Suddenly before him to his left he saw a figure walking down the side of the road in a gloomy manner. Swerving the car to a stop in front of her with a loud halt he watched as Taeyeon turned up to look at him alarmed.

Their eyes met for some time before Leeteuk said, “Get in.”

“Leave me alone.” she told him off coldly walking around the front of the car.

Leeteuk watched her make her way in front of the car before climbing down from his seat. He followed her and called her name a few times and when he received no reply from her he quickened his pace to catch up to her. By now they had already left the van far behind them.

Grabbing her arm to pull her to a stop Leeteuk said, “Go back. Why are you out here?”

“Didn’t I explain to you? I said leave me alone. What part of that do you not get?” she questioned angrily.

Leeteuk cold only stare at her and wonder what Changmin’s mother had said.

“This is not how you get away,” Leeteuk told facing her, “if someone tells me to go away, I’d stay just to get back at them. Don’t you know that listening to someone’s words means that you’ve lost to them?”

When she didn’t say anything Leeteuk figured that he’d got her good. He glanced at her hand and wondered if it’d be alright to take her hand and lead her back to the van. Before he could thoroughly think he’d already taken her hand and made his way back toward the van. However, halfway there Taeyeon pulled her hand out of his.

“Go back,” Taeyeon ordered, “who told you to come out here? And who are you to talk to me about rebellion?”

Leeteuk stared at her in surprise. “Then who are you to tell me not to talk to you about rebellion?”

Taeyeon stared back at him with a glare, “What do you want from me?”

“To go back with me,” Leeteuk answered. “Why are you always putting up a fight with me?”

“Because you’re always doing something that makes others worry!” Leeteuk explained and finally caught himself.

He turned away feeling embarrassed.

“I don’t want to go back with you.” Taeyeon completely ignored his reaction earlier.

“Because I’m not Changmin? Did you expect him to come after you?” Leeteuk asked half hurt and half angry.

Taeyeon’s jaw dropped and before she could retort Leeteuk grabbed her arm pulling her toward the van. The two of them wrestled yelling back and forth before they finally reached the van. When Leeteuk finally got her in he began to head back toward the mansion, but things only turned worse when Taeyeon did not give up the struggle. Still on the urge to fight with him she grabbed the steering wheel turning it back and forth swerving the van here and there.

“Stop it!” Leeteuk managed to shout while trying to pry her fingers off the wheel.

When the van dropped over the edge of the road head first into a thick mud pile created by the rain from last night did the fight between them cease as screams escaped their mouths. They came to a harsh stop as the mud splattered against the windshield and the van came to a loud thump finally landing on all four wheels.

Leeteuk leaned back into his seat rubbing his forehead feeling pain spread all over his neck and down his back. Scrunching his face up from the pain he turned to see Taeyeon doing the same. However, just when he assumed that Taeyeon had given up the fight she reached for the door and tried to push it open. Locking the doors in a hurry Leeteuk set the van in reverse before stepping on the accelerator to discover that the wheels could only run on hopelessly.

“Oh come on!” Leeteuk moaned slapping the steering wheel.

Taeyeon laughed amused, “The van’s stuck, so don’t even try.”

Unlocking the door she stepped out and Leeteuk quickly followed after taking the keys with him. When he finally stepped out he stared at his shoes, which were dirty with the mud he’d just stepped into.  

“Great.” he muttered and turned to look around.

“Be my guest and walk back,” Taeyeon remarked from the other side of the van.

Leeteuk glanced at her unhappily then noticed that her shoes were also dirty with mud. A smirk climbed onto his face before he finally glanced up at the sky.

“It might rain again,” the comment escaped from his mouth.  

Taeyeon also turned to look up and flinched when a raindrop landed on her face.

“Great,” she muttered.

;;;;;

“Where’s Leeteuk?” Siwon asked staring out the window. “It’s been nearly half an hour.”

“Maybe they’re having a fight,” Jang Hyuk shrugged as he changed the channel again and again.

“A guy and a girl together…well you know what that means,” Junsu snickered with a giggle. “I mean, who doesn’t want to be alone in this village?”

“You’re sick,” Gyuri remarked with her arms crossed while sitting back on the couch.

“Oh! Stop!” Seungho shouted as Jang Hyuk flipped right pass the weather forecast. “Another rainstorm?”

“Wow! Maybe Taeyeon and Leeteuk are stranded somewhere then.” Jang Hyuk explained.

“Should we go out?” Yoona asked turning to Siwon, who hadn’t stopped giving her that strange look, since they’ve got out of her room.   

“The storm will probably get worse in seconds,” Siwon pointed out, “I think they’ll be fine.”

;;;;;

Taeyeon and Leeteuk were soon running across the field with their arms over their heads as the rain began falling down like a bucket of rain, and their clothes became drenched in seconds. After it had started sprinkling Leeteuk had been quick to notice the shed standing in the middle of the field. He’d started making a run for it and Taeyeon had just tagged along without word. Pushing the door opened to the shed that seemed to stand in the middle of nowhere they entered and turned around to stare out at the storm through the open door.

“What’s with all the rain this summer?” Taeyeon mumbled squeezing the water out of her hair.

“I’d like to know, too,” Leeteuk added staring at the excess water coming from her hair, which landed on the floor with quite some noise.

He finally turned around to see that the shed was empty.

