After abandoning Minwoo, I decided to just hang out at home alone. My parents somehow magically came home early and were there to greet me. We all ended up going out to eat together while awkwardly conversing. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my parents. But after what had just happened, all I really wanted to do was lay restlessly in my bed. I began to lazily cut at my chicken as my mother asked me how my day was. While chewing the small piece of meat, I nodded before responding.

            “It was fine, and yours?”

            “Good,” was all she replied with. I exhaled deeply before continuing to devour my meal. Every now and then, they would ask me a question which I responded to quickly without glancing up. I could tell my father didn’t really like my cold shoulder, but what could I do? I wasn’t in the best mood, after all. Eventually, he spoke; bring in the topic I absolutely wanted to avoid.

            “How is Yuri doing?” he asked as he ceased all movement. I was so stunned by his question that I followed suit. When I glanced up, I guess he noticed my change in attitude as he now raised an eyebrow to me. As I scrunched my nose, I immediately lowered my attention again.

            “She’s doing great,” I stated plainly before finishing up the last of my meal. Without lifting my head, I still managed to keep an eye on my parents. They didn’t speak another word; only gave each other confused looks and the occasional glance to me.

            After we all finished, they paid and drove us home in silence. Well, I think it was silent. I drowned them out with my iPod the second we stepped into the car. Once home, I wished them a good night before trudging up the stairs to my room. I flipped the light switch to be greeted by my barely filled room. Compared to Yuri’s room, mine was pretty plain. The walls were completely bare, just an off-white color that matched the carpet. My queen-sized bed took up most of the space in the middle of the room against one of the walls. On the right, there was a wooden bookshelf that matched the work table on the adjacent wall. To the left were the sliding doors to my mess of a closet.

            Just before I hit the bed, I peeled my graphic tee and threw it onto the spinning chair for my table. I rested my forearms over my eyes before drifting into a deep sleep.

-----

            When I woke up, the lights were off again. A more natural light flashed over me instead as my mother had also opened the blinds to my windows. My aggravated eyes began to blink rapidly to try and adjust to the sunlight, but I resulted to defeat. Just as I was about to take a nap, I realized that I wasn’t alone. The sound of sniffling filled the otherwise quiet room. It was then that I took into the consideration the heat that was focused on my chest and side.

            “Yuri?” I exclaimed as I looked down at the crying girl. She nodded meekly which caused her hair to cover her face and flip onto my bare chest. Her arms were tightly wrapped around my torso as she was nuzzled into my side. Instead of interrogating her, I decided to just console her until contentment. I circled my arms around her in a comforting manner while I hushed her. One hand tangled itself into her long locks as the other rubbed circles on her back. When she finally calmed down, I tucked her loose hair behind her ear. She tilted her head up so that she would face me, and I noticed the bags under her eyes and how swollen that had gotten after crying.

            “Younggie,” she cried before erupting in a string of sniffles. I ruffled her hair as my usual comforting act as I offered her a gently smile.

            “What is it?” I asked her softly, barely speaking louder than a whisper. The girl began to look so fragile that I felt as if she would break if I talked in at normal volume.

            “T-taemin – he,” she began, trying to explain to me through her sniffles. I hushed her quietly and offered her sweet-nothings. Her quakes began to calm down as she tried to speak again.          

            “H-he – he,” she began to cry again just like that. I pushed her face back into my chest as I rubbed more soothing circles. Although I acted patient, I was very anxious to hear what happened. Taemin had done something. Could he have broken up with her? A smile stretched from ear to ear immediately at the thought, but I tried to push it down. What am I doing? Yuri is crying her eyes out, yet I am acting so giddy? I glanced down at the crying girl to see her beginning to calm down again. I guess I can’t help it; I like her, and now it is finally my chance.

            “Yuri,” I called to her in a low voice that ended up coming out huskily. She looked back up to me, and I nodded for her to go on.

            “He’s leaving,” she vaguely explained to me. I furrowed my eyebrows at the response. It was too out-there; it could mean anything. He could be breaking up with her, moving out of the country, or changing to a new house.

