"If a lie makes her happy, then telling her one is forgivable right?" Taec spoke to his own reflection as he attempted to bolster his confidence. He had run through the scenario so many times in his mind. There was no other way. If he wanted to be acknowledged by Yoona ever again, he would have to lie to her.

That would buy him the time he needed to get himself in check. He wasn't a teenager after all, so how hard could it be to keep himself in control around her.

"Harder than anything I've ever done," he admitted to himself as he looked down at the empty sink.

He the tap and began running cool water over his hands and then patted down his cheeks and chin, dampening them. He squeezed the gel squish onto his palm he observed it closely. When it oozed from the can, it came out in a blue gel form, but as soon as he added a bit of water and began to lather his cheeks with it, it turned to white, rich, warm foam. Maybe it was because all he could ever think about now was Yoona, but he couldn't help but compare the metamorphosis of the shaving cream to that of his own change he went through because of her.

It was Yoona that brought about a change in him. He had never been like this before he fell for Yoona. When he wasn't around her, he was cool, calm and collected. He focused on working, and when he played with s and friends he thoroughly enjoyed himself. He was even the life of the party, you might say. But after meeting her, getting to know her, and growing close to her in a short year, she changed him. He was uncertain, excited, frustrated, clumsy, unconfident, lustful and yet happier than he could ever remember. Until he messed things up between them. But that was part of the change as well. He had lost control. He never knew what he was going to do or say when he was around her. His life had become unpredictable just by opening his heart to one singular person.

He raised the razor to his face and began a slow, smooth down the right side of his cheek. There was no reason he couldn't do this. It was the only way she'd accept him back. He had to remind himself of this over and over again if he was going to be successful.

He would just have to convince her that he wasn't interested in her, and that he wanted to continue as friends. He could do it. He had no other choice… it was either that or continue in this devastating drought he was undergoing. She wouldn't talk to him. She completely ignored him, and his calls and he couldn't bare the indifference any longer. Anything would be better than this!

As he rinsed the foam from the razor he reflected back to the Star King special stage performance he had witnessed with Khunnie and Yoona dancing to a cutesy love story. It wasn't the performance that bothered him. After all, it was as innocent as it could be. It was all lollipops, cotton candy and sugary sweetness. He watched them together from behind stage in the Green Room, as a guest of Khun, and he had to smile at the gleam in his fellow member's eyes. Taec knew just how much Khun was looking forward to this moment. He had spoke of it non-stop for the past month, and he even caught him practicing his winks and smiles in the mirror. Khun wasn't a threat, he was harmless. At least that's how Taec saw him.

The one that worried Taec was not in 2PM. He was the man that she knew for over 8 years, since her pre-teen years. Taec had a feeling that this 'Oppa' was the real threat. He sensed that when DongHae was around Yoona, he was even more protective than the others. It wasn't that he commanded her attention or was obsessive about her, but Taec noticed that when Yoona was with him, she surrendered to him, without hesitation. She hung on his every word. It was almost as if they understood each other without speaking at times. And that was definitely a problem.

As he rinsed the remaining cream from his face he turned side to side to inspect his handiwork.

The memory came rushing back to him, un-summoned, and unwanted.

He was holding two cold water bottles and walked to greet them at the door as Yoona was chattering with Khun.

"You did so well with the waterfall! I can't believe you didn't even get a drop on you!"

"Well it's like skipping rope, right? You just need to get the timing down."

"No way! You can skip rope?"

"I can skip… even "double-dutch" he said the last part in English and demonstrated by waving his hands one over the other.

"Yeah right!" She threw her head back and laughed and then slapped him softly on the shoulder.

"No lie!" Khun defended himself, "My younger sisters and I often played together, and some days it I would be stuck in a room with them and their Barbies, and on better days we played outside."

"BARBIES?" Yoona's laughter was even louder than the first burst, and he was amazed at how wide opened when she guffawed.

"Where do you think I learned how to accessorize so well?" Khun held his head up high, and then looked down at her and winked.

"Dude, you should never repeat that story again, or else Jay and Channie will never let you live it down!"

Khunnie chuckled at his fellow member as he approached and reached for one of the cold water bottles that Taec offered.

"Well then you're sworn to secrecy! If they hear about it, we will know that Yoona was the one that spilled the beans!"

He turned back to Yoona and realized that she was no longer laughing, as a matter of fact, her smile completely disappeared. She glanced at Taec's extended hand holding the second water bottle, and she deliberately faced Khun and bowed.

