Never has Choi Minho felt so nervous and excited at the same time.

When Shinee debuted, he was comforted by the knowledge that the feelings were shared with four other guys.

But today, the feelings were all his alone.

It was exactly one week since the Shinee boys got back from their European and South American tour.

Minho has been laying low since then.

He did try to call Sulli twice but for some reason or another, she did not accept his calls. Once it was ringing till the call got cut. Another time, it was Luna who answered, telling him that Sulli was taking a shower.

She was avoiding me, he thought.

Minho could not really fault her, though. He started the game, after all.

After their talk of taking a break from each other some two months ago, Sulli did call him a few times - just to say hello and wish him safe journey. And a few long distance ones to check whether the boys, Hyun Woo and him made it safely to their destination.

Although Minho did accept the calls, all of them were kept to a bare 2 or 3 minutes worth. Which was a far cry from the hours that they could spend on the phone together.

He looked around the dance floor for her once he got to the studio.

"She's not here. She stepped out for a while," said the ever observant Amber. The f(x) girls arrived two hours earlier having had to attend their vocal classes.

"Chincha? Where to?"

"The kitchenette, I think," Amber shrugged. "Said something about washing her bottle and refilling it."

"Arasso. Thanks," Minho said and hurriedly headed towards the kitchenette down the hall.

Minho was never one to procrastinate.

Once he has made up his mind, he would normally be steadfast to it, or die trying.  And reconciling with Sulli after two months of separation was something that he has made his mind up for; and no man, management or monster can stand in his way.

In truth, Sulli was hiding. She made her exit as soon as she heard the boys came in.

They were all gathering at the second floor dance studio to practice for an upcoming show. Upon hearing the robust group walking up the stairs, Sulli quickly made an exit by the side door and scurried towards the kitchenette.

She could not bring herself to be in the same room with Minho, and being uncomfortable about it. The thought alone was alien to her. Never in her life was she ever uncomfortable in the presence of her Oppa.

But today, she just wanted to avoid him like the plague.

Minho found her acting busy by the sink. The kitchenette was small by standard. Barely enough to house a counter with the sink, coffee machine and microwave oven. There was also a small fridge and a round table with four stools. Snacks, buns and beverage of all types filled the drawers and counter top.

"Anyeong," he announced his presence.

Like in a typical Korean drama, Sulli dropped the water bottle she was rinsing in the kitchen.

She looked around and faced Minho like a trapped kitten.

Shoot, she thought.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked, as if it was the most natural thing to do.

"Washing," she answered stating the obvious.

Although, unsure of what to do, Sulli could not bring herself to tear her eyes from Minho's face.

Bogoshipunde, she said silently.

"You are sad," Minho's smile disappeared at Sulli's haggard face. He rushed forward towards her in concern.

"And you haven't been sleeping again," accused Sulli, peering up to his face.

It was then as if the months of separation and not talking to each other did not take place.

Both Minho and Sulli gravitated towards each other, with arms outstretched towards the other.

Minho cupped both her cheeks while Sulli traced his eye bags.  

"I couldn't sleep at night," he pouted cutely. "My sleeping pill hasn't been calling me lately."

"Tsk...Your sleeping pill stopped calling because you kept making excuses for not talking to her," she snapped.

"Mianhe," Minho smiled. He just could not stopped smiling at the sight of her. She was beautiful. Haggard or not.

"How have you been?" his hands absently caressing her cheeks.

"Ok, I guess," she shrugged, her movements purposely brushing his hands away.

Minho hands dropped onto her shoulder while she defensively clasp hers behind her back.

She suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be angry and upset with him. He knew she was angry with him, and he wanted to change that.

"But you have been sad, are you sad because of me?" Though presumptuous, Minho was hopeful.

She did not answer him, and started to go back to her rinsing.

"Why are you here, Oppa?" she asked but not looking at him. "Shouldn't you be with the others, getting ready for practice?"

"I just wanted to see you. And to report that this Oppa is badly bruised and injured," Minho said quietly. "Definitely scathed in every possible way."

He was leaning towards her on the counter beside the sink.

"Your Oppa is also here to apologise and to beg for you to take him back - and be his friend, his BFF or whatever form of function you want him to be."

Minho could not look at her. He was red in the face, trying to contain his emotions. The sadness, anger, lonesomeness and agitation that he had been feeling the past two months, that disappeared as soon as he entered that little room with the sink and fridge, came flooding back.

Words could not describe how much he had been missing her. That there never was a day when his hands did not itch to pick his phone and call her. That he kept playing with the online booking application for a flight ticket back for every long weekend break that they had. That he took out his frustrations on the people around him for problems he had put upon himself.

