A/N: This chapter's dedicated to my friend, AyraLovesKibum, whose birthday was yesterday. I meant to upload this in time, but happy birthday anyway<3 :DD!

            You were standing with Ryeowook in his kitchen, laughing as he tried to smoothly flip the seafood pancake he was making.

            "Uh-oh, laughter in the kitchen," Kibum remarked, poking his head in. "That doesn't sound so good."           
            "Get out of here, you complete failure of a cook!" Ryeowook yelled. "Your presence is not wanted!"
            "Fine, fine," he said, ducking out of the room before any sharp projectiles could be thrown at his face. "But don't start to eat without me!"
            You grabbed a chopstick and used it to help maneuver the pancake into its proper position on the pan. You sighed in relief together when the seafood pancake was finally finished. After quickly preparing other small side dishes and scooping the rice out of its cooker, you called Kibum to sit down and eat. 
            "Is it yummy?" Ryeowook asked, hope shining in his eyes.
            Kibum chewed slowly, purposefully making Wookie wait, before saying with a wide smile, "It's…really delicious. Is this squid or octopus?"
            You shook your head scornfully. "Can't you tell? It's clearly squid!"
            Ryeowook put his hand on your shoulder. "Don't mind him, _____. He knows not our ways."
            Kibum scowled at you. You laughed and patted his thick hair, "Don't worry, Bummie. Maybe one day you'll be at our level of cooking."
            "Doubt it," Wookie mumbled through a mouthful of rice.
            Kibum picked up his chopsticks and waved them threateningly at Ryeowook. 
            You laughed again. "Put your chopsticks down, Kim Kibum! Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"
            Kibum sat down reluctantly, giving you both warning glares, though a smile tugged at his lips.
            "I missed this," you said, sighing in contentment, rubbing your full belly. "We don't get to fool around like this a lot anymore."
            "We're letting work rule our lives," Ryeowook agreed, taking a sip of water. "It's all the fault of this damn showcase."
            "Don't you worry, guys. It'll be over after tomorrow," Kibum said, ever the peacemaker.
            "But then I have my exams," you sighed again, this time unhappily.
            "We'll stay up with you," Wookie encouraged. "We have fewer exams, anyway!"
            "You'll do great," Kibum assured with a warm smile. You turned to meet his lovely smile with one of your own, when the room suddenly became dark.
Ryeowook gasped, and your hand immediately sought Kibum's. Ryeowook tried to breathe evenly as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. At least now he could make out the vague shapes around him.
            "You guys?" he asked timidly. "What was that?"
            "Did you pay the bills?" you asked, jokingly.
            Kibum glanced at Ryeowook--or at least he tried to. When he saw the shape of Ryeowook's head moving back and forth slowly, he admitted guiltily,             "No."
            "You two are like babies, I swear! You're twenty-one-years old! How could you not pay your own bills? How am I supposed to let you two live on your own if you can't even handle little things like that? I need to talk to both of your mothers!" You reprimanded sternly.
            "She really is a drill sergeant," Ryeowook whispered. 
            Kibum's pearly-white smile shone, even in the dark. "_____, it's okay. I'll call the company later and ask them to give us an extension or something. For now, do you have any candles, Wook?"
            "No," he shook his head. "Why would I? Oh, wait! I have birthday candles!"
            "Are you for real? It's nighttime and you're gonna light your house with those tiny wax candles?" You said skeptically. 
            "We have no choice," Kibum shrugged. 
            Ryeowook carefully maneuvered around the dark kitchen and grabbed a piece of bread, sticking several birthday candles in them. He did it to another then announced, "That's the end of our candle supply!"
            "I guess we'll have to deal with no power until the morning," Kibum said, resigned. 
            "What?" Ryeowook gasped again. "Why not now?"
            "What company is open this late at night?" Kibum pointed out.
            "Oh, no," Ryeowook groaned. "How am I supposed to practice for the showcase? I only have an electric keyboard here."
            Before either of you could open your mouths, Ryeowook dashed out of the apartment, calling over his shoulder, "I'm going to practice at school. I'll be back later, Kibum-ah!"
            You watched him disappear before getting up and saying, "Well, I guess I should go, too."
            "You're gonna leave me here?" Kibum said, somewhat offended.
            You grinned at him playfully and said, "Yup."
            Kibum sighed and slumped in his seat. 
            You sighed right back at him. "Fine," you muttered, stretching out the word in a whine. "I'll sit here in the freaking dark with you."
