-Chapter X-

She heard him sigh before she felt him sit down next to her. “You okay?” he asked quietly, not looking at her.

Yong Hye scoffed. “My mom ousted Taemin and I and is now going absolutely insane with planning the damn wedding. I’m perfect.” She turned to look at Taecyeon, who had turned to her, searching her face.

“I’m really, really sorry about the other night,” Taecyeon said. Yong Hye couldn’t look away from his face. He looked so sincere, it amazed her. She hadn’t known him for very long, and he seemed to really care about her well-being. Besides Taemin, she had never known anyone who asked her sincerely if she was okay, or even apologized for something that had happened, even if it wasn’t their fault.

“Yong Hye?” he said, looking more concerned, when she didn’t say anything.

“Why am I here?” Yong Hye asked, mostly to herself. Turning back to Taecyeon, she asked, louder, “Why are you here?”

Taecyeon shifted a little, and then looked at her, a grin spreading over his face. “I’m here because I knew you’d be here, and, as a friend, I wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

Yong Hye laughed. “When, exactly, did we become friends? The first time we met, you pinned me to a wall and covered my mouth with your hand! I don’t know of too many people who can say that they became friends with someone who they met that way.”

Taecyeon laughed in agreement, nodding.

“You still haven’t explained that, by the way,” Yong Hye pointed out.

“And I won’t,” Taecyeon said, still being playful. “You’ll just have to let that one go.”

“Ah, my friend, you really don’t know me that well.”

“I know enough to know that the other night was only the tip of your problems with your mom.”

Yong Hye found herself staring at Taecyeon again. She wondered if his ability to read people—particularly her—was a learned trait or is simply natural. She wished she could read people half as well as he seemingly could.

“Sorry,” Taecyeon said quickly, misunderstanding her staring. “I know that it’s none of my business, really, but…for some reason…I feel like I’m supposed to help you. Or something like that. Gosh, that sounds really cheesy, doesn’t it?” Taecyeon gave her a sheepish grimace.

Yong Hye shook herself from her thoughts. “Oh,” she responded, looking away from him and down at her hands. “Interesting.”

There was a pause and then a sigh from Taecyeon’s side of the bench. “Are you sure you’re okay? You didn’t seem too great after your mom’s…announcement…”

He was right. In fact, Yong Hye was actually embarrassed about how she acted after her mom had stepped back into the clapping crowd. She had grabbed Taemin’s hand and left, but not before yelling a phrase that she didn’t generally use very loudly in the direction of her mother.

Taemin drove home, refusing to let his future wife drive, knowing she was angry enough that speeding would have been the least of their worries with her behind the wheel. He didn’t say anything until they had made it safely back to their apartment, and even then, he didn’t mention what had happened at the party. In fact, Taecyeon was the first one to even bring up the debacle—at least in Yong Hye’s presence—since it had happened.

“You know…” Yong Hye sighed. “She’s always done stuff like this. My entire life, she’s always made sure that she was the one who got to tell everyone my news.”

Taecyeon didn’t say anything, knowing that in times like this, it was better to just let her talk until she reached her own limit.

“And you know…” Yong Hye continued. “I really wouldn’t have minded if she had been the one to announce it. I always hate when people pay attention to me, so having someone else speak for me is always great, but I wish she’d have enough…sense to do it on my and Taemin’s terms.”

“Did you guys have a plan, or something?” Taecyeon asked.

“Not…really,” Yong Hye said. “I mean, we both knew that we wanted to wait a while, since we’re both in school, and we both wanted to make sure we were a little more stable in our lives before we actually got married.”

Taecyeon threw back his head and laughed. “How long have you two been dating?”

“About six years,” Yong Hye answered with a smile. Taecyeon’s laugh was infectious. “Why?”

Taecyeon continued to giggle. “You guys have to be the most sensible young people ever! Most people don’t start seriously dating until our age, and even then it takes a few tries to find someone you want to be with for a long period of time. And here you two are, planning a wedding after dating for longer than most people, and you’re being as sensible about it as someone’s grandparents!”

Yong Hye continued to smile, shaking her head while watching Taecyeon laugh.

“till…” Yong Hye said. “My parents seem to push everything, which is probably why I dig in and do things slowly.”

Taecyeon stopped laughing long enough to say, “Just remember how lucky you are to have a set of parents who care as much as they do. It may be annoying, but you know, deep, deep, deep down, that they only do what they do to make your life the best. Just be thankful.”

Though he was still laughing, Yong Hye realized Taecyeon had just revealed a bit of himself to her. It had never occurred to her that he might not have parents who cared as much as hers did, or maybe were even alive.

“I’m sorry,” Yong Hye said, instinctively grabbing his hand that he had put on the bench close to her.

Taecyeon stopped laughing, but the smile remained on his face.

Both realized they were touching and quickly pulled their hands back, both hoping the other wouldn’t take the contact the wrong way.

Taecyeon cleared his throat and broke the silence first. “Do you love Taemin?”

Considering she was still hoping Taecyeon hadn’t taken her grabbing his hand as anything more than friendly, the question alarmed Yong Hye. “What?”

“Do you love him?” Taecyeon repeated, looking over the street instead of at her.

“Yes,” Yong Hye answered vehemently, hoping she could make her point that she wasn’t going to leave her fiancée for a man she had only just met.

“Then everything will work itself out,” Taecyeon said, looking intently at her. “Don’t worry.”

It took a moment for Yong Hye to realize that all this time Taecyeon had only been talking about their previous conversation. “Oh. Yeah. Right,” she said.

Taecyeon stood, groaning as he did so. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

Yong Hye stood, shaking her head. “It’s fine,” she said, looking up at him with a smile. “It’s even daytime this time. I’ll be okay.”

Taecyeon smirked. “Amuse me, then.”

Yong Hye shook her head at his stubbornness. “Fine. It’s this way.” She started walking, Taecyeon keeping pace by her side.

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