Author's Note : Today marks the 6 month anniversary for this story. I'd like to thank seung-cheol for telling me this before! ((also, if you haven't read any of her stories, you really should because they are really amazing)).

Last but not least, I want to dedicate this chapter to my good friend ((and fellow Soonyoung stan)), Claire. She helped me a lot in writing Ch40 especially when I was stuck and needed a song to write to. Thank you, and I love you, Claire!

“Bee, how does this look?” Jihoon casually asked, popping the collar of the burned red dress shirt he was trying on, “Or do you think I should get I different color?”

Ah yes, Jihoon and Bee. A peculiar pair these two were. In the beginning, he wanted nothing to do with the young girl, always rolling his eyes at even the slightest mention of her name, but clearly looking at them now, one could say that they were no longer on different pages. Of course, Bee and him hadn't escaped rocky waters just yet, but over the past few months, one could conclude that the gap separating them was no longer as wide as before. Back then, none of the Kyonggi High School students would have expected to see even the two of the same room, let alone going shopping together like they were just now. Well, maybe there was a bit more of persuasion on Jihoon's side, but it was Bee who had sealed the deal by agreeing to the offer – and get this, it wasn't even her that he was going shopping for.

This morning, the two of them were in a formal attire outfitters, one fusing about what looked good on him while the other busied herself with the latest fashion trends, and gossip about the hottest bands in Korea. Jihoon and Bee were alone in a dressing area; her outside the changing stalls, and him walking in-an-out. She was comfortably stationed at the jaded leather couch with her legs propped up on the glass low-table in front of her, STYL3 magazine sitting on her lap opened to the “Which Dress Suits Your Summer Figure?” article. At least, that's what Jihoon thought. Every so often, when he disappeared back into the changing room, she would flip to the very last page and check their zodiac compatibility. She was particularly excited this month especially since in their shared box on the chart, there was a heart meaning that “Love was on the way!”. But on the contrary, her horoscope, Sagittarius, stated that “obstacles will be coming in your love life's way”. Glancing up from the love quiz she was taking, Bee once-overed the outfit he had just changed into and shrugged, “I don't know, whatever you want,”

Her tone was that of obvious kill-me-now boredom, tinted with a little of “I could really care less” - but there was good reason. Jihoon had been trying on similar pants and dress shirts for the past two and a half hours, and by the first hour, Bee was already exhausted from just sitting there. Maybe for the first half hour, she was internally fangirling about how great he looked all dressed up, but one can only have enough of a good looking guy, you feel me? Honestly, there was no variety in the things he had picked out, they were all the same: two buttons at the wrists, pointed collar, and straight black pants held up by a silver rectangular snap buckle belt. She was still dreading having to go suit, tie, and shoe shopping with him – which he told her they would do right after he chose the perfect shirt. Once Bee let out a heavy sigh, and returned to reading the article, he simply rolled his eyes and went back inside the changing room.

“You know, you didn't have to come,” he called from inside the chamber as he slipped into another shirt of the same type, but in a different color, “I could have done it myself,”

“Actually Jihoon, I'm kind of relieved that I came, you know why?” she answered back with a questioning tone at the end of the statement, “Because now I know that there's no hope for your third year fashion sense,”

It was an unwritten rule at Kyonggi High that when a student, either boy or girl, rose to their third year, then they had the choice to either continue wearing the uniform, or wear their own clothes (clothes that applied to the given code, of course). Third year girls were required to wear pleated skirts, no more than two inches over the knee, but it could be whatever style, patter, or color they wanted. Their shirts were restricted to only collared shirts, but like their skirts, it could be any style, pattern, or color they wanted. Third year boys had a similar dress code, only they had no say in what pants they were allowed to wear. It was a given that jeans were not allowed or tolerated on school grounds, even on dress down days. For them, they could only wear black pants, while they could wear whatever collared shirt they wanted. Shoes were also regulated, but not as strictly; as long as they were not open-toed shoes or neon colored, a student was allowed to wear them. One of the biggest freedoms that almost every underclassman was jealous of was the lifting of the hair restrictions. Once a third year student, the whole “hair length cannot exceed your shoulders” and the “absolutely no hair color alterations” was lifted.

