"They saw the worst in each other from the start until there was nothing left to hate anymore." 

Yunho was seven then.  His parents brought him to someone’s wedding and he wore a black suit and his hair was combed neatly like always.  It was the usual boring adult gathering, adults talking about adult stuff that he barely understood and no one would waste his time to talk to kids like him.  Not until he saw Max. 

Shim Changmin, or Max as his friends in school would call him, was trying to fix his hair, only making it more unruly in his opinion.  Changmin was trying to get away from his mother who at all cost was keeping him within her reach by gripping the back of his suit.  He saw Changmin’s mother whisper something to him which deepened the crease already on his forehead.

“I don’t want to,” the boy his age exclaimed which made his mother a little flushed.

“Come on, honey.  Just try befriending her or play with her somewhere.”  Mrs. Shim was as gentle as he ever seen him and she was trying to make her son to befriend someone.  It came as no surprise to him because as far as he knows, Changmin is not likely a sociable kid. 

“But she’s a girl!  I can’t play tea party with her.  I refuse to,” he adamantly said.  By then, Changmin has freed himself of his tie and made his hair look like a bird’s nest. 

“Oh, boy,” Mrs. Shim sighed.  “If you continue being like this stubborn kid, I would be forced to keep your playstation and never let you play.”  Changmin’s eyes widened at what she said and he was ready to fight all hell for his right.  He didn’t know how and why but he surrendered under his mother’s eyes and gave the kid his mother was forcing him to play with his deadliest glare. 

He was sure that he heard a grumpy “fine” before he stalked off somewhere.  Right behind him, followed a girl in a frilly pink dress.  He couldn’t see her face as the two went to the opposite direction from him.  He looked at his mother and decided that he should really go after the two who were his age.  He had a hard time finding the two first until he saw the head of the bobbing girl as she was following Changmin in hopscotch. 

Yunho was as surprised to see an English garden when they finally reached outside of the house as Changmin to see him following them.  He truly didn’t know someone in Korea would fancy blocks of shrubs as gardens.

“Jung Yunho!  What are you doing here?  Do I have to babysit you, too?” Changmin asked without any trace of tact.  He glanced at the girl between them only to see her looking more interested with the little labyrinth in front of them.

“Hello there.  I saw you two going somewhere and since the three of us are the only kids here, I might as well come along.  I hope you don’t mind.”  Changmin looked at him dubiously before his face broke into a big grin.

“Great.  Now here’s a suggestion.  Why don’t you and girly here have a little walk right to that big fountain over there and you go play with her while I keep a guard here for you, too.”  The gleam in his eyes said he expected him to bite on that suggestion.  He wanted to laugh at the thought because no one but his father does those things to him.  There was a sudden urge to make this Changmin his friend.

“My name is Yuri and I am not just some ‘girly here’,” the girl they were with suddenly said.  That little statement alone made the situation a little more interesting, Yunho thought, because they never expected her to have a say on the matter.  “I had a choice back there.  But I chose to follow you and endure a snobbish kid’s company.  I bet that you only know of boring games anyway, like all the boring kids I know.” 

She then went running towards the fountain leaving them two boys’ mouths hanging open.  “I… I… Who did she say she was again?!” Changmin followed suit, not liking the idea of some girl calling him ‘boring’ and ‘snobbish’.    He shook his head and followed the two.

Apparently, it didn’t take much to tear the hem of Yuri’s dress and some of Changmin’s buttons off his shirt.  All they had to do was to play tag and they just went to get things out of their way just not to get caught.  As soon as they broke into leaps and runs, their squeals filled otherwise quiet part of the villa.  When Changmin saw how neat he still looked, he told him so reproachfully like he broke a part of their rule.

“Yah!  How come you still look like you hadn’t been running with us all this time?  Your shirt is still tucked and your hair is-” Changmin gasped as he touched his hair.  “Your hair is like made of rocks!”

That part of their childhood defined their relationship until they grew up.  Changmin was the first kid, ever, to say that finally something seemed wrong with him.  Everyone their age looked up to him and wanted to be on his good side and that meant they up to him but not Shim Changmin.  He was blunt and honest.  That made him more likeable to Yunho.