            Kibum laughed, feeling triumphant. "No, go ahead. I don't mind. I was just teasing you."
            No, you thought. It's worth staying, just to hear you laugh like that. Instead, you told him, "No, not since you whine like that! I'll stay here until Wookie gets back."
            "What about Song Qian?"
            You shrugged. "We've been kind of distant since I started dating Henry. I don't know what it is. From what I could tell, she actually liked him."
            Kibum had no clue either. Instead, he suggested, "How about we get comfortable? Since there's nothing to do anyway."
            "Well, we could go out, get a drink, like normal people our age," you replied.
            "Or I could stay here and chill, just me and my best friend," he said casually. "Either one."
            "I vote for staying here." You smiled warmly at him. 
            "Then help me move our bread," Kibum ordered, getting up. "And try not to set my apartment on fire. We don't want Ryeowook returning to a pile of ashes."
            You set the bread in front of the couch and sat close to it on the floor, leaning against the new red couch instead of sitting on top of it. Kibum placed his bread next to yours and sat down at your side. You sat in silence for a while, just watching the flames on the candles dancing lightly.
            That was the best part about being with Kibum. You were so comfortable with him, you could be silent together for hours and not be bored of him. There was no pressure to be funny, or clever or cute. It was just you and him, enjoying each other's presence.
            At one point, you yawned, and Kibum casually put his arm around you, letting you rest against his shoulder. You began to talk, if only to keep you awake. You told him about the new things you were learning in class, about the hoobaes, you teased Kibum for completely failing to charm poor Soonkyu; you talked about everything but him and Henry.
            It felt wrong, for some reason, to talk about Henry when you were sitting so close to Kibum—in the dark, no less. Maybe that thinking was a little bit backwards, but things had been tense with Henry lately. You couldn't quite place your finger on why. He had passed all the requirements that you tested him on from the list. In fact, you had grown so interested in him that you had sort of given up on the list. It was still sitting in your purse. Honestly, the only thing that truly annoyed you about Henry was his friendship with Eunyoung.
            Eunyoung, you shuddered. You'd have to spend the day with her tomorrow and sit with her in the showcase. 
            Kibum asked why you had shuddered, and you explained with minimum mention of Henry. Kibum stayed mostly quiet as you talked to him, nodding here and there. As you talked, he simply watched you. He watched the dark shadows that hid your face, the way they highlighted all your best features. He wondered absentmindedly if you would look this beautiful in a romantic restaurant, all dolled up, eating something delicious by candlelight, with real candles, not just birthday candles.
            Beautiful. Kibum had to finally admit that you were beautiful. As kids, you were nothing but annoying and cute and a playmate, and when you had both finally gone through puberty, you had a boyfriend.
            So you never were nothing more than a friend. But now, by this magical candlelight, he could see what Siwon, all their dorky friends, and he had been saying all along.
            Kibum was barely paying attention to your words now. He couldn't, not when you were pouting so cutely with those pretty lips. He wondered what it would be like to kiss those lips. He hadn't kissed anyone since that church girl. But he stared intently at your lips, wondering what it would be like to kiss you.
            "Kibum?" you asked, knocking on his head.
            "O-oh, yeah?"
            "Babo," you teased. "I was just saying I should get going. I'll find Ryeowook for you, but I'm feeling really sleepy."
            "Sleep here," Kibum suggested.
            You frowned slightly. "I don't think…Henry would quite like that."
            "Eh?" he looked confused for a moment.
            "Henry, my boyfriend?" you knocked on his head again. "You should sleep too. Tomorrow's your big day, you seem way out of it."
            Oh, right. You had a boyfriend. Kibum got up then helped you up and walked you to the door, holding your arm so you wouldn't trip in the darkness.
            "Sleep well, Bummie," you said softly, squeezing him tightly.
            "You, too." He stood there, watching you leave for a long moment. Then he quietly turned around and shut the door. 
            He returned to the couch to find that all the birthday candles had died out. Probably wasn't the best idea, using then all at once. Kibum plopped on the couch you had picked for them and waited for Ryeowook in silence, mulling over his confused thoughts and feelings all by himself. He fell asleep on the red couch, dreaming incomprehensible dreams, in which the only thing he understood was your face.