"All your secrets are safe with me Nichkhun." She glanced at her bare wrist and unconsciously touched the spot where her watch should have been. "I have to run, but thank you again for such a great job today, you were awesome!"

There was no doubt in Khun's mind that she had completely ignored Taecyeon's very presence. This was not like Yoona. She was never rude. He couldn't believe it… as he watched her turn and leave he found himself bowing a bit too late and wanted to call out to her. But he only ended up sputtering, "See ya later Yoona!"

He whipped around to face Taec and looked him directly in the eye. "Ok son, you have some explaining to do. What the hell was that about?" He had reverted back into speaking English as he often did with Taec when they were alone.

Taec merely looked down at the unaccepted water bottle and shrugged as he twisted it open and drank from it.

"Don't' give me that," Khun said sternly, "There is no freaking way that she would do that without just cause."

Taecyeon couldn't face Khun and turned and walked to the nearby sofa and sat on it with a heavy sigh.

"I ed up."

"No kidding!" Khun agreed a bit too loudly. "How?"

"That part doesn't matter Khun. Please don't make me say anymore. It hurts just thinking about."

"Well it must have been a monumental screw of the pooch for you to get the cold shoulder like that."

"You could say that." Taec admitted.

"Well that's one less rival to worry about," Khun said jokingly as he walked across the dressing table and pulled out the wipes and began removing his stage make up.

"Say another word, and the world will know about you playing Barbies!"

"Ok, Ok, OK!" Khun surrendered playfully. "I'm just gonna say one last thing: we both know that she's a long shot for us. Seriously. So whatever you did to get on her sh*t list, if I were you, I would consider building her a Taj Mahal or something!"

Before he knew it, one week turned into two, and he found himself working harder than he had in a while. He was asked by his sunbae, Ji Young Baek to record a duo song for her latest album. The song actually came out better than he had expected, since he was only used to rapping. This time he actually had some melody to sing, and because it was tradition to present every new come back song on the weekly music shows, he had prepared quite a bit for their live performances. The song was provocative as much as it was romantic. The dance moves they choreographed for the MV would also be used in the live performances, and he found himself actually enjoying himself for the first time in weeks.

Their first performance together was on Music Core, and Taec was a bundle of nerves. He had never had the spotlight on him like this before. He didn't want to screw up for the sake of Noona Ji Young. She had been so patient with him has they worked together both recording and choreographing the song. He felt pressured like no other but he knew this was a great chance for him to shine. He had felt so honored when JYP told him that Ji Young Baek wanted HIM to be her duo partner!

He placed the black studded leather jacket on and eyed himself up and down. Black shoes, black jeans, black tee that was ribbed with rips all down the front so that his chest and abs peeked through. The jacket made the outfit complete. He placed on his black shades and headed out to meet his partner.

He found himself shaking his hands to loosen some of the tension as he walked, and inhaled and exhaled deeply.

Ji Young looked beautiful. She had jean capris on, with a black bra covered by a mini leather vest that exposed her midriff. Her hair was covered with a beret decorated with rhinestones and crystals. She was much older than him, but still looked fine as ever. No, she was even hotter than every younger woman he could think of … with the exception of one. But he quickly removed that thought from his mind as he grinned appreciatively at his partner.

"Noona, you're smokin'!" Taec complimented her as she approached him. They had become much closer these past several weeks working together non stop for this release.

"The one that is smokin' is …" she ran her index finger along the torn ribbings coming in to contact with his skin, "YOU!"

"Noona," Taec chuckled softly at her flirting as he looked ahead, just beyond her at the staff in the hallway, "People are watching."

"And what have I always told you?" She didn't bother to remove her hand, instead she flattened her palm against his chest. "If you got it…" she reached into his shirt and brushed her fingers over his right , "Flaunt it!"

Taec grabbed her wrist and held it as he slowly pulled it away from his chest. His eyes held her gaze and he watched as she pouted with a smirk.

"You're going to ruin me before I even get up on stage tonight. Now stop, or I'll never get through this performance standing."

Ji Young glanced downwards below Taec's waist and giggled as she took his hand that was holding her wrist. "Come on Junior, let's do this before you burst out of those jeans! That would make the ratings skyrocket!"

As they hurried down the hall, Taec never noticed Yoona and Yuri, frozen behind him.

"Yah Yoona!" Yuri spurted out, "Did you just see that!"