He could not tell her all that. He was not confident enough of how she will react. All he knew was that he wanted things to go back to how it was before.

Sulli looked down at Minho's bent head.

His words touched her. If it was any other boy, she would have thought it corny or rehearsed. But this was the no-need-for-words Minho, and she knew it must be killing him to say all that to her.

"Have you been watching too many Mexican dramas, Oppa?"

Minho's head snapped up, thinking she was being sarcastic.

But she was not. She was mainly teasing.

And so he smiled.

"Well, the actresses were pretty good to look at," he offered, earning a slap on the arms from Sulli.    

"Take me back, Sulli," he asked again, now standing straight and looking down into her eyes. "I didn't make it unscathed, these past months. So, it must mean to be," he reminded  her of her words in the music room.

Sulli looked up at him, her eyes letting him know her hidden feelings and smiled softly at her Oppa.

"If I do, how will it be between us then? The management will still make a fuss about it," she asked.

"We do what they want us to do. What choice do we have? In public, we will keep our distance. Make sure that we are never caught with any compromising situation," Minho said.

"But... within the confines of our group, I am going to continue to pat your head whenever you'll let me; I'm still going to call you at any time of the day, if you'll answer them; I'm still going to tickle you silly whenever you need to be taken down a peg or two; I'm still going to provide you with my shoulders to cry on, whenever things get rough; and I'm still going to be your Oppa, if you still want me to be."

A tear slid down sulli's left cheek at Minho's declaration, again not able to express anything. She felt that her heart was going to explode with the amount of feeling that was bubbling inside. Bittersweet happiness just burst out, thinking of their situation. This is just another price they have to pay for fame and fortune.

Minho has always been someone dear to her but now he seemed to be irreplaceable in her heart. All thanks to the drama that brought them together.

"Ok," was her simple answer.

"Ok?" he asked in surprise, never thinking she would forgive him this easily. But that was Sulli, always the trusting, always the kind hearted - qualities that Minho promised never to take advantage of.

To the outsiders, Sulli may seem to quick to forgive Minho, almost passive and submissive to the likes of men.

She may not have reacted the same if it were some other men, though. Only for Minho.

The reasons behind Minho's actions the past month were very clear to Sulli.

Minho did not ask for the separation because he was holding out for something better. Nor did he askfor the break up to feed his own ego or to safeguard his popularity.

No, Minho asked for the separation truly in order to examine his own feelings and come to terms with it.

And to ensure that his actions will not harm others.

And from the fact that Minho asked for her to accept again and how they should deal with the relationship with regards to others, clearly showed that he has come to terms with both his earlier predicaments.

He has made his mind that he could not be without his doengseng and that they should be careful not to be an inconvenience to others in order to enjoy each other's company.

And Sulli understood, accepted and was generally happy with that decisions. Siblings, friends, friends with benfits, lovers - they will decide on the actual terminology of their relationship in due course.   

"Komawo, komawo," he laughed in relief, hugging and lifting her in happiness.

"Oppa, put me down," Sulli scolded laughingly.

"Mianhe," Minho looked down sheepishly. Now a little unsure of what to do next.

When he looked up again, Sulli was smiling softly to herself.

"Wei? Why the smile?"

"I don’t know," she smiled prettily. "I always thought that if we made up, it'll be somewhere private and romantic."

"Made up?" Minho teasingly raised his eyebrows. "Weren’t you the one who said that we were not even a couple to break up for? And now we are making up?"

"Aishh, you know what I mean. Not only romantic couples make up, you know? Good friends too."

She moved slightly away, suddenly claustrophobic being too near to Minho.

"But you mentioned private and romantic," Minho advanced towards her.

"Aish, stop it."

"Well, this is private," Minho smiled devilishly. "And what could be more romantic than the smell of good coffee and warm bread," he edged closer, with his voice lowered, invading her personal space.

"Oppa....," warned Sulli, backing up as far back as she could, the round table hitting her just below her buttocks.

Feeling euphoric, Minho placed both his palms on the table, trapping Sulli to it.

Sulli thought the whole of Gangnam could hear her thumping heartbeat at that moment.

"Mwo? Aren’t we making up at the moment? Isn't this what normal couples do, friends or otherwise...?" Minho leaned forward towards her.

"Minho, Sulli, there you are. Palli, we are about to start," Taemin peered from the crack of the kitchen door.

"Sulli, what's wrong? Why the flushed face?" he asked innocently.