“Be serious here,” Jihoon said as he once again walked out of the dressing room, this time sporting an aqua color, “Besides, I already know what I'm going to be wearing for the rest of my third year. I'm just looking for my prom, and graduation clothes because mom told me to,”

Upon hearing the overview of his shopping list, Bee immediately knew what he meant when he said he already knew what he was going to wear for the rest of the year. Then again, Jihoon wasn't exactly as hard to figure out as a 5000 piece puzzle; Jihoon was planning on wearing his school uniform for his third year, and to Bee, this was totally unacceptable. I mean, how could you be given free dress downs for an entire school year and not take up that opportunity to distinguish yourself from the underclassmen? If anything, Bee couldn't wait until her third yer to finally get rid of that drab, unflattering, and ugly uniform that did no justice to her 'petite' figure (although many of the boys at school would say otherwise). Jihoon had only planned on buying clothes for the important events for his school, excluding the minor ones like the cotillion and various dances throughout the year – he had other clothes for that. Besides, he wasn't nitpicky either, unlike someone he knew.

“No, no, no. I refuse to be associated with the third year loser who decided to wear his school uniform,” Bee shoved her magazine back into her pink shoulder bag, making it clear that she was going to be taking over this shopping trip, “If you want to make this year memorable and, as you probably plan on doing, getting girls' attention, you have to wear what I tell you to wear otherwise you can just die lonely,”

Jumping to her feet, she bounded over to Jihoon immediately grabbing his arm to show him his wrist, “First off, if you want to impress a girl with a good eye for fashion, you should always go with the one button barrel cuff. It's dressy, preppy, and believe it or not, it makes even the toughest guys look like classy gentlemen,”

Stepping back, Bee continued scanning over his outfit, trying to pick out even the tiniest details. To the normal eye, Jihoon already looked ravishing, but to Bee, he was nothing but an amateur boy who seemed like he threw on the first things he could find in his father's closet – which was so not okay. One thing that bothered her about his shirt was that it made him look like the shirt was eating him up. Jihoon wasn't necessarily skinny like Soonyoung was, nor was he tall. In any case, the shirt didn't suit his body type. Actually, nothing likable, rather nothing she liked, was on Jihoon's body. Sighing, she decided that If she wanted to eat dinner tonight, she would have to gather his clothes for him.

In less than an hour, Jihoon was standing before the mirror, all done up the way Bee had dressed him; he had to admit, he did look a lot nicer (and surprisingly thinner) than what he started off as. Thanks to her, he was no longer wearing the basic two-button cuff, but instead a one-button barrel cuff. His sleeves were neatly rolled up about an inch below his elbow, giving him a casual look. Continuing on with buttons, two of them were undone at the collar which had also been change. The pointed was easily changed to a spread, making his face seem less chubby, and more mature. The sported color was no longer a burned red, but a softer, more subtle orange tucked into the hem of his pants that Bee decided to let him keep. Jihoon hadn't realized how such little things could make him look that more of a man – a rather charming looking one, might he add.

“Wow, I really did a great job,” Bee sighed at the sight of her great work, ignoring the creeped out look Jihoon was giving her as she stared at him, completely enthralled, “Everyone at school won't be able to take their eyes off of you!”

“What do you mean 'everyone'?” Jihoon scoffed, turning away from her to resume posing in front of the mirror, “Don't you mean just you? I mean, you did force me to wear the things you liked,”

“So what? I, Lee Moon Bi, knows what's right for the greater good!” she chirped as she stepped up to the platform next to Jihoon on the platform, lacing her arm through his, “Everyone will be head over heels for you...and I don't know what to think about it,”

Now, Jihoon was used to receiving all this skinship from Bee, but he had to admit, it still made him feel weird. It wasn't a bad weird, no, but it was a sickly kind of weird. That kind of weird you would get before you go on a roller coaster ride. It was that same sensation of your stomach being into a whirlpool when you fell down a drop tower – a little nervous, yet excited for the thrill at the same time. It was an odd feeling, and most certainly unwelcomed by the young victim. He hated the feeling. It was something he thought that only couples should be having each other since that's what they always described that 'love feeling' to be in dramas. Hell, Jihoon didn't even know why he would get that feeling at the mention of her name!

