As the three young men stretched on the wooden floor of the mid-sized indoor court they each released foul complaints against the stiffness and burning aches they felt with each movement. DongHae raised his forehead off from his outstretched knees and rolled his head counter-clockwise, closing his eyes. Kyuhyun attempted to reach his toes but settled for wrapping his hands around his ankles as he lowered his forehead toward his knees. Kangin sprawled his legs wide apart and leaned his torso to his right side as he reached for his toes and groaned at the attempt.

"And just how the hell are we supposed to play two on two without Siwon?" Kangin spouted out in frustration.

"He'll be here when he can be here," DongHae opened his eyes and turned to face Kangin, "Not like he knew he was going to get grabbed by Sunbae and marched upstairs."

Kyuhyun stood, satisfied that he had stretched enough, and walked over to pick up the basketball from the floor, and slowly began a steady dribble.

"Let's just warm up with free throws until he comes back," he offered.

"I could always text Kibum to haul himself over here," Kangin countered, "He's never busy! He's probably lazing around the dorm."

"Let's give him a half hour," DongHae compromised, "If he's not back by then, get Kibum."

The rhythmic bouncing sounds filled the room as each of the three took turns at the hoop, with Kangin and Kyuhyun trailing behind DongHae by a basket each.

They would not have even noticed the gym door open if it weren't for her protests.

"Oppa!" Yoona exclaimed in a firm voice, and they all turned to her direction as they saw her trying to wrench her hand free from Siwon's grasp.

Siwon didn't bother to reply but with a confident smirk he pulled her further in to the room, as the ball dribbling immediately halted at the scene.

DongHae found himself walking forward without a second thought, bothered by the fact that Siwon was holding her hand without her permission.

"Siwon," he said louder than even he expected, with Kangin and Kyuhyun now following behind him. "What's the meaning of this?"

Siwon patted Yoona on the head with his free hand but still held her hand firmly in his own.

"She's my Black Knight."

Yoona was even more confused now than ever and again attempted to shake her hand free. "Yah! Oppa! Why …"

She wasn't able to finish because DongHae had stepped up to them and took ahold of both of their wrists, forcing their hands apart.

Both Siwon and Yoona looked at him in surprise waiting for some sort of response but none came.

Yoona quickly interjected, "DongHae Oppa, I was minding my own business, just finishing up a practice session when I saw Siwon! He didn't even explain, he just said, "Perfect timing!"

DongHae stood there glaring at Siwon, causing the taller man to drop his smile and replace it with a look of confusion.

"What" asked the taller man, "Its perfect! She can be my replacement."

Kangin came up from behind DongHae and patted him on the back. When it came to subtleties, Kangin understood. He knew that for whatever reason, almost every member felt a kinship of some kind toward their sisters of the same company, but especially this tomboy that was in the room with them now. She was their favorite.

"Siwon," Kangin intercepted, "You know if you manhandle our princess that you're bound to pay the consequences."

Yoona blew a raspberry, "Pfffttt, princess! Hah! More like your rag doll!"

"Listen up idiots," Siwon tried to gain control of the conversation, "I have been asked to go upstairs for a meeting with the marketing executives, and I didn't want to leave you high and dry so…" He placed his arm around Yoona's shoulders pulling her closer to him. "So here's my replacement!"

Yoona looked up at him in disbelief.

"This was your big surprise?"

"Come on," he gave her shoulders a light squeeze, "You know you love playing basketball with us."

"That was years ago!" she defended, "I'm a lady now!"

All four of them burst out laughing at her.

How dare they laugh at her! She gave Siwon a sharp elbow into his gut which immediately released his arm from around her shoulder. She attempted to punch Kangin in the belly but he dodged and pushed Kyuhyun in her direction. The maknae didn't have time to recover, and immediately got a er punch in the stomach. His face turned red and he bent over feigning pain.

DongHae immediately threw his hands up in surrender before she did something to him, and she crossed her arms in front of her.

"I have better things to be doing than being the brunt of your jokes," she told them. She turned to leave the room, but they all called after her.

It was Kangin that reached for her shoulder and leaned over and said to her, "Don't go, little one, you know we were just kidding!"

Siwon mussed up her hair and waved as he turned to leave. "Just remember that whoever loses has to buy lunch!"

The familiar glint in Yoona's eyes lit up as soon as food was mentioned.

