A Woman Scorned
My Boyfriend's Best Friend
Krystal was fuming. Jonghyun, that , had thrown a huge party, inviting virtually the entire grade except her. Even her groupmates and cheerleading friends had gone. Clearly the whole party had been revenge against Krystal for dumping Minho. Not only that, according to Yuri, Sulli was being super friendly with Minho. *That . You aren't supposed to hang around with your friend's ex." If she felt bad about dumping Minho before, she definitely didn't now.
Then came a second blow. When Yoona had gone for lunch on the weekend, she had seen Taemin and Minho eating together at the diner. Apparently Taemin had accused Minho of liking Sulli and Sulli liking him back. Yoona overheard their whole conversation.
How dare Sulli go after her ex-boyfriend? She was supposed to be Krystal's friend.
*****
First period got off to a slow start. Minho's home room teacher, Ms. Byun, was going over algebra problems on the board. Even though SM High was a performing arts school, they still had to learn the other major subjects. By the end of the period, half the kids were falling asleep, if not already asleep.
Placing her chalk on her desk, she finished her lesson.
"I am highly aware that many of you didn't hear a word that I said in the last 10 minutes," she stated plainly, surveying her sleepy students. "However, I suggest you pay attention now because I have something important to address that might be of interest to you." A few students lifted up their heads but many continued to ignore her. She carried on anyways. "Next weekend is SM High's annual senior trip."
The students were all suddenly alert.
"Yes!" Some yelled.
" yes!" Heechul yelled, in particular.
"Language, please." Ms. Byun looked at him sternly.
"Sorry," he lowered his head.
"As I was saying," she continued, "your school trip is next week so make sure to sign up with your respective groupmates. This is one of the biggest events of the year for seniors, other than perhaps the prom. I will pass the sign-up list around the class so be sure to put your name down before you leave."
When the sheet came to Minho, he sighed. Things were kind of awkward with Taemin since their conversation about Sulli on the weekend and he wasn't looking forward to spending a week with him on such bad terms. Reluctantly, he signed his name next to Key's and passed the paper to the next person.
*****
For the rest of the day, all the senior students could talk about was their upcoming trip. They were going to a camp near a lake, just a few hours bus ride away.
Sulli was talking about it with Luna and Onew during their lunch hour.
"I'm so excited," Luna said. "Hopefully Minho won't be too depressed anymore, right Onew?"
He looked up from his lunch. "Actually, it seems like he's happier lately. I don't know what changed but he's different than the beginning of last week."
Sulli nodded. It was difficult to hide her emotions when people brought up Minho. She was trying desperately to be indifferent to him, though she was quickly realizing that was virtually impossible. Every time someone mentioned his name, her stomach fluttered. She was dating Taemin though, so she needed to suppress those feelings. Speaking of Taemin, she had somewhere to be.
"Actually guys, I'm supposed to go watch Taemin's dance rehearsal," she told them. "You two carry on with your lunch." She gave Luna a knowing look before leaving. Her friend had had a crush on Onew since they were in their first year at SM High. Sulli though they would make a cute couple but Luna was too shy to say something and Onew was too oblivious to pick up on her emotions.
Sulli made her way to the dance practice room. She opened the door and sat down in the small audience section. Two of the walls in the room were covered with mirrors so the dancers could see themselves.
Seeing Sulli come in, Taemin smiled at her. She grinned back at him, feeling a familiar sense of guilt. Why could she only think of Minho?
The dance teacher put the music on and the dancers began practicing. Taemin, Eunhyuk, Victoria, Hyoyeon and Yunho were among the group of students practicing.
As Sulli watched the practice, she couldn't help but appreciate what an incredible dancer Taemin was. It seemed to come so easily to him. Sulli, on the other hand, was rather stiff when it came to choreography.
Just then, the door opened and Krystal walked in. She stormed over to Sulli.
"We need to talk," she stated, looking very unhappy.
"Here?" Sulli asked incredulously. "They're in the middle of a dance practice."
Krystal gestured to the door. Sulli followed her out of the room. As she was walking out, Taemin looked up at her questioningly. She gave him the symbol for one second.
Outside the dance room, Krystal confronted her.
"What do you need, Krystal-ah?" Sulli asked.
"How about an explanation?" Krystal retorted angrily. Sulli was confused. Krystal continued, infuriated. "Did you think it was okay for you to go after someone who is my ex-boyfriend?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play ing dumb with me, unnie," Krystal spat.
Sulli was shocked. "I honestly don't know why you think I'm going after Minho."
Krystal had reached her end. "YOU WENT TO A PARTY THAT EXCLUDED ME SO YOU COULD SPEND TIME WITH HIM! EVEN TAEMIN THINKS YOU LIKE HIM!" She yelled at Sulli.
Speaking of Taemin, he appeared in the hallway after hearing Krystal's yells.
Seeing Taemin, Krystal delivered her final blow. "Oh, and you're dating Minho's best friend. You little ." She slapped Sulli flat across the face, leaving a stinging sensation on her cheek.
Taemin grabbed her arm in mid air, as she was pulling away. "Leave her alone," he said with dark eyes. "If you ever say anything like that to her again, I won't be able to overlook it so casually."
Glaring at him and then at Sulli, she retorted, "Don't threaten me." She stormed off down the hall.
Taemin put his hand to Sulli's cheek. "Are you okay?"
A tear trickled over her cheek. She looked at him with wet eyes but didn't answer.
"Come on," he took her hand and led her down the hallway to the nurse's office. Checking to see if the room was empty, he brought her inside. He lifted her up and sat her on the counter. Sulli remained silent.
Taemin began rummaging through the drawers. Finally he found what he was looking for: a wash cloth. He went over the since and dampened it with cold water. Returning to a still-crying Sulli, he placed the cold cloth on her cheek, which was now red from Krystal's blow.
Sulli felt the burning sensation subside. "Thank you," she whispered. Taemin smiled at her but she could see the deep sadness behind his eyes.
He removed the cloth and went back to wring it out over the sink.
"Oppa..." Sulli said tentatively. "Why did Krystal say that you thought I liked Minho?"
Taemin looked up at her. "It's nothing. I just read into a situation more than I should have."
Did Taemin know how she felt about Minho? Sulli slipped off the counter and went over to him. He opened his arms, taking her in a warm embrace.
Burying he face in his sweater, she said, "I choose you, Taemin. I love you." She was crying now, as tears were streaming down her face. Her words were both genuine and true, yet she felt such guilt and conflict in her heart.
Taemin kissed the top of her head. "I love you too, Sulli-ah."
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A/N: So sorry this chapter took as long as it did. I have exams now so I don't really have time to write as much as I would like. I will try to do better in the future. I felt so bad for Taemin when I was writing this :( I hope I was able to convey that same sympathy to you lovely readers :/
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