Looking straight ahead at the mirror, he focused on her bright, smiling face; her cheeks naturally rosy, eyes curved into slight eye-smiles, and a single dimple on her right cheek. Only now did he notice that she seemed to have made an extra effort in picking an outfit for that morning: a boy in her hair, a charm bracelet around her wrist, a slightly ruffled dress, and a touch of subtle shimmer lip gloss. Although she was someone who cared a lot about her appearance, she wasn't beautiful or anything. She was average, but at the same time, she wasn't average. It was like she was made specifically to Jihoon's most compatible specifications. He was short, so she was ideally shorter. He was chubbier, so she was more petite. He didn't care much about appearance, so she was a fashion critic. Everything balanced out, but neither him nor her noticed this. They had never seen past each other's differences, often forcing their own personal style on the other, maybe even trying to change the habits, personality, and style. Bee was blinded by her perfect image of Jihoon, which she was seeing in the mirror right now. Taller than her, standing by her side, and smiling along with her and not at her. In her head, everything was perfect, but to him, they were just two friends who were open about their feelings and opinions to one another.

“So you wouldn't be jealous?” Jihoon raised a curious brow at her before stepping off the platform to head back to the changing room, “I was kind of expecting a smart-aleck response about how I was the perfect boyfriend or something,”

To be honest, he was a bit disappointed that she hadn't said something along those lines because now it made it harder for him to poke fun at her. He fought back the smile forming on his face when he heard Bee suddenly take it back, starting to ramble on about how 'that's not what she meant' or 'that came out wrong'. Even after the two of them were heading out of the changing area was she still trying to explain herself. It was rather amusing actually, especially if you paid attention to how fast she was switching topics. One moment, she was explaining herself, then next thing you know she was talking about prom and prom dates.

“And I mean, if girls were so willing to just throw themselves at you then wouldn't it be easier to pick a date for prom next year?”

The question slipped from her tongue with ease, taking Jihoon by surprise. There wasn't a sign of resistance on her part when she mentioned other girls, nor did the thought of him asking someone else to be his date didn't faze her. In her mind, it meant she was slowly improving. It was probably the casual tone in her voice when she asked this that made Jihoon double-take; he wasn't used to this ide of 'open to other possibilities'. Bee liked him, and him only, right? It wasn't until Jihoon suddenly stopped walking that Bee stopped talking. His head was hung low, eyes fixed on the floor with his forehead wrinkling as the gears in his head started to wind.

“Wait, Jihoon, why'd you stop?” she asked, eyes never leaving him, “I thought we were going to check out now,”

“Go,”

“What?”

Bringing his head up, Jihoon looked at her with rather annoyed expression as if he were asking: “Like you wouldn't know,” - and like always, Bee grew impatient. Crossing her arms across her chest, Bee held her nose high up in the air to try and match his intimidating nature. She wasn't going to back down from him the way she always did. She had decided she was a big, independent girl now and if she wanted to protect to herself, she couldn't surrender to submission. Neither of them wanted to break eye contact; his dark coffee ones challenging her light hazel orbs. When Bee still couldn't catch on to what he was talking about, Jihoon sighed and slid his hands into his pockets, breaking their eye contact, “Well I guess we walked all the way here for no reason,”

Bee followed him with her eyes, but immediately pulled away when she realized that they were no longer in the men's section. Racks and racks of dresses surrounded them, almost collapsing at the weight it bore on it's individual arms. Luscious maroon carpet lined the floor, meeting at the gold painted edges of the room. Her eyes were drawn up to the white walls with gold painted designs – it was as if she were standing in the dance hall of Belle's castle. The air quickly escaped her lungs at the breathtaking sight of the formal dress area, rendering her speechless. This was her first time entering the room since she had no reason to be down there in the first place. Dresses on the Formal floor were for the most special black-tie occasions so they were top-of-the-line brands. Her prom dress from last year was nothing compared to any of the dresses there especially since hers was from the Junior floor. Many red-carpet idols bought their dresses from this area, so why did Jihoon lead her in here? In fact, why did Jihoon even want to look at dresses?

“What are we doing here?” Bee asked, tugging at his sleeve like a lost child at the mall.

Smirking, Jihoon smoothly pulled his arm away from her before draping it over her shoulder, “A prom date needs a dress, doesn't she?”

“One, two, and...smile!”

Click

“Wait hold on, Soonyoung stop looking down!” Mrs. Kwon nagged the shy birthday boy, squinted eye peeking into the lens to try and get a better picture of her dearest and only son by his cake, “Are you acting up because your girlfriend is here?”

This elicited a handful of giggles from the rest of the adults from the room, including Choyoung who was reddening at the mention of being called Soonyoung's 'girlfriend' while he rolled his eyes. Yes, they were finally dating – well at least they claimed to be dating. It was promoted to the public that they were together, but between the two of them, they still weren't “official”. Firstly, it was because Soonyoung hadn't asked her out officially, and she hadn't given her surefire answer. But since they didn't want any more complications, they figured they might as well act out like a legitimate couple. Anywho, June 10 (or Junhui's birthday, whichever you would prefer) was the day Choyoung finally accepted his love, and confessed her own to him...with a little intimate moment on the side, of course.

