“Ai Lin! I’ll do it today!”

Ai Lin looked up from the book that she was reading  and raised an eyebrow at Hyorin who looked like she was about to enter a war with another country…”you’re doing what exactly Hyonnie?”

“I’m going to confess to Minseok oppa tomorrow!”

The slightly taller girl closed the book that she was reading, “what brought about this sudden confession Kim Hyorin?”

“Well…I talked to Chanyeol and he said I should confess before the last leaf falls from our favorite tree or Minseok oppa will turn to a meatbun then Kai would eat him.”

Ai Lin sighed and patted Hyorin’s cheek before turning to Tao who was eating Hyorin made strawberry cake, “Tao?”

“Yeah?” 

“Please tell Channie to run for his life tomorrow…”

Tao smirked and took another big bite of the strawberry cake, “sure thing…”

Hyorin looked at the two confused, “Huh? Why?”

“First off… Xiumin gege may look like a meatbun but he will not turn to a real one even if that tree died. Second, Kai will not eat Xiumin meatbun because I’m sure Xiumin ge will give him indigestion.”

“O-oh…so Channie t-tricked me?”

Tao chuckled and Ai Lin slowly nodded…

*stands up, enraged* “Why that Chanyeol?! I’ll cut him to pieces! Ai Lin let me go! I’ll head over to his house and cut his fingers!”

Ai Lin held Hyorin’s arms and sighed again, “Calm down Hyorin… revenge can wait tomorrow. Anyway, since you were so keen on confessing to Xiumin gege then why not go through with it?”

“H-huh? B-but I… I mean… I don’t have to do that anymore right? C-cause Minseok won’t turn to a- a meatbun?”

“Oooh! Confess Hyorin noona!”

Ai Lin threw a pillow aimed to hit Tao’s head but he was able to catch it… however, he wasn’t aware of the second pillow and it hit him square on the face, “shut up…”

“Don’t mind him. Hyonnie, everyone can see that you two are in love with each other… besides, you were so bent on doing that earlier so why back out now?”

Hyorin sighed as she blushed tomato red, “well… okay… b-but what if he really doesn’t like me? I don’t want to lose my best friend.”

“Noona, love is very similar to gambling… sometimes you would need to do that risk in order to win. As long as you play your cards right, it should be okay. Besides, if Xiumin gege won’t have you… then I’ll marry you instead.”

Hyorin blushed redder and a vein popped out of Ai Lin’s head, “Just when I thought you were spouting something with sense, Huang Zi Tao…”

“What? You jealous Zhou Ai Lin?”

“What? Why would I?! Y-you’re teasing me again aren’t you?! Oh you little…”

The fight between the two was halted when Hyorin started to talk, “E-erm… I think I’m going to do it Ai Lin. I’m going to confess.”

Ai Lin stopped in the middle of hitting Tao so she could hug her friend, “that’s my Hyonnie! Do your best!”

“I will! Thank you both!” Hyorin grinned and ran home so she could plan how to execute her confession…

First attempt:  confess after school

“This is it!”

Hyorin was about to rush out when she heard the voice of their class president….”where do you think you are going Hyorin?”

“U-um… home? Hehe…”

“You have cleaning duties today! Don’t even think of skipping!”

Hyorin’s face fell as she remembered that she was on duty today, “B-but there’s something I have to do today…”

“No! You skipped last week too! I will not tolerate irresponsibility!”

FIRST ATTEMPT: FAILED

Second attempt:   Make him bento then confess

“Minseok oppa?”

Xiumin stood and walked over to Hyorin, “let’s have lunch together!”

He pushed his glasses into place with his forefinger and gave a small smile, “I’m sorry Hyorinnie… Kris and I have to finish council duties today so we will be spending lunch period there.”

Hyorin pouted and Xiumin fought the urge to pinch her cheeks, “but I haven’t spent any time with you since last week! You’re always busy! I miss you oppa…”

“I miss you a lot too. I really want to spend time with you but with the school festival coming and the sports fest… its really hectic.

From behind Hyorin spoke Tao who had a mischievous grin on his face, “I’ll have lunch with you noona!!!  Ai Lin said you cooked lunch so it’s a waste to throw it away!”

*vein popped* “Huang Zi Tao… what are you doing here?”

Ai Lin bowed in apology at the two before she dragged the younger man by the collar. Kris laughed as he approached the two, “those two acts like actual siblings despite not being blood related don’t they?”

Xiumin nodded a soft smile on his face…”Oh I don’t know, Kris… I won’t be shocked if they’d eventually end up together.”

“Really oppa? But don’t they always fight? And they are still somehow related to each other since Tao’s mum married Ai Lin’s dad.”

Kris nodded as he looked at Ai Lin scolding a happy looking Tao,” It’s going to be a tough road if they are willing to take it… but at least they would be honest with themselves then unlike some people I know.”

Hyorin looked at Kris with a confused expression while Xiumin glared making Kris smile, “never mind. Come on Xiumin… SuHo already went ahead. See ya little Hyorin!”