For the first time, he felt ashamed because someone mocked the perfection he always emulated.  His face was all red, his eyes wide and he was rooted on his spot like he has just been petrified.  Then he heard a high pitch laugh.  Perhaps it was because he could hear the genuine glee at her laughter or at the fact that she did laugh at his predicament, he didn’t know but he started to harbor something towards Kwon Yuri.  Or perhaps it was because she looked all pretty even with her once lovely dress now a bit torn and worn.  It made his stomach felt funny. 

“What’s so funny, girly?” he spat at her.  Yuri looked offended at the obvious gender implication towards her. 

“Look who’s pissed.  It’s just Mr. Perfect.  I won’t look so pissed if I were you because it’s messing your hair.  Oh wait, of course, your hair wouldn’t be so messy, it wouldn’t move at all!”  Yunho was usually polite in front of girls, no matter what their age are but Kwon Yuri was asking none of it so he didn’t spare her one.

“Girly, is that your dress you’re wearing because it doesn’t suit you in any way.  You don’t even look like a girl,” he said with a smirk on his face.  He knew from her previous reactions that she was sensitive to gender discriminating remarks.  He was sure that she was going to cry because her face contorted in very weird way possible.  He was sure she was going to charge at him because he could see the clenched fists by her sides.  When she would cry, he would not even think of comforting words to say to her because she made his stomach feel like churning.  He was so sure except that what followed next was what he expected. 

“If you think you are ever going to see me cry, think again,” she said in a whispered voice then run off beside Changmin who was quietly observing them.  There was a small smile playing on his lips until Yuri abruptly pulled him with her away from him.

“Hey, you’re going?” Changmin said through the window of his car.  He had been down the memory lane for too long he was the only one left inside.    Yuri was standing far behind Changmin looking not so pleased that he was ‘slacking’.  At least she was not as not pleased when she saw his car in front of their house earlier.  He was on the other hand had been on the celebratory mood since then.  While the two kept on bickering on their way, Changmin was just listening and nodding to each point they would make.  That didn’t make Yuri’s temper cool down in any way.

“Yeah,” he said and joined them. 

“Are you sure that you want to join us?  These parties are illegal,” Yuri said casually.  Of course he knew that.  SM Underground parties are big events for big time drug dealing, social ion and what’s not.  Yes, their parties rock but they always include money passed under the table.  And every SM Underground party would end up with a police raid. 

“I am quite aware of that,” Yunho said and glanced at Changmin.  He knew how the two had been in big parties before and he would always be with them, mainly because Yunho is a comfort name for both of their parents but he has never been into one of these. 

“Are you scared now, pretty boy?” Yuri asked mockingly before giving him a sweet smile.  He truly thought excelled in nothing but in getting on his nerves at the right time.  It needed years of perfection and she did right down pat.

“Just don’t come crying to me when you get molested by a stoned punk, Kwon.”  Yunho then went to a door with two big foreigner guys guarding it.  He presented his ticket and went inside without waiting for them. 

“Your friend’s pissed,” she nudged Changmin before she held on to him.  Changmin gave both of their tickets to one of the huge guys and let her in first.  The music that was barely heard outside kept on getting louder when they got inside.

“It’s really interesting how it would turn out when the two of you would stop bickering,” Changmin said over the loud music.  Yuri looked at him and realized that he said something she didn’t hear.  She mouthed ‘what’ and made some gestures that meant she didn’t hear anything because of the loud noise.  Changmin just chuckled and led her deeper into underground party.

Yunho was starting to like the party as the time passed.  He was sitting on a bar, drinking some beer he had just hear though he could tell that it was German by the sound when the bartender said its name.   There had been girls who had hit on him but he wasn’t swayed.  He had also seen a couple of trades because they were not really discreet as what would always be seen on TV and movies.

“Whatcha got there.”  He felt the hair at the back of his head stand as the husky woman’s voice whispered from behind his back.  He felt her palms press his back and automatically spun to apprehend the trespassing hands.  On impulse, he snatched her wrists only to meet the eyes he had been dreading since he was seven.  “My, my… Howdy gorgeous.” 

It was weird hearing Kwon Yuri using that sultry voice on him.  He was hot all over until he felt like a bucket of ice cold water was just splashed on him when her usual mocking smirk was sent his way.

