Chapter 4

Meanwhile…

Hee-Young and Sun-Hee were working at the bakery.

"I can't believe that Jae helped you, Youngie!" Sun-Hee said surprised.

"Yeah."

"I wonder why." Sun-Hee asked questioningly.

"I don't know."

"Maybe it's because he felt sorry for you."

"Could be."

"Or maybe because he likes you."

"That's not it."

"It could be a possibility you know…"

"What! That's not true."

"Well, times change I guess."

"Admit it, it's most likely that he likes you."

"No…"

"Hey, we have customers."

Hee-Young looked to see who it was and sighed. It was Xiah and Micky.

Why them, of all the many people here in Korea?

"Well, look who's here. It's Hee-Young Shim.What are you doing here?" Xiah asked

"Working" Hee-Young replied dully

"Oh…Well, you're lucky that I have a craving for cake today and I decided to go here." Micky said.

"Whatever."

"How are you guys doing?" Sun-Hee asked nervously.

"Fine, thank you for asking milady." Xiah answered sweetly

"You shouldn't be talking to him, Sunny." Hee-Young said in a rude voice

"Why not?" Sun-Hee looked at Hee-Young in a weird way.

"Because he'll get you into trouble."

"Do you want to be humiliated? Micky asked nastily

"No..."

"Then be nice. And I want that slice." He pointed to a slice of chocolate cake

Hee-Young rolled her eyes.

"You're lucky Jae decided to help you." Micky said after paying for the cake

"Yeah' he's never done that." Xiah piped up

"whatever.." Hee-Young said without thinking.

"Oh really?" Xiah said sarcastically.

"Maybe Jae helped you because he might actually like you." Xiah said with an evil grin.

"Whatever." Hee-Young said.

"Looks like she doesn't want us around. Come on. Let's go." Xiah said, motioning to Micky that they leave.

"Yeah. Later." Micky said.

With that, the two gentlemen left the bakeshop.

"There you go." Sun-Hee said.

"What?" Hee-Young asked

"Even Xiah said so."

"Said what?"

"That Jae might like you."

"Yeah, right." Hee-Young scoffed

"Seriously. It could be true."

"No, it's no true. And even if he did like me, there's no way, I'm going to go out with a guy like him."

"Come on, Youngie. He's cute and rich. What's wrong with that?"

"He may be rich but i doubt he will like me back. He might of helped because he felt sorry for me."

Sun-Hee just laughed.

"And what is so funny?"

"It's just that I can imagine you guys together and you do look good together."

"Oh, please…" she said while blushing.

"It might happen…"

"Can we just go back to work, please?" Hee-Young said with a tone of annoyance.

"Fine"

A blue-haired boy was staring at them.

The following day, Xiah, Micky and Changmin were sitting in one of the fields in Shinhwa High. Xiah was reading a book and Changmin was eating. Micky was busy staring at all the girls passing by.

"I'm bored" Changmin complained.

"You're always bored. Why don't you try studying or something?" Xiah said.

"Nah. It's just not my thing. I study so I pass my tests."

"Why do you bother?"

"My allowance goes down every time I fail."

"What happens if you get grades better than expected?"

"An increase in allowance of course"

"Oh."

As Micky was about to say something, the bell rang.

The rest of the morning was like a blur…

"Hey, have you seen Jae?" Xiah asked when he met Changmin and Micky at lunch.

"Nope, I haven't seen him" Micky said as he opened his locker.

"Hey guys, what's up?" a voice said from behind.

The three looked behind them and saw Jae standing there.
"We were just talking about you" Xiah said.

"why what happened?"

"Nothing just wondering."

"Really.. hmmm.. i was just hanging around.. sleeping "

"Could it be that you're trying to impress someone?"

"No."

"Yeah, right."

"how does sleeping impress someone?"

"Maybe you're trying to make yourself cute in front of Hee-Young." Xiah snickered.

"Why would I care about Hee-Young?"

"I don't know… helping her out … forcing Changmin to take the red tag off… Hmm… That's not you…"

"I…uh… I did it to be nice."

"I don't believe you!"

"You have to believe me!"

"Let's cut this topic short. Jae being this way is because he likes Hee-Young. There." Micky said impatiently.

Changmin looked away angrily like nothing happened.
The four of them just stared at each other and heard someone calling out thier names. The four looked and saw a blue-haired boy who looked like Xiah standing in front of them.

"Yunho-hyung!!" Xiah said surprised.

"I just wanted to surprise you because I'm studying here now." Yunho said gleefully.

"You're not studying abroad anymore?"