“Ya!!! Kris oppa, I’m not that short!”

Xiumin playfully jabbed Kris as he went out the door, “don’t call others short just because you are insanely tall… Hyorin, I’ll talk to you later okay?”

Hyorin nodded absentmindedly when Xiumin bumped his forehead on hers lightly. Then she remembered the bento she painstakingly made, “w-wait Minseok oppa!”

Kris patted Xiumin’s shoulder and murmured that he will go ahead so Xiumin waited for his childhood friend, “oppa… take this with you.”

Xiumin smiled as he took the prepared bento from Hyorin’s hand, “you cooked this for me?”

“Yes oppa… I hope you like it. I’ve also included some of your favorite meat buns in the paperbag.”

He took Hyorin’s hand in his and gave it a light squeeze, “I know I’ll like it! My Hyorin is the best cook in Seoul! ”

Kai who was passing by removed his headphones just to say, “When you two lovebirds are done… hyung follow to the Council room. The other hyungs are already there…” before he was elbowed by Taemin who scolded him as they walked pass.

Xiumin and Hyorin flushed bright red and XIumin coughed awkwardly to hide his blush, “ahem… I’ll be going.  Thank you again for the food“

Hyorin watched his bestfriend go with a smile on her face only to realize that her opportunity has passed…

SECOND ATTEMPT: FAILED

Third attempt:   Give him a love letter

Ai Lin met with an exhausted Hyorin at the park within their school, “hey what happened to you?”

With a shrug Hyorin said, “This confession thing takes a lot out of me… plus the fact that I can’t seem to get a hold of Minseok oppa for the past week.”

“They’ve been busy… you know how it is.”

*pout* “But Tao is a member of the council and I still see him.”

Ai Lin chuckled and patted the sad Hyorin’s shoulder, “Tao is superman… it is unfair to compare him to a meatbun.”

“Heeeeey! This is my meatbun we are talking about!”

Ai Lin chuckled at the easily enraged Hyorin and she ruffled her hair, “all right... all right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any offense to the beloved meatbun. Sooo... tell me about the confession instead…”

Hyorin stared at the sky and sighed deeply, “well you know about the two failed ones… I was really serious about it too. This time I made a really long love letter with all my feelings and placed it in his locker. ”

“WHAAAAAT?!”

“Huh? What’s with the reaction? Did I do the wrong thing?”

Ai Lin facepalmed, “yes you did dear…. That letter won’t even reach your beloved Minseok oppa.”

“It won’t? Why?”

Hyorin received a disbelieving glare and she just blinked innocently making Ai Lin sigh in frustration, “sometimes you make me want to hit my head on the wall… good thing I love you as my sister.”

“I love you too!”

“Now Hyorin listen to me… do you actually know how famous EXO is in our school?”

“EXO… it’s the group name they gave to the Kingkas right? I heard that from Yoorim.”

Ai Lin nodded, “yes… that is correct. All of the members of EXO are famous beyond your imagination… and one of them is your Minseok oppa.”

Hyorin’s eyes grew as large as saucers, “He is?”

The Chinese girl nodded and stood, “same as Tao… come with me. I’ll show you why the letters won’t reach him.”

The two walked towards the lockers and Ai Lin stopped at one of them making Hyorin raise an eyebrow, “wait… this isn’t yours… whose locker is this?”

“Tao’s”

“Huh? Why do you have his key?”

Ai Lin inserted the key and Hyorin heard the lock click before she got an answer, “this is a copy. Tao gave this to me himself a few months ago so I can clean these for him. Now please move over a little bit and hold this bag for me.”

Hyorin moved a few feet away, gripping the bag Ai Lin gave her… as soon as the locker opened, a whole stack of letters fell on the floor completely emptying its contents.” Whoa! That’s all for Tao?”

Ai Lin nodded and sighed, “At first… he thought these were challenge letters at first because he is great at martial arts but he discovered that these are love letter ones so he asked me to get it for him every day so he can read them at home. I’ve also heard Luhan oppa mention that he can’t get his books out of the locker cause of the mess every day. As for the rest of EXO, I heard Kai say they throw them away cause they think it’s troublesome to filter all the letters who are just t.”

“Oh my God no! My letter!”

Hyorin rushed to where Xiumin’s locker is located, leaving Ai Lin who carefully placed all of Tao’s letters in his bag. When she got there, she found SeHun closing Kai’s locker with a full garbage bag. “SeHunnie!”

“Hyorin noona!”

“Are those the letters from the other EXO members?”

Sehun shook his head, “no… these are Kai and Kris hyung’s…. Kyungsoo hyung and Tao was asked to clear out the rest but I think they are done by now. Is there anything wrong Hyorin noona?”

Hyorin blinked back the tears that are starting to form in her eyes and she immediately shook her head, “No… I- um… I’m okay. Thank you Sehun….”

