“Are your ready for this?” Sulli asked airily as she slung an arm around Sunhwa.

Today was the day. D-day. Also known as dance-day, or the first full day of rehearsals that they started rehearsing in pairs. Which meant Sunhwa would be dancing with the most annoying human on the planet, named Kim Kibum.

“Never,” Sunhwa grumbled as she reached down to retie her sneakers.

“Oh, come on, Sunhwa yah,” Luna chirped as she stretched. “It can’t be that bad.”

Sunhwa glared darkly at her. “How about you try dancing with Key, and then give me an answer.”

“You know what?” Hyun Jin interrupted, eyes sparkling. “I bet he just has a crush on you.”

“W-what? Him? Have a crush on me?” Sunhwa laughed in disbelief. “Unnie, have you seen the way he treats me?”

Hyun Jin simply shrugged knowingly. “Boys will be like that when they like a girl.”

Sunhwa scoffed just as the door opened. Oh seongsang-nim entered, and following him was SHINee.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get started,” he announced. “No dawdling now. We still have a lot of work to do.”

“And Key, wipe that expression off of your face!”

-

“Alright, peasant, let me make one thing clear for you,” Key hissed at Sunhwa as they were dancing. Sunhwa slid to the left and moved from side to side, her footwork matching his perfectly. The music had barely even started.

“What do you want, diva?” Her harsh tone contrasted with the dance.

“Just because manager hyung made me dance with you doesn’t mean anything between us has changed,” Key said with a completely fake smile plastered on his face. “I’ll dislike you just as much as I do now.”

“Fine by me,” Sunhwa retorted as they faced each other and pumped their arms cheerfully.

Key rolled his eyes. “Good.”

It got to a section where they were all supposed to turn and face the mirror, standing on one leg and moving their other in time with the music. Sunhwa turned her body and abruptly fell to the floor.

Oh seongsang-nim cut the music. “Yah! What happened?”
 

Sunhwa grimaced. Her hands stung, but nothing hurt worse than her pride. “Nothing, seongsang-nim. I tripped.”

A glance at Key revealed the answer to her. He was smirking with satisfaction, one foot indiscreetly tucked behind the other. Sunhwa had the sudden urge to punch his face in.

“Are you sure?” Hyun Jin questioned worriedly. Sunhwa had never fallen so suddenly in practice before; her movements were all graceful and measured.

Sunhwa waved a hand. “Neh. I’m fine.”

“Be more careful, Sunhwa yah. Let’s start over,” Oh seongsang-nim said. The music started again.

Sunhwa hissed at Key as they got into position, “You tripped me!”

Key put on a show of innocence, but his eyes said it all. “What are you talking about?”

Sunhwa gritted her teeth, but said nothing. She paid even more attention to her dancing the whole practice, determined that Key wouldn’t ruin her any more than he had already.

Jerk.

-

“Bye, umma,” Sunhwa called quickly as she shut the door to their apartment. She was feeling even more anxious to get out of the house lately, and had been tiptoeing around her mother. She hadn’t done anything bad, really, but felt the invisible tension rising between them after their little disagreement from before.

Don’t think about it, Sunhwa admonished herself. She hitched her bag up higher on her shoulder determinedly and started down the street for work.

-

“How’s our favorite waitress doing?” a husky voice whispered. Sunhwa jumped and turned around from where she was sorting menus to face a grinning Jonghyun.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s you again.”

“Hey, don’t be rude,” Jonghyun replied cheerfully, tweaking her nose.

“Don’t make me hurt you,” she warned, face in a mask. She said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “I would just hate to do that.”

Onew laughed at their exchange. “Good morning, Sunhwa yah.”

Sunhwa rolled her eyes. “Morning. What are you doing here so early?”

“Breakfast, of course,” Taemin answered happily. He leaned on the front desk, hands in his pockets, and grinned at her.

“You’ve never come for breakfast before,” she stated, confused.

“Tsk tsk,” Minho said, waving his finger teasingly with a smirk. “When will you become less narrow-minded, Sunhwa? Can’t we just come here when we want to?”

“Plus, we came to see you,” Jonghyun added. He cast a glance at the eternally giggling waitresses in the back of Paradise and sent them a wink, triggering shrieks of delight. “Is that such a bad thing?”

Sunhwa fought the urge to roll her eyes, again. “Fine, then. Where do you want to sit?”

Before she had even turned, Taemin had plopped himself down at the middle table. “Here!” he called, waving.

Picking up a stack of menus, Sunhwa followed the rest of the boys over to the table. This might have been a mistake on her part, because it put her right in Key’s grasp.

He revealed a sinister-looking Cheshire cat smile before saying, “I expect the chicken will be better today, yes?”

Casting a suspicious glance right back at him, she answered spitefully, “Who on earth eats chicken for breakfast?”
 

Key sat down, snapping open his napkin like always and settling it on his lap. “Onew,” he replied, and then smirked again, “and me.”

Sunhwa took another deep breath just to be sure she could control herself, set down the menus, and clicked open her pen. Flipping to another page in her notepad, she asked, “What would you guys like to order?”

Hi! *waves* Hope you guys liked the chapter. Does anyone notice that the chapters are getting longer? Hehe, I'm proud of that. ^.^ Don't forget to comment and love you guys! <3

- tigress