"JOOHYUN! RISE AND SHINE!"

"Aah!" I shrieked as I jolted out of my bed. I heaved a frustrated sigh. "Unnie, do you have to shout like that?"

Yoona unnie just smiled innocently at me. "You don't know how hard it is to wake you up. What happened last night? Is the reason why you were home late last night is because you met with some guy?"

I just threw her my pillow with my face as red as ddukbokki. "W-What?! No!"

She caught my pillow and threw it back to me, smiling mischievously. "Then why are you blushing right now?"

"I am not!" I denied, hiding my red face from her sight. I silently cursed myself as I got up from my bed and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

What happened last night replayed in my head over and over again. I tried to shrug my thoughts as I felt more blood rising to my cheeks. Yoona unnie just had to bring that up so early in the morning.

Seriously, he just had to come by the practice room that evening. To think that he even brought my precious sweet potatoes. Why of all times did he have to ask about my personal life? Just when my unnies still bugged me about my "no ideal man" thing before he came over.

Great. Just great.

As for me, I just had to admit that I like him.

I like Kyuhyun oppa. I acknowledged that fact a long time ago.

But I never planned to tell him so soon. I wasn't going to tell him until I mustered up enough courage to actually say that word "like" in front of his face. Actually, I don't know when that time will come at all.

Does liking somebody have to be this... awkward?

Because now that he knows, I doubt that today will be anything like yesterday.

--

Dance schedules were a bit hectic, since the SM Town concert is just around the corner. I swear I think I lost over a liter of sweat because we kept practicing and practicing the dances. While we were taking a break, Manager oppa suddenly appeared with a paper on his hand.

"Okay. We all know that dancing isn't the only thing you showcase in this concert. Of course, we have duets too." He started.

He sighed before continuing. "Okay, first up, Jessica, you will sing with Jinki and Krystal. You already know what to do about that right?"

Jessica unnie nodded. I already suspected her to sing a duet with Onew oppa. After all, they did have a collaboration together in our mini album. Manager oppa continued on announcing what we'll do. After he finished, we were about to resume our practice when manager oppa suddenly remembered about something. "Oh, one more thing. I forgot to mention that Seohyun and Kyuhyun will also have a duet together."

I swear I almost felt my jaw drop to the ground as I look at him unbelievably. "You're kidding me right?" I croaked.

"Is there something wrong about that?" Taeyeon unnie asked, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. I bit my lip as I tried to stop myself from blushing again. "Ever since the Seoul MV, you've been acting pretty weird around Kyuhyun oppa."

"I-I was...?" I tried to act as if it was nothing. I saw all of their faces with those ghost of a smile which put me in an uncomfortable situation. I swear I heard someone whisper, Awwww... Our cute little maknae is growing up.

Manager oppa cleared his throat to get our attention. "That's settled then. Joohyun, why don't you tell Kyuhyun about it? Apparently, he's taking a break for today. I'm sure he's over at their dorm."

He just had to say that. I heard my unnies giggling. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I?"

--

Taeyeon unnie and the others just "allowed" me to skip practice for the rest of the day so that I could go over at Super Junior's dorm to tell Kyuhyun oppa about our duet. I sighed wearily. I think they're being too mischievous for today.

Bringing a bag of sweet potatoes, which has been a habit of mine since I was a kid, I pressed the doorbell and waited patiently. In my head, I chanted, please be the housekeeper. Please be the housekeeper. 

I swear, someone is playing with me as the door opened. It turned out to be the devil himself. He just smiled at me. "Oh, Seohyun. What brings you here?"

"I-I have something to tell you, oppa." I refused to meet his gaze. He ushered me to come in. I sat by the sofa and settled the bag of sweet potatoes on the table. "So, what are you going to tell me?"

I decided to go straight to the point. "We're supposed to sing a duet together in the SM Town concert. Here's the song we're going to sing." I handed him the music sheet, still without looking at him.

"'Call with all my heart' huh? Nice choice. So are we going to start practicing now?" He asked me. I just nodded. "Ya, Seo Joohyun, look at me."

I just ignored him and munched on a sweet potato. I felt too awkward just with his presence. Suddenly I felt him tilt my chin, so that I would look at him. I quickly felt blood rising to my cheeks as I got a full view of his face.

He flashed a goofy grin. "Can we practice later? I'm still not done playing."

Kyuhyun oppa then went back to playing his video game on his laptop. As I snapped out of my reverie, I approached him and watched him play.

It suddenly hit me. I wonder why he likes playing video games so much.