Yoona merely nodded as she made the effort to walk toward the stage. Just her luck, SNSD were performing after "My Ear's Candy." They began to head to the right wing of the stage and watched the playfully performance.

While all the other members giggled and ogled Taecyeon as he sang and danced with Ji Young, Yoona wanted to look away and force herself to remember what a jerk he had been. But somehow she couldn't take her eyes off of them, as something inside her made her watch. He began the song wearing the sunglasses and she had to admit, he looked extremely y dancing so closely with Ji Young Baek. She observed their rhythm and their hips moved as one with him behind, holding on to her bare waist and hip and they gyrated together, singing, "I love you," in several languages.

"Gawd," Jessica whispered a bit too loudly, "When did Taecyeon get that hot?"

Tiffany smirked and responded, "That devil has always been hot, he just chooses the stage to show it."

Hyoyeon was mimicking his dance moves and especially took great pride in the exaggerated lip wipe that he did. "Oppa has the killer moves tonight!"

Taecyeon had become immersed in the performance and had not even realize that SNSD were collectively watching them. He could hear the cheers of the audience as he playfully flirted with this Noona, and she leaned on his chest while he leaned his head forward bending slightly so she could hold her mic up for him to sing with as they swayed when he sang "Wo Ai Ni."

Yoona recalled an email she had received from him two weeks ago.

He must have begged Tiffany for her email address, which was no surprise since they were so close. But what surprised her was the contents of the email.

"Yoona,

I was playing the piano the other day, and realized how out of tune it was. As I struck the sour notes, it came to me that this is what I am like without your friendship. Out of tune. I know I don't deserve to ask you this, but there's no other way. I may never gain your forgiveness, but I am hoping that we can still be friends.

You know the Bible says that of Trust, Hope and Love, the greatest of these is love. As the empty weeks passed between us, without any contact, I thought, surely the greatest is trust. Because once you lose a person's trust, you've lost everything. But you know what? You don't fall in love with someone because you trust them. You trust them because you love them.

If I've ruined the chances for friendship, then I'll understand. Even if you hate me, it's better than ignoring me. I know you don't love me, and you may never be able to trust me again.

But I hate to think that I've lost our friendship, when I remember the times we spent together in the past, they are some of my fondest memories. I remember every minute, every second that I have ever spent with you. I remember what you were wearing, how you laughed, how you can make sparks fly from your eyes, and how you make me feel when I'm around you.

I'm full of flaws, Yoona. I make too many mistakes. I know you don't need me, but I need you.

If you'll let me, I'll be your brother and friend. If not, then please hate me, scream at me, hit me, or something. Just speak to me again, please!

Your pain in the ,

Taecyeon"

She watched as the dancing came to a climatic end, with Taec brushing Ji Young Baek's cheek as she leaned in close to him. The response from the audience was deafening. They were a huge hit!

As they left the stage, the SNSD girls each raised their hands up to him and Ji Young to congratulate them with high fives as they passed by. Ji Young was in front of Taec, and she approached Yoona and Yoona bowed quickly. Taec followed. His face was glistening with sweat and his smile shone ear to ear, as he walked toward her. The stage lights turned off as the MCs began to speak again, congratulating the performance and preparing the audience for the next.

Taec noticed immediately that Yoona had lowered her hand as he came up to her. Without a second of hesitation he leaned in and said, "Good luck out there! We warmed them up for you."

He then moved forward, following Ji Young as she was quickly surrounded by other staff and managers congratulating her. He almost didn't feel the tug on the back of his leather jacket.

He looked over his shoulder and stopped immediately when he saw Yoona holding up her hand in the air.

Instinctively he raised his hand, almost in disbelief that she was actually going to high five him! Yoona couldn't help but snort at his reaction. She moved up to him and with her free arm she pulled his wrist forward, and then with the raised hand she pulled as hard as she could on Taec's left ear.

As the other members scurried to their stage spots, Yoona twisted the ear as she pulled it down do her lips.

"Do anything like that again, and you're dead!"

She released him just in time to run out to her spot before the lights came on.

Taec didn't think he could have smiled any bigger than he already was after the performance, hearing the crowd roar with approval. He raised a hand and rubbed his scarlet red ear lobe. Then forgetting where he was, he pumped his fist in air and yelled, "YES!"

Ji Young turned to face him, and shook her head at his raw exuberance.

Yoona faced the audience and couldn't resist smiling at his unguarded reaction off stage.