            “What do you mean?” I tried to push her on. She began to quiver again as she tried to form the words. I sighed before helping her to sit up. Although I loved holding her, her tears were beginning to make my chest cold. She sat on her feet as she clenched her hands together. I watched her try at console herself before reaching over and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She immediately relaxed at the contact, but tensed up just as quickly. What happened next completely surprised me. Instead of continuing to cry or explaining me through a strained voice, she ended up erupting in a furious rant.

            “I mean, what the hell?” she exclaimed as she punched my mattress. I fell back in shock as I just continued to listen. “I understand that he in SHINee, but do they really need to go do Japan promotions again? They just got back a month ago, and now they are leaving again?” I tried to figure out what was going on as she was saying a lot of surprising things. SHINee? As in the famous boy band SHINee? Yuri’s Taemin is The Taemin in SHINee?

            “What?” I shouted out in confusion as I tried to comprehend everything. Yuri’s eyes widened in shock before her hand slapped over , as if she said something she wasn’t supposed to say.

            “Oh my god,” she whispered. I immediately grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away. Looking deeply into her eyes, I searched for an answer.

            “You mean you are dating a famous person?” I exclaimed with the hurt was evident in my voice. I couldn’t believe she didn’t tell me. But now, things were beginning to make so much sense. That is why she never showed me a picture of him; that is why SHINee posters are all over her room; that is why his description sounded so familiar.

            “Yes,” she squealed meekly as she solemnly kept eye contact with me. I began to rack my brain for information on Taemin that I had heard from girls in our classes. My eyes widened when I realized something.

            “Yuri, he is twenty!”

            “That’s in Korea,” she reasoned. I rolled my eyes for emphasis on how stupid her argument was.

            “We are in Korea. Besides, you are only sixteen,” I scolded her before releasing my grip on her. I hopped off the bed and began to pace around the room.

            “You are blowing this all out of proportion.”

            “Is that so? Well, I’m sure your parents would do the same thing!”

            “You wouldn’t!”

            “Yuri, you have to stop seeing him.”

            “Youngmin, please!” she began to beg to me. She grabbed one of my hands and held it in front of her chest. She clenched onto roughly as she began to cry softly again. “You don’t understand; I love him!” If my heart was made of glass, it felt like somebody just took it and threw it to the ground. I suddenly felt myself being drained of all emotions and life when she knelt down with my hands in hers as she begged me not to say anything.

            “Yuri-“ I tried to speak, but she cut me off.

            “Don’t tell anybody, please!” she cried as she rubbed her thumb against the back of my hand. “Nobody can know.” After deciding to hear her out, I pulled her back onto the bed to sit.

            “Let me think about it,” I reasoned with her. “First, tell me how exactly you guys met and began dating.”

            “Remember when I had that part time job during the summer?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Well, he came to the café in a disguise and ordered some coffee.”

            “And then?”

            “He sat in front of the counter I was working at, and we ended up having small talk. Before long, he asked me out on a date and I agreed.”

            “You agreed just like that? To a stranger?”

            “Well, he told me he was around my age, and he did look about sixteen so,” she reasoned which I immediately sighed to.

            “Continue…”

            “We went on a couple of dates, and he ended up confessing that he was from SHINee and how he really liked me. I told him I would keep his secret and that I really liked him too.”

            “And that is how you guys started dating,” I finished her story for her. She nodded and gave me a worried look. I shook my head in response.

            “… so?” she finally asked.

            “Give me some time to think this over” was all I said after that. I grabbed a new shirt and pair of jeans from my closet and tried to calmly walk to my bathroom. Once inside, I ended up slamming the door shut before pressing my back against it and sliding to the ground. I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my face into the joints. I swear, if Yuri wasn’t in the next room, I would have cried right then and there. I don’t know how long I ended up staying in that position, but Yuri eventually came to check on me, asking if I was doing okay. I coldly told her I was fine and immediately stripped down to my underwear. I replaced my light blue jeans with a dark pair, and I threw on a black and white striped shirt.

            After changing, I opened the door to see Yuri sitting on the floor, back facing me. She turned around swiftly to face me with a small smile, but I just walked past her. Don’t look back, I told myself. The drive to school was a long and quiet one since I refused to speak to Yuri. Internally, I was lecturing myself for leaving her alone since she was still upset about Taemin, but I tried to push such thoughts away.