It was now June 15, Soonyoung's 17^th birthday, and everyone was rather excited. For one, his parents were bustling around like busy bees trying to capture as many pictures as they could of the two so they wouldn't miss a single second when Soonyoung would blow out his candles. Soonyoung and Choyoung had officially introduced themselves as a 'couple' to their parents a day after their proclamation of love – and boy were the Kwan and Kwon parents thrilled. But it wasn't like they hadn't expected the introduction anyway. Soonyoung believed that it was when he said, “They said the longer you know a person, the more you know a person, you either grow to hate them or love them. As for Choyoung and I, we believe that our relationship was the latter,”

“Is it really necessary to take all these pictures?” Soonyoung rubbed the back of his neck shyly, “It's just my 17^th birthday, not my 18^th,”

Clicking her tongue, Mrs. Kwon knelt down once more to get a different angle and was back to clicking the shutter button at lightning speed, “Of course it is! This is your first birthday as a true man in love! We must document this! Now fix your hair, please,”

“What if we tell her we've liked each other for almost a year?” Choyoung whispered in his ear, giggling as she did, “Maybe she wouldn't be taking pictures as religiously?”

The moment she brought her hand up to fix his hair for him, both sets of parents had their DSLRs at the ready – even their dads. Every second of this small family birthday celebration was going to be taken no matter how many times Soonyoung begged for them not to. Playing along, Soonyoung decided to mess around with the adults, specifically his mom, and figured why not make a show while he was at it? Since his back was slightly turned towards Choyoung, and she was almost leaning over his shoulder to fix his hair, he turned his head to meet hers just centimeters away. At this sudden action, Choyoung's eyes widened, panicking that he might do something awkward in front of their parents. Surely Soonyoung was the type to do that. The corners of his lips lifted into a small smile as he brushed his lips across her cheek for a quick peck, then pulling away to watch her reaction.

“Hey, not yet!” Choyoung whined, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout the way he did when he wanted something from her, “Stop cheating, you haven't blown out your candles yet!”

This sent their moms into a shrieking mess as they performed a mini romance skit. It took a while for Choyoung's cringe-worthy aegyo attacks to break Soonyoung's stubborn barrier, and eventually he gave in to blowing out his candles. He really hated having so much attention on him, but he decided that nothing was as bad as what his mom forced him to wear the moment his eyes opened that morning. Aside from pink, pastel yellow was Choyoung's most favored color and Mrs. Kwon took it upon herself to get Soonyoung's yellow dress shirt fitted since it was about a size too big. So now there he was, wearing the shirt he never thought he would see again. But then again, it wasn't all that bad. It matched Choyoung's outfit after all. She was doled up in a matching boyfriend Oxford collared shirt, white ruffled skirt adorned with a delicate baby's breath print, and matching black bow belt at the waist. Her heels were classic light Suede light yellow pumps (which Bee had actually suggested for her to wear). One obvious thing that was both evident on both of them though was their MIO active watches, his grey and hers white, settled at a good 79BPM.

“Happy birthday, Soonyoung!” Choyoung sang as she clapped her hands excitedly when Soonyoung finally blew out the candles, “So what did you wish for?”

Straightening his back, Soonyoung smirked and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. The two of them blocked out the flashing and clicking noises coming from every direction, and focused only on each other. There was a happy aura lingering in the air, and what made his stomach perform somersaults was that Choyoung was smiling up brightly at him eyes filled with curiosity as she wondered that out of all the things he could have wished for, what he had in mind. Her heart started beating against her chest loudly as he leaned in closer to her, threatening to close the gap between them. By the way he was acting like right now, Choyoung had a vague idea of what Soonyoung might have wished for, although there was a good chance she was wrong. She almost jumped for joy when Soonyoung brushed his lips against hers in a quick peck. Lightly punching his arm, Choyoung giggled, “Come on, you can't not tell me what you wished for!”

Choyoung tilted her head in confusion when Soonyoung pulled out two light blue envelopes with silhouettes of planes from his back pocket. She looked at him with that same curios expression as if she were almost asking him what it was. Holding them out in front of him, Soonyoung grinned, “Oh I think you would be surprised to know that my wish already came true,”

sequel...?