"Really?" she asked eagerly to the remaining three members.

"She'll be on my team." DongHae announced.

"No way!" Kyuhyun protested!

"Rock, paper, scissors," Kangin declared. "Whoever wins gets Yoong."

"That's more like it!" She said more confidently now. She wasn't aware that the reason they all wanted her on their side was because they knew how competitive she could be when it came to food!

Kangin won and sauntered over to Yoona with the basketball. He nudged her and motioned with his head to follow him. They walked several steps away and he stood in front of her with his back to the other two, so they couldn't see or hear the conversation.

Both Kyuhyun and Donghae looked alarmed when they heard her exclaim, "Ehh!"

But Kangin got a bit more animated and they knew they were in for the infamous strategies of the cheating king!

"What do you think he has planned?" Kyuhyun asked.

"Whatever it is, we just need to use our heads," DongHae responded. "She can't drive past either one of us because she isn't fast enough, so we'll take turns guarding Kangin. You first because you're bigger."

"Don't underestimate her," Kyuhyun warned, "This is lunch we're talking about, and she's a heck of a lot stronger than you might think."

"Tell me something I don't know!" DongHae said.

"RULES!" Kangin yelled in their direction, startling them both. "Yoona cannot be fouled no matter what she does. She's a girl so you have to give her a break."

"WHAT!" both protested.

"And we only play half court," Kangin added.

With that he tossed the ball to DongHae, "We'll let you take it out first since we have the edge of Yoona on my team."

Hae walked over to the mid court mark and bounced the ball a few times, looking up for Kyuhyun to come and receive it. But there in front of him was Yoona, waving her hands like a mad woman, bouncing up and down. What he could not get over was the hilarious faces she was making at him as she attempted to block him. She scrunched her face up, alternating from popping her eyes so big that it seemed they were going to fall out, and then sticking her tongue out at him.

He stopped bouncing the ball and threw his head back and laughed a huge belly laugh at her.

"What the heck are you doing…" but before he realized it, she had grabbed the ball from his hands, and tossed it over to Kangin, who quickly took aim, shot, and scored the first basket!

"You call that fair?" DongHae protested.

"Who said anything about playing fair," Kangin called back to him, "This is lunch we're talking about."

The game continued with Yoona constantly blocking DongHae with her antics. If it wasn't making faces, she would wink at him, and the most distracting move of all was when she placed a hand on her knee, leaning over, hair falling freely to one side, and slowly her lips, raising her face directly at him.

DongHae stopped in his tracks, the ball was left to bounce across the court without him. He swallowed and then walked up to her.

"Is that what Kangin told you to do?"

She shrugged and stuck her tongue back out at him and began to turn so she could watch Kangin rescue the abandoned ball and circle near the basket. DongHae was no longer watching the other two male members, but turned Yoona to face him.

His look was one she hadn't seen before. He wasn't angry, but he wasn't exactly smiling either. He had a small grin on his face, but his eyes were intensely darker than usual.

"Yoong, I'm warning you, if you continue these distraction techniques, I can't be held responsible for my actions."

When she didn't seem to comprehend what he meant he leaned in to her, and whispered in her ear, "Do not stick out your tongue at me unless you're willing to use it."

Her eyes grew large, and it was his turn to smirk at her reaction.

It was clear from the beginning that DongHae and Kyuhyun wouldn't stand a chance against those two. Between Kangin's superior basketball skills, and Yoona's antics, they won by 3 baskets.

As the other two walked back to retrieve their water bottles and towels, DongHae tapped Yoona on the shoulder, motioning her to stop and talk.

"Listen, Yoong," he started, "all joking aside, we need to talk. Now isn't the time, but how about later on, after lunch?"

She thought about her schedule and was secretly relieved that she had finished filming the drama, and didn't have dance practice until the following day. She nodded her head in agreement and felt excited with anticipation.

It was a nervous excitement. She wasn't sure what he wanted to talk about, but something came to mind, as he smiled softly at her and walked away to get his own water.

She remembered a few weeks ago when she and some of her sister members attended the Super Show backstage. They watched how warmly the fans cheered and how motivated each of the SuJu members performed. It was a momentous concert for them, at home in Korea, after traveling so much in Taiwan and China, they were giving their first big "Super Show" concert at home, in Seoul.