"Nope."

"Sorry to interrupt but who is this boy??" Changmin asked.

"Oops. I almost forgot. Guys, this is Yunho, my half-brother"

"Half-brother!"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"I never got around to telling you guys, I guess. My dad met his mom right after my folks got divorced when I was still a baby. He's two years younger than us but he got accelerated twice."

Yunho bowed to them.
"Ncie to meet you" Jae said.

Yunho looked up and saw a beautiful creature infront of him...

"Nice to meet you too" he said trying not to blush.

"Get a hold of yourself, Yunnie!!!" Xiah said.

"Yeah, yeah. No need to be so worried, Xiah" Yunho said with a grin.

"Ooh. Who knew Xiah was a responsible brother?" Micky said to Changmin.

Yeah. I didn't know that" Changmin replied and the two were snickering.

"I think it's a nice gesture" Jae said.

"Yeah, that's the right thing to do, Jaejoong. Stick up for me!" Xiah said triumphantly.

"So, you're two years younger than us?" Jae asked Yunho.

"Yes, I am." Yunho said happily.

"Hold on, Yunho. Before I forget. When did you arrive from the States?" Xiah asked.

"Yesterday but dad already enrolled me in so I can just go to school with no worries."

"How come I didn't see you?"

"Because I was following you around yesterday without you knowing. I stayed over at my friend's house last night and I ordered everyone at home not to tell you."

"And this is your idea of a surprise?"

"Yup. I haven't seen you in such a long time, Xiah. I guess I just missed you ."

"Well, then.."

Changmin, and Micky were getting bored and hungry so they silently walked away leaving Jae , Xiah and Yunho there.

"Whatever. Let's go have lunch."

"Wait a minute. Where are your friends except Jaejoong?"

"They must have gone ahead." Jae said.

"Oh. Okay"

"Shall we?"

Yunho nodded.

And they went off to lunch.

After school, Yunho was looking around so he could choose what he wanted for an extracurricular activity.He thought of joining the choir. But he wanted an activity that required logical thinking and made him aware of current events. Not to mention mingling with other people.

he smiled and headed for a classroom that had a big banner.

'Debate try-outs today'

Yup, I think I've come to the right place

"You what!" Xiah asked angrily.

"I tried out for the debate team" Yunho said

"You shouldn't have!"

"Why not!"

"Because the debate team is consisted of nerds and geeks. That's why." Changmin answered.

"Yeah. What he said." Xiah agreed

"And why would a pretty handsome boy like you bury yourself in books and current events like those geeks?" Micky asked.

"Watch it, Micky." Jae said in a warning tone.

"Nothing against you, Jaejoong."

"No offense taken."

"Yeah. Come on, Yunho. That'll destroy my image." Xiah said.

"No, it won't." Yunho answered in a defensive tone.

"Why didn't you try out for the choir"

"I didn't want to… And besides the choir is filled with…"

"Forget it. Let's go." Xiah cut his sentence off.

"Where?"

"Somewhere we can buy food."

"Didn't you just eat?"

"I'm still hungry."

"Fine. Are you guys coming?" Yunho asked the others.

"Sure." The other three followed.

"So you tried out for the debate team?" Sun-Hee asked. They were as usual, working at the bakeshop.

"Yeah. It's my first choice for extracurricular activity" Hee-Young said.

"Wow…I have no idea what I want to join."

"Well, you don't have to pick one anyway. It's not a requirement."

"Yeah but I want to do something on the days that we're not working."

"You have a point there."

"So why join debate?"

"Huh?"

"I asked why you decided to try out for the debate team."

"I don't know"

"Maybe you saw someone you like there."

"No…I wanted to give it a shot."

"Right."

"Why do you always question my answers?"

"I don't know. Just an instinct I guess."

"Whatever."

"We have customers."

Normally, it would have been a bunch of old ladies or a group of high schoolers who would step in but today, it was the F4 who entered. Along with them was a blue-haired boy, Hee-Young had seen before but she couldn't place where. There were too many things on her mind.

"We meet again, Hee-Young." Changmin said.

"Are you here to buy something or are you here just to disturb me?" Hee-Young said nastily.

"Xiah wanted to eat so we're here."

"Oh. So what's with the shirt?"

"I just felt like wearing something else. Do you like it?"

"No. It looks horrible on you." Hee-Young said with an evil grin.

"You're just saying that but deep inside you're thinking that I look good in it."

"No. You really do look silly in it." Hee-Young said while trying to hide her smile.

The other three snickered.

Sun-Hee and Yunho just stared at them.