“How long will it last?” Taeyeon wondered aloud.

“Well, while it lasts I want to warm up,” Leeteuk said walking toward the wall and sat down against it. “Close the door, will you?”

Taeyeon turned to look at him before she turned around to glance at the pouring raindrops before finally closing the door. When she sat down beside Leeteuk he turned to look at her feeling his heart rate increase a little.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

Taeyeon folded her legs up to her chest and leaned her chin atop her knee without answering.

“If I didn’t come after you, you’d probably be sitting here by yourself,” Leeteuk assumed.

“Whether alone or not you wouldn’t really be alone anyway.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Leeteuk.

Taeyeon just shook her head in reply.

“Don’t do that, you’re only going to get colder,” Leeteuk said.

He watched as she seemed to ponder over what he’d just said before straightening up her legs in front of her. She leaned back against the wall staring at the wall opposite them.

“Why would you want to come back to a place where you don’t have decent memories?” Taeyeon asked.

“What?”

“You…and Changmin,” Taeyeon clarified. “For sure, you should have known he’d still be here, so why did you bother coming back?”

“It wasn’t me,” Leeteuk corrected, “my mother, no, my grandma made the decision because she did not want to leave her mansion alone.”

Leeteuk’s memory had been disabled because of the boating accident, which had also left Changmin as a scapegoat…for what? What could have possibly happened that had labeled him a scapegoat? How terrible was the accident that even no one in the village wanted to tell her about it? Why did Leeteuk seem clueless about this other person that had been involved? There were so many unanswered questions that would possibly never be answered. Even if she asked him he wouldn’t be able to tell her anything.

“Your memory’s not as bad as mine, so why don’t you talk about your childhood?” Leeteuk asked.

Taeyeon turned to look at him abruptly as she jumped out of her thoughts.

“Why?” Leeteuk wondered. “How bad could your childhood be that you don’t want to talk about it?”

It seemed like a question that ridiculed her. And just like the monk, seemed to challenge her. Though with the curious way he always seemed to looking at her told her that he was just curious. Turning away Taeyeon remained silent first.

There was no tension, she didn’t have to worry about being alone with him and worry about what would happen next. Unlike when she was with Changmin. She’d have to worry about how long they could stay out and if he snuck out or if he’d get into trouble when he headed back home. With Leeteuk…it was just safe. Safe was a word that was rare for her.

So she decided to go on with it, “I told you once that I’m the only child. It was a lie. I had an older sister. I’m not the kind to give many compliments, I’m the kind of person who is stiff about their emotions. Therefore, I was never really kind. She was the opposite of me. She was always bright, outgoing, smart, full of laughter and had a great laugh that made many people smile along with her. My parents were more devoted to her than I. I wasn’t jealous…it’s the kind of love, you feel happy for someone else because they have something you don’t but because you’re deprived you can only feel lonely and watch on.”

She seemed to have spaced out and had gone back into time as she went on, sort of forgetting that Leeteuk was there staring at her. Taeyeon was just dwelling into her own world of loneliness that she always had hidden.

“One night I lost her,” Taeyeon could see herself crying hastily inside but just lowered her head and said, “then I left for my other life in Australia. I’ve never lived as brilliantly as you. That may be why you see me as how I am now.”

“Yea, you’re right,” Leeteuk said unable to turn away from her, “maybe I am far more lucky than you, but I’ve never asked to be lucky nor did I ever asked to be shielded by anyone. If you smile more and have more of a positive outlook on the world I’m sure you’d see a lot of things differently. You’re very stubborn, so that’s why it’s hard to change your outlook on things, you know?”

“We often look back to our past and reflect on it. If we’ve had a bad past, we’d think negatively, if we’ve had a happy past, we’d think more positively. Isn’t that how it goes? So how can a negative person think positively?”

“Not if you haven’t tried to change your mindset. If you wouldn’t try to push anyone from becoming your friend away maybe you’d see things differently. You should try to let people influence you, and you should try to listen to what others tell you. By changing the way you think and yourself then the world wouldn’t seem so against you.”

“Are you just talking about yourself?”

Leeteuk turned away a little feeling a bit shy. Yes, he’d been referring to himself. If she wouldn’t try to push him away he was sure that he’d be able to make her see a lot of things differently.

“Why should you care?” Taeyeon retorted. “We’re not friends nor are we supposed to be someone important. Just don’t care about anything and no one would care about you.”

Leeteuk was sent into his own thoughts. He’d never minded Taeyeon from the start but because of the fact that he was farthest from her in the group he wanted to get closer. And after trying to get closer he hadn’t gotten closer to her at all. In fact the only way in which he’d gotten closer was with his feelings that wanted to envelope her. He’d become almost infatuated with trying to get close without being aware of his own train of thoughts, which had become sidetracked. Instead he was slowly dwelling on the hint of romance.

Taeyeon was not the average girl, she wasn’t someone who stood out well but remained well hidden behind the thick crowd. Taeyeon was interesting, mysterious, and who knew if what she’d just told him about her past was true or not. She was an introvert, someone who would rather be considered a loner than start getting acquainted with other people. But he liked it. Those things about her was beginning to become more and more eye catching to him.

“It’s just because I think…I like you.” Leeteuk said so quietly that after he’d ended his sentence he was afraid to know what she’d think about him.