SeHun watched as Hyorin left and he sighed, “poor noona… I wonder what’s wrong…”

Hyorin ran back to the bench she was sitting on but her close friend was nowhere to be found. She slowly sat on the bench and wiped the tears from her eyes, “I didn’t make it… my letter… is gone.  Ai Lin left me too… “

THIRD ATTEMPT: FAILED

Ai Lin struggled from within Tao’s arms, “let me go! Can’t you see she’s crying?!”

Tao sighed as he tightened the arms he had around the older girl, “it will be all right Ai Lin. Don’t worry too much.”

“How can I not worry?! My friend is crying and I am held against my will by my supposedly younger brother!”

“I’m not your younger brother, Zhou Ai Lin.”

Ai Lin gasped and Tao chuckled as he slowly released the hug, “I want to be much much more than that to you… but this isn’t the right place or time for this. We’ll talk at home, bǎobèi. Let’s go.”

*blush* “W-what did you just say?”

Tao simply grinned and tapped Ai Lin’s cheek with his finger, “I said… we should go home.”

“B-but Hyorin…”

“Will be okay. I can assure you that. ”

Ai Lin finally nodded and she inserted her hand into his... “I trust you Huang Zi Tao. You better not disappoint.”

Tao lifted Ai Lin’s hand and gave it a light kiss, “I won’t.”

Meanwhile the frustrated Hyorin was having a little discussion with herself as she stared at the sky, “I’ve had to be the unluckiest girl in the whole world…failing three times. Is this God’s way of telling me to give up?”

“No… I don’t think it’s that… “

Hyorin jumped as Xiumin got out of his hiding place just behind the large tree, “Oppa! h-how long… d-did you hear what I said?”

Xiumin chuckled, “everything since you ran back here, Hyorinnie… “

Hyorin turned beet red and she crossed her arms, “Y-you shouldn’t be eavesdropping!”

“Well… I wasn’t intending to. I was just here because of a mission…and then you blurted all that out.”

*raised eyebrow*”What mission?”

Xiumin ignored the question as he looked at the sky and smiled when he saw the first star has come out,” ah… finally…”

“Minseok oppa….”

Xiumin grabbed Hyorin’s arm and dragged her behind the school’s biggest tree where a romantic picnic for two was set up. Assorted dishes with strawberry are laid on the blanket and Hyorin gaped.

He then walked closer to his best friend and held both of her hands, “Kim Hyorin… I know I’m not the most handsome or the smartest guy in this world but… I promise to do my best just to make you happy forever. Will you give your meatbun a chance?”

Tears slowly fell from Hyorin’s face and Xiumin started to panic, “why? Did I do anything wrong? You said you wanted to be confessed to by having a picnic under the stars on a blue moon so I checked the date and I read on a website that today is the Blue moon so I finally could confess…”

Hyorin wiped the tears from her eyes and she lightly hit Xiumin on the chest, “Stupid meatbun!”

“Stupid? Me? Why?”

“I wouldn’t have minded if it was a full moon, half moon, or no moon at all… as long as you can be mine.”

Xiumin finally broke into a smile and he lightly tugged on Hyorin’s hands so they are both seated on the picnic blanket, “I know you would say that but if I can give my darling what she wanted then why not. I guess I have to apologize too…”

“For what?”

Xiumin scratched his neck and sheepishly smiled, “For…purposely messing up your plans… you must understand though that my pride as a man will be crushed if I allowed the girl I love to confess to me first.”

Hyorin raised an eyebrow, “That was on purpose? How’d you do that?”

“Well…. first, I had Kris talk to your class president so you couldn’t get out of the room. She likes him a lot, you know. Poor her, Kris has someone else in mind. Second time, we actually really had a meeting that one time but I could ditch if I really pushed it. Third…”

Hyorin’s heart started to beat faster when she realized that her Minseok oppa was moving closer and closer. Her eyes instinctively closed when she felt warm breath on her left ear, “I…have your letter.”

Her eyes opened wide in shock, “h-how did you… I thought Kai threw the letters…”

Xiumin leaned on the tree and smiled, “Tao told me you wrote a love letter so I took out all the letters earlier. I had one of the boys on rotation as watchers so when you dropped the letter in… I was able to get it first. Ah, don’t be angry at SeHun though… we lied to him.”

Hyorin glared and hit Xiumin’s shoulder, “Ow! What was that for?!”

“How can you lie to SeHun like that? He’s an angel!”

Xiumin glared back, surprising Hyorin… “I don’t like hearing you speak like that about any other men, Kim Hyorin. You are finally mine now and I don’t like sharing.”

Chills ran through Hyorin but it was not exactly unpleasant, “hey… you can say stuff like that but you haven’t even told me what I wanted to hear…”

*smirk* “Oh I haven’t?”

Hyorin pouted and made a move to stand, “That’s it! I’m going!”

Xiumin laughed, “Your patience has always been unbearably thin… but I love that about you too. I love you Kim Hyorin…”

Hyorin blushed beet red and allowed herself to be hugged by her former bestfriend… now boyfriend… “That’s… unfair…”

“Jagiya, all is fair in love and war … “