As the long beads of perspiration rolled down Taec's face and neck, he tried to stretch to straighten his stiff and sore muscles. The cotton material clung to his back and he wriggled his toes as he stretched out his legs to their full length, and while leaning forward and extending his arms as far as their limit would allow. He felt the salted rocks underneath his bum and legs as he stretched, the heat from the sauna was not only bearable, but welcomed. He turned to face his fellow members, Chansung and Khun, observing how red the latter was from the heat.

"Khun, dude, you're as red as a lobster. Maybe you should head out now?"

"Are you saying I can't handle this?" Khun challenged.

"No, I'm saying that your face matches the Korean soccer team's uniform."

Chansung laughed and added, "What do you expect from our American born Thai prince? He can bend his body into a pretzel with his yoga skills, but can't handle a little bit of Korean sauna heat!"

Taec could tell that his body was now on the mend from his strep throat, not only had the antibiotics kicked in, but his strength was now slowly coming back to him as well.

"Come on Chansunggie, let's go take a bath, if we don't, Khun will never admit defeat and we will have to peel him off the floor."

As the three headed out of the sauna, Chansung exited first and before Taec could follow, Khun pulled him aside.

"She didn't call you?"

Taec wanted to ignore the question because it stung. Even though Khun was asking very gently, the truth still bothered him.

"Why would she?" was all he could answer, and quickly headed out of the sauna.

"Strange," Khun responded following him, "I thought for sure she would."

Taec removed the hand towel from around his neck and covered his head with it, as they continued down the hallway into the men's bath. He didn't know if he was covering his head to hold in the heat for his health, or if he was covering it so that Khun could not see his face. He wanted to change the subject because truthfully he felt too uncomfortable with this one.

"Look at the maknae," he pointed out, "Strutting around as if he was the Prince of Persia. Ever since we won the our first Mutizen award a few weeks ago, he's been on top of the world."

"Haven't we all?" Khun chuckled as he watched Chansung ahead of them, walking with his shoulders back, head held high, and indeed, strutting. But Khun knew what Taec was up to, and decided to let it rest for now.

As they removed their shirts Taec glanced over at Chansung.

"Dude, have you been working out longer in the gym?"

Channie straightened to his full height and puffed out his chest while inhaling deeply. A smirk crossed his lips, and his eyes twinkled with satisfaction that his hyung had taken notice.

"Won't be long until I catch up to you, Hyung."

As Taec bent down and removed his shorts, stripped bare, he picked up his sweaty clothes, then as he stood erect he balled them up, he took aim with a basketball pose and tossed them into a nearby laundry bin. The two fellow members followed suit, with Channie's balled clothing slightly missing their target.

Taec shook his head and sized up his dongseng's frame, head to toe, buck . He confidently picked up a towel from the bench next to him and threw it to Chansung.

"Cover that mini shrimp up, little brother. " And he turned to head to nearby bath stool. Without turning back he continued, "You have a long ways to go to catch up to me."

Across town Yoona slowly entered her bedroom, attempting to be as quiet as possible. She didn't want to awake her roommate, Yuri, so she crept in and placed her purse down next to her bed. She didn't even have the strength to undress, but she knew she had to.

She reached underneath her pillow and removed an oversized Tshirt that was one of her favorites to sleep in. She began to recall a few nights back, the dinner she had with her three Super Junior brothers. After changing into the Tshirt, she removed her form fitting skinny jeans, and left them bundled down on the floor. Remembering that night should not have bothered her as much as it did, but she couldn't help but sigh as she placed her hands into her face.

"Why do I always get myself into these types of messes?" she pondered.

The bedcovers rustled and a second later a soft glow shone from Yuri's nightstand.

"You're home?" Yuri asked sleepily. She had the nightlight and observed her sister.

Yuri noticed for several weeks now that Yoona had been acting a bit strange. Some days she was smiling and staring down at her food, and other days she seemed forlorn and deep in thought. The former was almost as much as concern as the latter because Yoona always attacked her food with great vigor. But tonight it was the latter that Yoona was experiencing and although her roomie didn't know the cause, she suspected Yoona was ready to talk about it.

Yuri stood up and walked over to her sister's bed and tapped her shoulder, "Come on Yoona, let's go to bed."

She reached down and lifted up the covers for Yoona who obediently slipped in between them and softly smiled back to Yuri.

"Now how am I supposed to let you sleep by yourself, with that look you just gave me?" Yuri asked.

Without hesitating she slipped in next to her best friend and giggled as she pulled the sheet over both of their heads.

