SEOUL, 2011.

                “I’m home…” Seohyun shouted from the door.

                “Seohyun-ah?! Is that you?” Taeyeon shouted back from their living room. She, Hyoyeon, and Yoona were watching TV while the other members were busy with their personal schedule.

                “You’re back! You’ve finished your last WGM episode?! ” Hyoyeon sounded excited. “You have to tell us…” As turned her face towards the door, she was surprised to see their maknae crying. Tears were flowing down her cheek. Her eyes were red. So was her nose. The sadness on her face was obvious.

                Taeyeon and Yoona were shocked, too. This is the first time they ever saw Seohyun cried. They had been living together for quite some time now, but this young girl had never shown any kind of extreme emotion like this.

                “Hyunni-ah, what’s wrong?” Hyoyeon stood from the sofa and walked towards Seohyun, who was still standing by the door.

                “Aniyo..” She sobbed.

                “But you’re crying. You never cry.” Yoona followed suit and hugged her little sister. “It’s okay.. Come here..”

                “Did Yong Hwa did this?” Taeyeon’s tone was full of accusation. She really liked the CNBLUE leader, but she wasn’t afraid to tear him to pieces if he ever done something bad to her dongsaeng like this.

                “Aniyo, Unnie. Yong Oppa didn’t cause this.” Seohyun was still sobbing. She found it hard to breathe, so she released herself from Yoona’s hug and walked to the sofa.

                “Seriously, if he ever do something bad to you, I will go to their dorm and kick his sorry .” Hyoyeon added.

                “Gwenchanayo, Unnie. I was just…” She could not continue her words because tears were coming back to her. Every time she say his name, or even thought of their good bye just now, the sadness came right back. The other three members were just stood there, looking helplessly at Seohyun who hadn’t stopped crying.

                She never felt this kind of feeling. This awfully terrible feeling that was caused by a simple good bye downstairs. She told him that she wouldn’t cry today. But at the end of the day, when he hugged her and told her to take care of herself, she was suddenly bombarded with emptiness. The sense of absent that appears once she came inside her apartment building and she saw him walking away.

                They were just ending their on-screen relationship. It wasn’t even real!

                What is this?

                “You can tell us, Hyunni-ah. If there’s something wrong, we will help you.” Said Yoona in her soft voice.

                While Yoona was soothing Seohyun, Hyoyeon and Taeyeon exchanged looks. They looked like they were doing some kind of telepathy. The meaningful looks ended in a conclusion, “Hyun-ah, do you… Ani.. Ani.. ” Hyoyeon wasn’t able to finish her sentence. She was afraid that she jumped into conclusion.

                “You ask her.” She tapped Taeyeon’s shoulder.

                Taeyeon rolled her eyes, annoyed by Hyoyeon. But she’s the leader of these kids, so it should be her responsibility to fix this kind of things, “Seohyun-ah, do you…” Taeyeon stopped for a while, considering whether or not it’s appropriate to ask Seohyun about this right now.

                “We’re not asking this to judge you or anything. But we’ve seen you changed day after day, especially after you started doing WGM with Yong Hwa. We couldn’t help but feeling curious towards your relationship with him.” Taeyeon said in her motherly voice.

                “Unnie..!” Yoona shook her head, signaling that maybe this was not the right time to ask Seohyun the question.

                But the girl itself didn’t seem to mind. She just sat there, trying to get rid of her tears. So the leader proceeded, “Do you love Yong Hwa?”

                As Taeyeon shot the question, Seohyun stopped and look at her older sister in the eyes. That question felt like a slapped to reality. It was an answer to Seohyun’s mystery. She cried because she didn’t know what happened to her heart. It was such a weird thing to feel since she never experienced love before, so she didn’t know how it felt to fall in love.

                But when Taeyeon asked her the question, her eyes were opened.

                So this is it… Love…

                Then Seohyun started to cry more. She couldn’t help feeling so helpless. This is the first time that she fell in love. And it hurts. Yong Hwa never said that being in love could cause this much pain when it’s unreturned.

                “You really do love him, don’t you?” It was a rhetoric question from Hyoyeon. They need not to ask more. Seohyun’s tears explained it all. Hyoyeon, being Seohyun’s roommate who witnessed every single tiny change in her from microscopic view, immediately knelt down and held her hands.

                “It’s okay. Being in love isn’t always like this. It’s beautiful and exciting and warm. It feels like snuggle up in a thick blanket in winter.”