Minho had already backed away from his predator stance at the sound of the door opening.

"Ani. Nothing," Sulli's face mirrored Goo Jae Hee's trapped deer's look, almost made Minho laugh again.

I'm going to have much fun teasing her all over again, he thought. How he thought he could let her go was now beyond him. She will always be a part of me, this doengseng of mine. In what category, we will both find out together, he smiled. At least time was on our side.

He shook his head of the thought of what might have happened if his friend had not barge in on them.

Discreetly Minho had to readjust his tight jeans. An action that did not escape Taemin.

"Aaahhh, have you been missing your Oppa?" He asked Sulli, standing in front of her directly, trying to block her view from Minho's actions. "Don't worry we've been monitoring him. He just worked and nothing else. No matter how those overseas noonas tried their ways with him."

"Aah," was only what Sulli could say, trying to calm her raging hormones. What noona, this doengseang had no chance either, she thought.

Sulli's face was still flushed, inciting a silly satisfied smile on Minho's face.

"Don’t do that to him anymore, ok?" Taemin beseeched, with Minho looking at his friend with a puzzled look.

"Next time he asked you to break up with him, just sock it up his chin and tell him you promised your Taemin Oppa not inflict such pain anymore,"

"Ya, what are you babbling about?" asked Minho.

"Ya! That's the Full Blossom folder, you idiot," Minho shouted, upset that his secret past time has now been leaked.

"Chincha? Then why do all the pictures of Kwang Hee, Hyun Woo, Ji Won and the others kept in Full Blossom 2?"

"Ya, have you been going through my phone again. Chincha. You are going to get it from me this time..." Minho got up from his leaning position to grab his friend.

Temin stuck his tongue at him and scoot out of the kitchen with a 'Palli palli, the others are waiting.'

Minho chased after his friend, leaving Sulli all alone again. "Come back here, you...!"

Sulli suppressed her laugh at the sight of the two boys.

At any rate, she herself felt like a whole gunny rice sack on her shoulders earlier has been lifted off.

In another world, the girl Choi Jinri would really have liked it for her boy, Choi Minho to take her in his arms and kiss her silly. In the other world, he would have hugged her until she was breathless. In the other world, they would probably go out hand in hand to celebrate with a dinner and movie date.

But again, this was not another world. This was their world.

And funnily enough, she was happy and this world was just as real to her as any others.

"Ya, teddy bear , what are you waiting for?" Minho poked his head around the door.

He held his hand to her and said, "Come on, time to dance!"

And with her hand in his, they both ran happily to join their other family members in a world that was totally their own.

 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Epilogue

(A week later)

Ladies and gentlemen ....TVXQ (roar of applause), Girls' Generation (roar of applause), R.DA (roar of applause), Shinee (roar of applause), aaaannndd....f(x) (roar of applause).

All the K-pop stars were standing in one long line. Both Minho and Sulli were standing on the opposite ends of their respective groups - smiling and waving their good byes to the crowd.

  +++

On the sideline, Choi Jin and So Man stood together.

"Are they back together?" So Man asked.

"Neh," Choi Jin smiled. "Thank god! He was such a pain to work with the last couple of months."

"Chincha?" So Man asked in disbelief, knowing the perfectionist professional that Minho was.

"U-huh, sang off key most of the time and even refused to take his shirt off..." Choi Jin shook his head.

"How do you know? That they are back together. They seem pretty distant."

"I pay his phone bills for him. My take is, I'd probably register both their numbers as a family package or something - and get them the first 100 calls free each month. You can at least save the company money that way."

"Ha ha ha...that's cute. We really should cut them some slack, you know, as long as they know how to behave in front of the public." So Man smiled.

"Neh, they are both good kids. I really hope they'll end up together for real one day," Choi Jin nodded. "For now, they have learnt their lesson and are keeping within the rules, even though it's probably killing Minho from keeping his hands off her most of the time."

Both Choi Jin and So Man laughed, because they have seen the smouldering way Minho looked at Sulli in the past.

"Well, we just have to keep doing what we have to do, then. Be their hyungs and protect them any way we can," said So Man.

"Neh, it’s the least we can do..."

  +++

And as the groups zig zagged across the stage to give their fans equal chance of seeing all of them, Minho and Sulli too followed their respective team members, crossing each other.

Both pair of eyes were directed on the opposite sides of the audience as they smiled and waved out to their fans, as if ignoring each other. But as they passed one another, both Minho and Sulli's hands discreetly yet surely reached out to caress each other - a touch so subtle that you would miss it with a blink of an eye.....

- The End -