The soft night light illuminated the sheets just enough so they could see each other. Yuri reached for Yoona's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Now tell Sissy all about it."

Yoona didn't know where to start. She looked into Yuri's dark brown eyes filled with anticipation and understanding and knew she could trust her without a doubt.

"Well," Yoona began, "It's about a boy."

Yuri's face alighted with excitement and her smile increased, "Oh the best stories always are! Tell me!"

The words flooded out of Yoona, as she spoke quickly, she explained the last several week's events that followed after meeting Taecyeon for lunch with Tiffany. Yuri nodded and giggled at Yoona as she described the nut club meeting and the voicemails. Although they both had millions of admirers around the world, neither one of them had officially dated anyone. It was forbidden, and these two were serious about not breaking any contract rules. Yet the more forbidden it was, the more they longed for it. Both of them had spent many a night awake describing what their ideal type was, and how their imaginary dates would be. But this wasn't imaginary. This was real boy, and he was truly in pursuit of Yoona!

As Yoona talked about the phone call with the Ahjumma, and then began to describe the night with her brothers Yuri interrupted.

"Oh my God, Yoona! Do they know?"

Back at the sauna, the three young men rinsed the soap from their bodies, and as the cool water ran down Taec's back he raised the shower hose over his head and closed his eyes, feeling refreshed. They had taken turns scrubbing each other's backs, exfoliating with so much strength, that he felt there would be red welts on his back from how hard Channie had scrubbed.

"No doubt in retaliation for the reference about his manhood." Taec thought amusingly.

They climbed into the oversized bath and slowly descended, submerging themselves into the hot water.

Chansung clapped his hands together and began squeezing them on the top of the water, trying to shoot the water upwards.

Khun knew he could safely make a new attempt while his dongseng was quietly amusing himself.

"I told her you were sick." He admitted.

When he did not get a response from Taecyeon he continued.

"She seemed truly concerned too, so I really thought she would call. But if she didn't it might not be her fault."

Taec's eyes remained closed and he leaned his head back against the bath's edge. He wasn't ignoring Khun, he was listening.

Khun knew he had his brother's attention, so he added, "As soon as we ended our meeting, DongHae, Siwon and LeeTeuk were there waiting for her."

Taec's eyes flew open and he turned to face NichKhun. "What happened?" he asked earnestly.

Khun described the scene he had witnessed down in the underground parking lot, and Taec's face grew serious. As he listened, his face revealed exactly what Khun had suspected, Taec truly seemed to care about Yoona. This wasn't one of his whims that he had so many of in the past.

"So they basically kidnapped her?" he said in a low deep tone.

"It's not kidnapping if you go willing." Chansung mused. The youngest had been eavesdropping close by as he played with the water. "It's not like she was forced, was she?"

Taec sent a murderous look at the maknae, instantly quieting him.

"Khun, when is your next meeting with her?"

The Thai prince studied the face of his brother, and although Taec was younger than Khun, he felt like Taec was the eldest of the group, even over Jay. Taec had always seemed more experienced, and more responsible. He had no trouble with women, as a matter of fact, many older women approached him at the clubs they frequented, simply because Taecyeon looked at least six years older than his age. They always mistook him to be the eldest, and he was definitely the biggest.

"Listen, Taec," Khun started, "I can totally understand this, after all, she's Yoona. I mean, it's not like she's perfect… " he paused briefly,"…and yet the longer you are around her, the more beautiful she becomes. It's like when you first see her, you think, 'She's a pretty little thing.' But then…"

Taec interrupted his friend and completed his sentence for him, "But then you hear her laugh, and watch her face light up a room, and you look into those two huge sparkling dark eyes, and you're mesmerized." He thought for a moment and then continued, "You know it's not just physical either. I have had physical attractions before, but this is much more powerful. She is so unique. When you talk to her, the way her mind works…"

Khun knew exactly what Taec was talking about. He had spent an entire day with Yoona for their mini drama meeting, and he discovered there was much more to Yoona than just a pretty face and a slim figure.

"It's like when she talks to you, you're the only one in the room," Khun added. "She draws you into her just by the way she speaks to you."

Chansung watched as the two members exchanged knowing glances at each other.

"Oh hell no!" he blurted out. "It is not bad enough that I have to compete with Taec, but now with you too?"

As the evening drew later, Yoona and Yuri's conversation had slowed to a natural pace as they looked into each other's eyes under the covers of Yoona's bed.