                “But.. I don’t know what to do. I didn’t intend to feel this way towards him. But I just do, Unnie.” Seohyun was still sobbing.

                “That’s why we call it ‘fall in love’, Seohyun-ah.” Yoona hugged her, “I’m sorry it happened this way.”

                “I know.” Seohyun shed the tears from her cheek, “It hurt more because this feeling is unreturned.”

                “Hyunni-ah,” Taeyeon knelt beside Hyoyeon, “It’s okay if he doesn’t feel the same way. That way, we learn to be strong. We learn how to get back on our feet. Someday, you will find a guy whom you love, and who loves you more. Believe that, and everything will be….”

                Taeyeon never finished her sentence because it was interrupted by the bell on their door. Someone came.

                “Duguseyo?” Yoona, being the youngest between the three, stood up and walked to the door. She pressed the ‘talk’ button on their intercom to confirm who the guest is.

                “It’s me, Yong Hwa.”

                Seohyun’s eyes widened. The four of them looked extremely surprised by this sudden visit.

                “Ya, didn’t you say that he left already?” Taeyeon asked Seohyun, who nodded.

                “He had left, Unnie. I saw him walking away.”

                “Why is he here, then?”

                “I don’t know either.” Seohyun shook her head.

                In the midst of panic, Yoona decided to open the door. And there he was. Standing alone in the hallway. He looked anxious, first. But there was a sigh of relief when he saw Seohyun was inside.

                “Annyeonghaseyo.” He bowed to the girls, “I’m sorry for coming abruptly like this. I actually have left the neighborhood but decided to come back.” Typical nervous Yong Hwa. He blabbered about unnecessary things. “Ah, I talked too much.” He scratched his head, “Can I talk to Seohyun?” He looked at Yoona who seemed confuse.

                She turned her head to her leader, asking for permission. But before Taeyeon said anything, Seohyun already stood up from the sofa and walked to the door.

                “Oppa..”

                “Hyun..” He looked surprised to the trace of tears on Seohyun’s face, “You were crying?”

                Seohyun didn’t answer the question, “What are you doing here?” Somehow, to her surprise, she found strength in her tone. She might feel miserable, but Yong Hwa didn’t need to know that.

                “I need to talk to you. Can we talk outside?”

                “But we just talked earlier.”

                “I know. But…” Yong Hwa stopped. He looked like he was thinking about something, “You know what? Let’s just talk here.”

                Seohyun looked at him with a confuse gaze. Why did he come here? He left. Why did he come back?

                “Hyunni, you read the card I gave you earlier, right? The one with the bouquet.”

                Seohyun nodded. She still had the card in her jacket pocket. She even still remembered what he wrote in it. He said he had a great time the past year and he was grateful that he did the show with her, and not anybody else. He also said that even though both of them will go their separate ways, they would always remain friends. That was what he wrote. Kind of disappointing because that time, Seohyun was hoping for something else.

                “I lied.” Yong Hwa spilled the beans. He looked at her in the eyes, as if Yoona was not standing behind the door and Taeyeon and Hyoyeon were not looking at them from the living room.

                He sighed before he continued, “I don’t want us to be friends. That’s not acceptable for me. This one year had been wonderful. I really enjoy your company, your smile, your laugh, even your silly nagging. And somehow, you left me wanting more.”

                As Yong Hwa expressed his feelings, Seohyun felt her heart pounding. And at the same time, the other girls were surprised to death. They could not believe that they witnessed this.

                “Hyunni,” Yong Hwa moved forward a few steps, closing their distance. Then he took her hand into his, “I want to make it real. I don’t know about you, but.. I think I’m in love with you.”

                Seohyun’s eyes widened. Her face turned red and her heart burst. That was not what she had in mind. She never thought this would happen. She never imagined that Yong Hwa would come to her dorm and confess. He was brave enough to express his real feelings to her in front of the other SNSD member. In Seohyun’s eyes, that was a form of chivalry. And she loved it.

                “Na do.. Oppa..” Seohyun whispered her response to Yong Hwa.

                “Ne?”

                “Me, too. I love you.” Seohyun blushed. Without she realized, a tear of joy came down her cheek. She giggled in happiness when Yong Hwa took her into his arms. He hugged her, as if he didn’t want to let go.

                Both of them felt they were in cloud nine. While at the same time, there were three girls who were screaming in excitement of witnessing the first member of SNSD who had an official boyfriend.