            “Lock your door,” I grumbled once we were parked. Hurriedly, I grabbed my backpack, slammed my door and ran off to the building. Once inside, I spotted Minwoo and Kwangmin sitting together on the staircase. I joined them and leisurely conversed with them as Yuri passed by.

            This continued on for the rest of the day. During classes, I sat as far away from her as possible. When we were assigned partner work, I apologized to Kwangmin a bunch of times as I stole Minwoo away from him. By lunch time, Yuri had gotten the idea and went to eat with her other friends. I sat hunched between Kwangmin and Minwoo as I picked at my food with my plastic spork. Minwoo began to get irritated towards me and Yuri and slammed his hands on the table. The people around us glanced at us strangely before returning to their original conversation.

            “What the hell is wrong with you two?” he cursed which caught both Kwangmin and I off guard. He rarely ever cussed, and when he did, it just never seemed right. It was like seeing a puppy growl like a real dog, vicious and frightening.

            “Are you okay, Minnie?” Kwangmin worriedly tried to calm down the younger. However, Minwoo didn’t let up.

            “Why have you and Yuri been ignoring each other?” Minwoo stayed focused on me. I let out a sigh before waving to him.

            “Don’t worry; everything is fine.”

            “You guys never not talk. And then during class, you kept trying to be my partner. What is this madness?”

            “Look, we just had a spat; no big deal.”

            “Spat?” Kwangmin laughed. “You make it sound like you guys had a lover’s quarrel.”

            “They probably did,” Minwoo muttered under his breath. I smacked his arm for that remark which caused the latter to wince.

            “What did he say?” Kwangmin asked, confused.

           “Nothing,” Minwoo and I both grumbled while glaring at one another. Over time, we erupted in conversation, long forgetting the earlier outburst from Minwoo. The bell rang, signaling for us to leave. Kwangmin went off on his own, but when I tried to wave goodbye to him, Minwoo grabbed my arm and dragged me off to some deserted hallway. He pushed me up against the locket in a rather intimidating way. If he didn’t have such a cute face, I probably would have been really scared.

            “Alright, now talk,” he demanded after taking a look around to make sure the coast was clear.

            “She was keeping a secret from everybody that I just found out.”

            “What is it?”

            “It’s called a secret for a reason, Minwoo,” I gave him a look that basically said ‘you are an idiot’.

            “Well, why are you avoiding her?”

            “Do you know how horrible it feels when you realize that your best friend was hiding something from you?” I nearly screamed at him. “It made me feel like she didn’t trust me; that our friendship was a lie.” Minwoo was taken aback by my rant, but his shocked expression softened to one of concern. He pulled me off the locker and wrapped a comforting arm over my shoulders.

            “Sorry, man,” he apologized even though he really had no reason to. I leaned my head on his shoulder and nodded as he walked us to class.

-----

            At the end of the day, I waved to Yuri to follow me to my car. She glanced at me solemnly before running to catch up. The drive was as awkward as the one in the morning; I still couldn’t speak to her. In the corner of my eye, I saw her sneak a few glances at me. She was twirling her thumbs to distract herself. I let out a long, exaggerated sigh while I began to have my mind wander.

            ‘Should I tell her parents?’ I thought to myself. If I did, she would probably be forced to break up with him, leaving her available for me. Over time, I could convince her that I was the one for her and end up happily after. I furrowed my eyebrows as I stopped at a stop light. But then, if I told her parents, she would hate me for the rest of my life. Should that happen, then we would never get together. The odds didn’t seem to be in my favor if I were to tell on her.

            “I’m sorry,” Yuri whispered softly before grabbing her things and exiting out the door. I widened my eyes in shock. I had hardly noticed that we made it to the apartments so soon. I reached to the backseat and gripped one of the straps to my backpack. After securing it on my back, I locked my car and headed to my apartment. Yuri just closed her door as I got up the stairs. I glanced at the wooden portal for a while before turning to mine.

            “I’ll apologize tomorrow.”

Author's Note: In case any of you wondered, the reason why I just put random pictures of Youngmin is because I still don't have a poster. I have somebody I want to make them, but they are busy. :P

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! :D Commentors and Subscribers are very loved here <3

Question of the Day: Top Five OTPs! :) For me, it is:

1. JongKey

2. BaekYeol

3. 2Min

4. ChunJoe

5. YoungWoo

Credits to the owners of the pictures and gifs. :)