"Teukkie was waiting for me in the hallway as I headed back from the Ladies Room. I could tell immediately by the serious look on his face that he wasn't happy. Then I noticed my phone in his hand."

"I wanted to fix it for you," he offered. "But I didn't expect to see this, Yoona." He looked down at her phone and back up at her. His eyes seemed pained, and she realized that he knew. He must have seen the call history of how many times Taec had called, and that she had returned a call.

"When did you get his phone number, Yoona? And how long have you been calling each other?"

Her eyes flew up from her phone and she locked eyes with him. She could see that it wasn't anger but hurt that filled them. It was raw concern… and she felt guilt flood over her.

"We're friends," she started to explain.

"Yoona," he reached down for her hands and placed the phone in them, and then covered her hands with his own, "Some men cannot be friends with women. You won't understand this because you're too innocent yet. But for some men, it's either black or white. There is nothing in between. Some men only will see you as a woman, not a sister, not a friend. You will always be a woman to them, do you know what that means?"

Yuri now had both her own hands around Yoona's, unconsciously following what Teukkie had done, and she asked, "Did he tell you want that meant?"

Yoona shrugged and she repeated, "He said, 'What Ok Taecyeon wants from me is not friendship. It's much more.' But unnie, I'm confused. Because it contradicts the relationships I have with them. They are a perfect example! I can be friends with boys without being in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, right?"

Yuri thought for a moment, and then considered Yoona's relationship with the SuJu members.

"Yoona, maybe Teukkie is right," she explained softly, "Your first mistake is thinking that he's a boy. They are all MEN, Yoona. After all, think about it. Can you really say that you're just friends with all of them? I mean honestly, do you and DongHae Oppa consider yourself brother and sister?"

There it was. She had said it! All these years she wanted to talk to Yoona about DongHae, but she didn't want to offend her, or explore sacred territory unless Yoona allowed it. That relationship seemed almost sacred to Yoona, and Yuri knew it.

"DongHae Oppa…" Yoona said his name almost as a whisper. "DongHae Oppa is different."

Yuri looked at her sister intently and said, "Yoona they are ALL different. Each one of our brothers cares for us differently. Maybe that's Teukkie's point. I know for a fact that Yesunggie has had a crush on you for years now, but will never do anything about it, because of DongHae Oppa. I can say the same thing for Wookie. And, Siwonnie, well Siwonnie loves all women equally!" They each giggled at that last comment but Yoona was beginning to understand her sister.

Yoona could never put into words how she felt about DongHae. He was so much more to her than a brother. But both of them were careful to never put each other in danger of losing their contract with SM Entertainment. They had families to support, and fans to consider. They would never breech the promise they had made.

Yuri stifled a yawn and continued, "Maybe what Teukkie is saying, in his own protective, big brother way, is that Ok Taecyeon likes you. And not as a friend…" she thought back to the story Yoona shared of the nut club meeting and said, "I mean he said so himself, 'you light his fire,' right?"

Yuri finished the explanation by releasing Yoona's hands and reaching down to her tummy and tickling her, "Ohhh Yoona, you light his fire! Shame on you! What have you been doing to set him on fire?"

The room filled with shrieks of laughter as the bedclothes bubbled with movement.

Her birthday was in two more days, and Taecyeon knew exactly what to get her. As a matter of fact, he smiled to himself at the mere thought of placing the necklace around her neck. He had to be in front of her, not from behind, so that she could lean into him as he wrapped his arms around her neck.

Her hands extended, holding up her long hair, her head lowered, near his chest. He could smell the soft scent of her shampoo, her long slender neck exposed as his fingers manipulated the clasp. Without realizing it, one hand wrapped around the back of her neck while the other raised her chin, bringing her face so much closer to his. So close that it was beyond bearing. He lowered his lips on to hers, and softly kissed her full on the mouth. Her eyes shot open in surprise, but his grasp on the back of her neck tightened slightly as he deepened his kiss, feeling the softness of her lips, unable to resist, he coaxed open and drank in the taste as his tongue explored .

"HYUNG!"

Taecyeon jumped up out of the steamy water, startled, he attempted to regain his composure while standing to face the maknae.

Chansung was shaking his head, about to comment how much of daydreamer his hyung was and that if he wasn't careful he would be shriveled up to a prune, when he lowered his vision below Taec's abdomen. The maknae's eyes opened wider with surprise, and then quickly hooded with understanding and maybe even a bit of jealousy, as he looked back up to his brother's face he said, "Are you just showing off on purpose or are you that happy to see me? "