence which was slowly tensing. I wanted to ask her about what she said earlier, about me being her date. I know it’s not a big deal but I’m curious to know. Was it just normal for her to do that?

But before I could say anything, she suddenly stood up from her seat. I followed her with my eyes, puzzled. She slowly walked towards me.

My heart rate was picking up speed again. Taeyeon was already standing right in front of me, her figure blocking the lights from the street lamps. I stared up at her, confused on what was happening. I couldn’t make out her reaction because of how dim the lighting was and all I can see was darkness from my angle.

She was hovering above me for the longest time when she suddenly crouched down so that we were face to face. I swallowed thickly. My eyes slightly widening in surprise, I can feel creases forming in my forehead.

She was staring directly into my eyes. In the gleam of the street lamps, I can make out her eyes but it looked dark for some reason. I don’t know how long we were in that position but my thoughts were erased when I felt something soft and slightly wet touch my lips.

My eyes were still open but it was all blurry. I can see Taeyeon’s eyes were closed, and it just clicked inside me after five seconds.

She kissed me.

And she was still kissing me.

When I realized what was happening, I also closed my eyes, trying to savor the feeling and the moment.

And then it was over.

I felt her lips leave mine and I immediately missed the contact. I felt coldness enveloping my lips but the feeling of her lips on mine still lingered, especially the butterflies in my stomach which I think were more like bees or whirlwind of nails or whatever. My brain is not functioning as of the moment.

She was still in front of me. Her face unmoving, studying my reaction.

I hope I’m giving the right expression. Because I swear if I make her feel uncomfortable or unwanted I will most definitely kill myself in frustration.

We were still looking at each other for the longest time. Neither of us spoke nor reacted weirdly. Thank God for that. But then I saw a shift in her expression like she was confused and she just made a huge mistake. She straightened herself up and cleared . She suddenly said, “I…. I’m sorry.” Then she turned away from me.

It seemed so cliché and dramatic, but I grabbed her wrist before she could completely leave me behind. She didn’t turn around though. Instead, she yanked her arm from my grasp and ran away.

I could’ve easily caught up with her, with my long legs and all… But I didn’t. My feet wouldn’t budge. I just watched her retreating figure hopelessly while standing in the dimly lit playground. I kept praying in my head that she would return to my side or even glance back at me.

But again… She didn’t.

And for the first time ever in my life, I experienced the feeling of rejection.

It hurts like hell.

And that's chapter 6.. well.. i dunno if anyone is still reading this but who cares..

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