One of his nicknames was Game Kyu. His addiction to games wasn't that much of a mystery. I always see him busy with his laptop whenever we had some free time. Maybe that's why he's already wearing contact lenses.

"What's the deal with that game anyway? All I see are those monsters killing each other and you poking around the screen. That game only promotes gore and violence. I wonder why you like playing games like that." I raised an eyebrow, still watching him.

I hear him chuckle a bit. "Oh, stop being a goody-two shoes, Seohyun. The main point of StarCraft is strategy."

"But still, there's violence. Like what they're doing right now." I pointed out the tree that was throwing some kind of rocks to some skeletons or something.

Kyuhyun continued smiling as he redirected his gaze to her. "You wouldn't understand unless you try it."

My eyes widened as he stood up and ushered me to sit. I looked at him with disbelief. "You can't be serious. You want me to play this game?"

"Why? Are you too chicken to even try it?" He smirked at me. I just glared at him. "Fine, you're on."

--

"Ya, this is unfair! That guy just pummeled me! That game is too hard!" I whined while eating my sweet potato. I saw him sit beside me while laughing. "You should've seen your face. Wow, the great Seohyun playing StarCraft? Priceless!"

I crossed my arms while pouting. Geez, after almost an hour clicking and clicking through the screen, I found it a bit annoying. He stopped laughing and just smirked at me. "Now you know that this game is something more than just killing off a bunch of random creatures."

"I still don't get why you play that game." I insisted, still annoyed. He snickered a little before saying, "Somehow, I feel the adrenaline I never felt in real life whenever I'm playing. That excitement flows through my veins when I find myself winning."

What he said was beyond ridiculous in my opinion. "Don't you feel that right now? We artists always feel those adrenaline rush whenever were performing. The excitement whenever we win an award."

"True, but there are times that it's a bit too stressful to my taste. Sometimes, I consider my life as an entertainer like a game. Overcoming obstacles can be frolicsome fun whenever we engage life like a video game."

I looked at him as if he was the weirdest person in the world. "Who ever told you that? That's the most impossible thing I've ever heard."

He smiled. "I have to admit, I think it was absurd at first."

Silence emerged between us. Strangely, I didn't find this unnerving. It was the exact opposite. Now that he mentioned it, I think what he's trying to imply is that we need not to take life too seriously. Sometimes, we have to just stop thinking about the stress and be happy.

Before I knew it, I felt that I like him more than ever.

"Ya, earth to Seohyun!"

I snapped from my trance, a bit bewildered. "Huh? What were you saying?"

He suddenly grinned at me. For some reason, I sensed something a bit disturbing. "You're thinking about me huh?" His voice was tainted with tomfoolery.

I immediately looked away, flushed. "W-What?! What makes you think that?"

"I didn't forget what you said last night, Seohyun. You said you like me yes? Or was my ears playing with me?"

I stayed silent. I felt my cheeks heating up at every second I spend with him right now. Gosh, I'm too flustered to say anything right now. Just then, I heard him utter my name. "Ya, Seohyun."

I turned to face him. In a split second, he suddenly pecked me on the lips. I froze on my spot while he continued grinning. It took a while before my brain could process everything.

He kissed me! Cho Kyuhyun just kissed me! The words repeated itself in my head a million times. My hands slowly made its way to my lips. The sensation was still there. Just thinking about it makes me even redder than I am now.

I heard his light laugh. "Don't worry, Seohyun. I like you too."

That's the evil maknae to you. Gosh, I fell for his antics yet again. Hard.

Of all people to fall for, why him? I kept asking that to myself countless times. He's been a dear friend to me ever since we were kids. He's been there while we were trainees. Now, that we're both at the top of our game, he's still right there with me.

I just smiled unknowingly as he went to his laptop and played again.

The reason was because he was always there for me. Behind that sadistic nature he was known for, lies a young man who is exceptionally sincere and caring.

This game is definitely worth remembering.

The End...

Author's notes:

Okay. So here it is! The sequel of "Sweet Potatoes'". Good thing the idea managed to stay in my head for a long time haha. So this is me taking a little break from my other stories. I just got tired of writing too much drama. "Consequences" was beginning to be like that. I have planned a lot of what's going to happen in "Duty and Desire". "Masquerade" is beginning to be darker than usual. I need to balance   these out by writing a light oneshot. :)

Again, I'd like to thank kmaniac for the GORGEOUS poster. Seriously, I love it. <3 

So yeah, please tell me what you think! Comments will be greatly appreciated. No silent readers please. Thanks again!