“I got you there,” she said as she leaned to get a drink on his beer.

“,” he spat out.  He knew that he and Yuri would never pick up somewhere and be friends like him and Changmin or her and Changmin yet this kind of intimacy between them sort of came with Changmin in their lives.

Yuri laughed openly.  “I was about to pity you for being such a er even at a place like this but making fun of you is so much better.”  Some other time Yuri could get him on his knees feeling ashamed, mocked and forgetting that he was Jung Yunho but still not get pissed.  But this night was different.  Everything seemed to have anything to do with Yuri seemed to offend him and he was reaching his boiling point.

“Wow.  You’re pretty smart, huh?  If you just put that mind to work in class, Changmin probably won’t have a hard time tutoring you or making up for your neglected projects,” he said and took a swig on his beer.

“…which he does in good will.  He is so unlike you, right?” she made a pouty face. It was so repulsive it made his skin crawl.  “You know, I could have dated you.  Really.  But you are too much of a jerk to me anyway.”

And he reached his boiling point.  He grabbed her neck and pulled her to him.  He kissed her hard.  She didn’t fight him as his fingers tightened their hold on her neck.  It would probably leave marks but it didn’t cross their minds.  He came back to his senses when a girl bumped on to him.  They stood there not knowing what to do next.  If it were other women, he would have held her hand and ask her out on a date.  But this was Yuri.  He never did anything right when it came to her, and kissing her was one of those.

And all of a sudden he felt a painful burn on his cheek after her right palm made in contact with it.  He had no time to cope with the sudden turn of events when he heard “jerk” from what he could guess as Yuri.

“What the hell.  You kissed her?!” The music was still loud but Yunho thought Changmin’s voice couldn’t any be louder.

“It was kind of sudden.  I didn’t really mean to kiss but she was annoying the hell out of me.”

“She was always annoying the hell out of you.  When the hell did she not anyway?”  Yunho looked at his best friend and he looked as calm as he always looked but he knew he was frantic inside.  They had been looking for Yuri and they know the party would soon come to an end. 

“Of course.”

At the first sign of blaring sirens outside, Changmin’s eyes filled with alarm.  The cops were already outside.  They both knew there would be exits everywhere but Yuri was still nowhere to be seen.

“Changmin,” he said and grabbed him by the shoulders.  “You go ahead, I’ll find her.”

People everywhere started hurrying in every direction in search for exits.  It was like a game.  If you can’t find an exit, you’ll your picked up by the cops. 

He pushed Changmin into one direction to separate them.  “Wait for us in the car.  And I’ll bring her with me.”  Once Changmin hesitatingly turned his back on him, he darted to look for Yuri.  He tried at one of the wash room he saw in the corner.  When he went inside, he could hear a sobbing sound from one of the stalls.  “Yuri,” he called out. 

He needed to find Yuri soon and he hazarded a guess that behind one of the doors in that place was Yuri.  He wasn’t answered and the sobbing became louder.  “Yuri, is that you?”

“I know your voice.  Go away.”  It was a croak from the last stall.  He didn’t have to push too much until the door gave in to his strength. 

Yuri was actually sitting on the floor.  The dress that previously clung to her body like a second skin has some tears, and some of the bead details were strewn on the floor.  The heel of her right shoe was nowhere to be seen and her foot had a red mark that he was sure would turn blue later on.  Her eyes and cheeks were red and puffy and the only makeup she wore, her eyeliner and mascara, made her look like a raccoon.

He handed her a handkerchief and turned around.  He didn’t want to see her cry even if it would topple the wall of pride between them after all these years.  He just couldn’t.  He couldn’t continue looking at her because she made his stomach felt funny.

A/N: Is it confusing as hell?  Just hit your questions if there's any.  EDIT:   I'm taking time to explain this, yay!  You see the tagline of the banner?  Yeah, stick to that because I surprisingly did (considering I was sane when writing only the first part of the chapter).  The first part is the explanation of how they don't have the same relationship with each other as they have with Changmin.  And the second part is progression of the story.  They wouldn't figure what's wrong until they break that boundary surrounding them from each other.