"Come on, admit it." Changmin went on.

"Admit what?"

"That you think I'm irresistible and you like me."

"Why would I think that?" Hee-Young asked. She was trying to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"Because it's true."

"Yeah, right."

"Admit it now."

"Why am I going to admit something that's not true?"

"I know you want me." Changmin said airily.

"Please. You're just a waste of time." Hee-Young rolled her eyes. She had finally managed to stop herself from laughing out loud.

"How can you say that? You don't even know me". Changmin said defensively.

"Hmm…I'll guess. You're arrogant. You get ticked off when you don't get your way. You think you're hot but really you're not. You think you can get away with everything. You think money can buy everything. Everyone fears you. In fact, you're quite insecure about friends because you fear that one day, your friends will just abandon you and you'll be left all alone. Am I right?" Hee-Young said counting the traits using her fingers.

"…"

"I guess it's true then."

"No, you're wrong!" Changmin was slowly losing his temper.

"Look who's so angry now." Hee-Young said coolly.

"I think I was wrong about taking back that red tag..." Changmin said in a warning tone and staring at Jae.

"Really?" Hee-Young said sarcastically.

The two were glaring at each other.

"Okay. We'll cut this short now. Forget this happened, Changmin. Come on Xiah. Let's go." Micky snapped.

"But…" Xiah said.

"No buts."

"I haven't bought anything yet." Xiah whined.

"We'll buy somewhere else. If we don't leave soon, there might be chaos here. Sorry for the trouble." Micky said quickly.

And with that, they left except for Jaejoong.

"Thank god they're gone." Hee-Young said.

"Did you have to be so mean to him?" Sun-Hee said in a sad tone.

"He deserves it."

"You're hopeless."  Sun-Hee said with a sigh.

"What do you mean?" Hee-Young asked.

" You're never going to be nice to him, are you?"

"I will if he decides to deflate his head."

"So you're going to wait for him to start acting nicer before you act nicer?" Jaejoong ask.

"Yeah." Hee-Young said dully

"That's mean." Sun-Hee said.

"No, it's not."

"Is too!" Sun-Hee yelled.

"Is not!" Hee-Young yelled back.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"


"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Oh forget it!" Hee-Young said quickly before anything else came out of .

Sun-Hee just sighed.

"ummm Hee-Young... Can i ask you something?" Jaejoong asked.

"yeah what is it?"

"Do you know about the dance?"

"Yeah the next week right?"

"yea....would you accompany me?"

"you mean me as your date?"

"Yes, would you go with me?"

Hee-Young looked surprised..Sun-Hee smiled and elbowed Youngie to respond.

"Yes i would love to go with you"

"Great. Then I will talk about it with you tomorrow since the others are probably wondering where i am."

"ok"

And with that Jaejoong left.

"OMG!!!!!!!!!" Sun-Hee said while grabbing Hee-Young's arm jumping up and down.

With the F4

"The nerve!" Changmin said angrily.

"Well, you started it" Micky said. They were sipping tea in an outdoor café. Jae disappereared to who knows where and Xiah had to do something with Yunho.

"I did not!"

"You shouldn't have made that comment."

"What comment?"

"The one about how you think she likes you."

"Well, I think she does."

"I think she doesn't and why are you after her anyways?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I don't know why I'm attracted to her"

""What do you see in her?"

"I have no idea."

"No idea? At all?" Micky sputtered.

"None at all."

"This is absurd. You like a girl but have no idea what makes you like her?"

"Yeah. The first time I saw her in class, I felt something. I don't know what."

"Really?" Micky said sarcastically

"Yeah."

"What did you feel?" Micky was surprised Changmin had this tendency to be this dense.

Changmin thought for a moment then answered "I don't know."

Micky  just sighed.

"What?"

"You're hopeless."

"So sue me for that."

"You really have no clue?"

"If I did then I would have answered your questions ages ago."

"Fine. I hope you figure that out and when you figure out the answers to my questions, let me know."

"Gotcha."

"By the way, I never got around to asking you but what was her reaction?"

"to what?"

"when you took the red tag away."

"She said she didn't need my help and i tried to explain why but-- she started to---"

"Let me guess what happened next. You said something egoistic about yourself and she got angry and you guys started arguing"

"How did you figure that out?"

"Sometimes, you're so predictable. For the long time that I've known you, you have the tendency to act so egoistic in front of girls. Maybe that's why Hee-Young seems to hate you."

"Probably. But she's the only girl who's resisted me."

Micky sighed and said "There he goes again."

So they just sipped their tea in silence.