They were so grateful, happy and overwhelmed with joy when they came back stage after the performance. Each of them hugged each other and a few of them were even crying. Siwon was the biggest baby of them all, breaking down and hugging his brothers in tears.

But DongHae… he only sought out one person to congratulate him. As soon as he came off, and headed back to the wings of the stage, he saw them. The group of SNSD sisters that clapped for their brothers.

He felt himself propelled to her. Almost like a rocket, he aimed straight for her. He saw the look of pride in her eyes as he nearly ran to her, and they both opened their arms at the exact same time, embracing each other tightly. For that brief moment, time stopped.

No one else existed around them. He held her tightly and she wrapped her arms under his own, and held on to his back.

She was so happy for him, and for the way they killed it on stage. They could still hear the crowd cheering!

It wasn't until another member mentioned that there was a camera shooting Behind The Scenes that they realized they were still embracing.

Reluctantly he broke his embrace and moved his way down the hall.

As Yoona recalled that magical moment she smiled. They never discussed it since, but that wasn't really something that needed an explanation. She just felt as compelled as he did to hug, and she wasn't going to try and figure out what it meant.

The lunch flew by and before she knew it she was on the back of his bike, and they were headed out of town. She didn't care where, because she knew she would be safe with him.

What surprised her was where they ended up. It was a deserted hiking path, that led up to a steep mountain.

"Oppa," she hesitated, looking up at the path. "I had dance practice before I played basketball, I don't think I am ready for this."

He shook his head and offered his hand.

When she looked around nervously, he chuckled at her. He reached over and raised the hoodie on her jacket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses from his own pocket offering them to her. She waved them away.

He then pulled his own baseball cap out of his rear pocket and clamped it over his hair.

"No one is around to recognize us, Yoona. But if it makes you feel any better, I have a facemask you can wear."

He reached down and took her hand in his and they began their walk up the path.

"You know I have no idea when it all started…"

"What?" she asked.

"Me … you…. Me liking you…." He paused, "No, that's not right… me … loving you."

They hadn't even made it over a few dozen steps when his bombshell was dropped on her.

She stopped walking and he stopped as well. He didn't face her, but continued to look straight up at the summit.

"Oppa…" she said softly.

"I have never been good at hiding my feelings, Yoong. You must have known for some time now."

When she didn't answer he pointed to the top of the mountain with his free hand.

"We won't make it to the top today. I didn't bring you here to make it to the top. I brought you here because this is what it's going to be like, if you let me love you."

She followed his pointing hand and asked, "What do you mean?"

"We won't be allowed to date in the open. Everyone knows the rules of the contract. We will always need to hide and sneak around. What kind of love is that?"

When she didn't answer he continued.

"I haven't ever told you before, because I know it really isn't fair to expect you to accept this. It will be all up hill, Yoona. A constant climb for us, and when we feel tired, and depressed, we won't be able to hold each other publically. Of course I've considered the ways around it… emails, texts, secret meetings in SM building. But I will never be able to freely walk with you, holding your hand under the cherry blossoms, or down Han River. I won't be able to take my girl to dinner. Or to the movies. At least, not alone."

He turned to face her and then without warning he pulled her into his arms.

"God help me, Yoona. I'm so selfish. Even though I know it will be a miserable kind of relationship for you, I still want you to be mine."

She swallowed, and felt her tears b over her eyes. She closed them and the tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Tell me you don't love me, and I'll let you go."

She didn't answer him.

"Tell me, Yoong. If you don't tell me, I can't let you go. I will make us both climb, scratch, and crawl up this mountain together."

He waited, nearly pleading with her silently to reply. "Say something…"

He couldn't wait any longer, he pulled her apart from him, just enough to see her eyes, and felt his own tears when he saw hers.

"Tell me to let you go," he whispered.

She shook her head, but couldn't speak.

"I wasn't even planning to see you today. This isn't how I was supposed to tell you. It was supposed to be under a full moon, with candles, or something like that. Not after a sweaty basketball game."

She chuckled and he smiled painfully.

"But I can't hold it any longer, you know?"

"It will be the hardest thing we've ever done," he warned her. "But if you let me, I will stay by your side. I won't be able to do it publically, which will be the hardest part."

He watched her carefully. She wasn't pulling away. She wasn't denying him. She just looked into his eyes, trusting, believing, and anticipating.

"I love you, Yoona.