                                                                                                              ~*~

            "Eunyoung?" You called to the figure a few paces in front of you. The hair looked about right, and the body—she turned around and you breathed in relief when you saw it was Eunyoung. At least you wouldn't have to waste time to look for her.
            "You look nice," you told her, trying to be friendly. And she did. Her clothes fit her well, and her short hair was styled to suit her face. With the sunlight shining on her youthful face, she didn't look quite as unfriendly as she had last time.
            Eunyoung glanced at you. She had to admit that you looked good, too. You had done some makeup, and your outfit was chic, because there was always a party after the showcase. But Eunyoung didn't want to admit any of this to you, so she simply nodded her thanks without another word.

            “Eunyoung,” you said wearily. “Look, we have to spend the rest of the day together, whether you like it or not. I don’t know what your problem is, but can we please be civil?”

            You’re my problem! Eunyoung wanted to scream. You and your lies! You tell Henry you like him, but you’re in love with someone else. You blinded him and used him, and he doesn’t even know. And now, he doesn’t even see me.

            But she just said, “…Fine.”

            You nodded at the start, no matter how uncooperative it was. “Great! So what do you want to do for the next few hours?”

            Eunyoung looked at you, taking a real look this time. She saw a pretty young woman, looking tired with dark circles under her eyes, wringing her hands, trying to be patient. The person Eunyoung was looking at didn’t look like a liar—she looked like a good person. Eunyoung sighed internally. Aw, what the hell. I can be civil to her, even just for a few hours.

            “I don’t know,” Eunyoung admitted unsurely. “I don’t do much besides visitng my sister and Henry.”

            Suddenly, you felt pity. This girl—for she was nothing more than a girl—was five whole years younger than you, and she was alone in a foreign country, her only two friends too busy for her. Henry was right in asking you to take care of her. You smiled a little more sincerely and said, “That’s fine. How about meeting some of my friends?”

            “Sure,” Eunyoung smiled, a bit unsure.

            You led her to your favorite on-campus cafeteria, knowing that some of your hoobaes were bound to be there. You walked in silence, but at least you no longer felt like Eunyoung was going to stab you when you weren’t looking. You smiled unconsciously to yourself: the weather was finally behaving itself, your two best friends and boyfriends were going to wow a huge audience tonight, and your enemy had suddenly become friendly.

            “Yah, Lee Soonkyu! Hwang Miyoung!”

            The girls looked up at the sound of their names, grinning when they caught sight of you. “Unni! Annyeonghaseyo!”

            You introduced Eunyoung, saying, “This is Song Qian’s little sister, Eunyoung. She’s a foreigner, so be nice!”

            “Annyeonghaseyo,” Soonkyu, Miyoung, and their friends chorused. “This is our friend, Joohyun.” They motioned to a youthful-looking girl with big eyes and a gentle smile.

            Eunyoung muttered, half to herself and half to you, “How are they all so pretty?”

            You grinned wryly and responded, “I know. They’re like a girls’ generation of their own.” Then you turned back to the girl and asked, “But where’s Taeyeon?” You craned your head to locate her.

            “DIdn’t you know, unni?” Miyoung said with a proud smile. “She was one of the few freshman to be invited to the showcase. What about you, Eunyoung-ssi? Do you like music?”

            “Yeah,” she replied. “But I like a lot of things…sports, art, a little bit of everything. I don’t know which one I’ll study yet.”

            You were surprised at that. You only realized now how much about Eunyoung you truly didn’t know. You watched Eunyoung chat with the girls for hours, sitting in the cafeteria, munching on snacks and sipping various drinks. Time flew by, all of you laughing and joking around with each other comfortably.

            Maybe Eunyoung wasn’t so bad. Maybe something had gone a little wonky the day you met her. Maybe she had just been shy? You felt silly for suspecting her of jealousy; granted, it was a fleeting worry, but you had still thought about it. As you watched her laugh and talk with everyone, you couldn’t help but soften. She was pretty, and she was actually a nice person once you got to know her. You were absentmindedly thinking of how nice it might be to have a little sister like Eunyoung to joke around with, when you heard one of the girls gasp,

            “Oh my gosh! It’s almost six. The showcase is about to start!”

            You jumped up and rapidly led them through the fastest possible route towards SNU’s concert hall. You settled quickly in front-row seats—surprisingly, no one had claimed them; maybe they were too close? But you didn’t mind. You waited in excitement for the first act to start, Eunyoung at your side, the hoobaes filling up the row behind you.

            You grinned happily, but it faded when your hands ran down the fabric of the chair and as the light dimmed. This was all too familiar.

            “Sit here,” he insisted, pulling on your arms like a child.

            “It’s too close!” your protested. “I’ll be bending my neck the entire night!”

            “No, because you’ll only have to watch me,” he said with a cheeky smile. “You can sleep for the rest of it.”

            You laughed and smacked his arm. The lights dimmed, and he rushed to kiss you. The kiss was quick, but the fact that he had kissed you in front of all these people still made you blush. He jumped on stage when his name was called—he was the opening act; he was just that good.

            He introduced himself playfully, got the audience laughing. You watched him, never feeling prouder. Then he did his piece—a funny one that suited him perfectly and allowed him to sing a bit. Everyone cheered for him, but you were the first one to get to your feet and give him a standing ovation.

            God, he was so perfect.

            You were started out of your reverie when loud music began to play over the speakers. You tried to even your breathing and you wiped your sweaty palms on your clothes.

            It was going to be okay. Tonight was going to be awesome. You knew it.

A/N: Not much to say here...I think everything's pretty self-explanatory and straightforward. Please look forward to the next chapter~~it's going to be one of the story's main es! So much is going to happen it'll probably spill over into the next few chapters as well. I'm excited to write it! Until then, please comment and subscribe :DDD And check out my TeukSo oneshot!