ONE

“Yah, Seo Joohyun!” Sunny whispered in a loud tone.

I blinked my eyes a few times and turned my head to the right, looking straight at my best friend. I was surprised that the teacher didn’t hear her. “Ne, unnie?”

Sunny smiled softly and sighed. “Your head’s always up in the clouds, huh?”

I tilted my head in slight confusion. “No...I was just thinking about some...things.”

Sunny’s eyes widened and she became very interested. “Ooh, things? What things?”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing of importance to you, unnie.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “I’m your best friend: Everything is of importance to me, Seo.”

I automatically glanced over at a boy sitting a few rows ahead, diligently taking notes. He had longish brown hair. Despite the fact that it was a bit unkempt, his hair fell perfectly in just the right places.

His fingers seemed to move gracefully when he touched the tip of his pencil to the piece of notebook paper in front of him. I almost slapped myself for thinking of such weird thoughts.

Maybe it was his perceptiveness or a gut feeling,--I don’t really know--but he turned slightly in his seat and stared.

Right.

At.

Me.

I blushed and ducked my head down. Had I been staring too long?

Sunny raised an eyebrow, amused. “Ah, I see now. Cho Kyuhyun.”

“No, no, you don’t see anything.” I mumbled, with my head still bent down. How embarrassing...

But the way he looked at me...there was no sign of affection anywhere.

I ruined my own chances.

“He’s so dorky...” Sunny wrinkled her nose, but then smiled. “In a cute way, I guess.” she shrugged. “You like him?”

I shook my head furiously to the point where my head began to ache.

“Aww, Seohyun.” Sunny placed a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay if you like him."

I brought my head up and frowned. “It’s just...”

Sunny looked at me, worried. “What?”

“He probably hates me now.” I said.

At that moment, the teacher turned around from the chalkboard. Sunny opened to respond, but closed it upon seeing the teacher.

She gave me a look that said, “We’ll continue this later.”

I nodded subtly and faced the teacher, pretending like I was being attentive all along.

“Alright, put your textbooks away.” Mrs. Lee instructed.

There was a lot of noise as students packed away their heavy textbooks or slammed them to the ground--accidentally or on purpose, I wasn’t sure.

“Listen up!” Mrs. Lee clapped her hands together. “You are all aware that there is only a week left of school, correct?”

The whole class nodded. One of the kids, I think his name was Kim Heechul, grinned and flipped his hair. “Yeah, that’s right! No more schoolwork!”

Some other students whooped and hollered in agreement.

Mrs. Lee smiled bitterly. “I don’t think so.”

It was dead silent.

“I am giving you all one final assignment for the end of the year. You and your partner will work together to create something. You can create an artwork, a dance routine, a skit, or even compose a song. It has to be something creative and artistic, relating to the arts. And it MUST be original.”

Sunny nudged me and grinned. I smiled back. Finally, a project that seemed fun! I clasped my hands and looked at the teacher, awaiting further explanations.

The guy sitting next to Kyuhyun, Lee Sungmin, waved his hand in the air. “Do we pick our partners?”

Mrs. Lee nodded. “Yes, but boys will be partners with girls and vice versa. It makes things a bit more interesting.”

Sungmin nodded cutely, happy with the response.

I bit my lip. “I was gonna work with you, unnie.” I told Sunny.

She frowned. “I’m sorry, Seohyunnie.” then she gasped, like the most amazing idea just came to her. “You should work with Kyuhyun-sshi!”

I shook my head furiously again. “No, unnie! Why would you even suggest something like--?”

“PICK YOUR PARTNERS!”

It was mass and utter chaos.

I could’ve sworn a desk got knocked over as everyone tried to get the best partner. Sunny bolted for the seat next to Sungmin. They hugged and quickly began talking like old friends.

I was jealous of her. She could be so carefree with boys and talk to them with ease.

Eventually, everyone was paired up, except for me.

And Kyuhyun.

God, no. Why, Fate? Fate is cruel. It is very, very cruel.

“Kyuhyun, Seohyun,” Mrs. Lee said, pairing us together.

Kyuhyun seemed to sigh heavily. He picked up his books and plopped down into Sunny’s seat.

He didn’t give as much as a single glance at me.

“You have the rest of the class to figure things out! Then you’re on your own! Good luck!”

I glanced up at the clock. We had nine minutes.

I nervously tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. It was going to be a long nine minutes...

“Hello,” I greeted politely, nodding my head.

Kyuhyun was scribbling furiously in his notebook. He held up a hand in greeting, I suppose, and resumed to doodling, or whatever he was doing.

I looked over at Sunny. She and Sungmin were both giving me encouraging looks. I knew I had to try again, for Sunny at least.

“So what do you think we should do for the project?” I asked, projecting my voice so it was a bit louder.

He closed his notebook, put down his pencil, and gave me a wry smile. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I’ll take care of the whole thing.”

I was taken aback. “W-What do you mean?”

He rolled his eyes and continued in his deep voice, “Girls like you just have tons of people to do everything for you, right? It’s fine; I’ll do the whole project and you’ll get an A.”

The sarcasm in his words was quite obvious. Who did he think I was? Anger began boiling inside of me, but I didn’t let it escape. I never did well when I was angry.

Instead, I responded calmly. “Excuse me, but I always do my own work. No one has ever done anything for me. I get my good grades myself, not because of other people doing my bidding.” I huffed and crossed my arms, turning away from him.

He chuckled. “You’re kinda funny.”

I whirled back around in disbelief. “I’m what?! Funny?”

This guy was insane. One minute, he was being smart and snarky with me and the next, he was teasing me?

My taste in boys was so odd.

Kyuhyun flipped his notebook open to a clean page. “I think we should do an artwork.”

I said nothing, just nodded. At least we were getting somewhere. “Okay, but...”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “What now?”

“I-I can’t draw.” I admitted, my cheeks turning pink. “I have no artistic skills whatsoever.”

Kyuhyun shrugged. “That’s fine. I can help you.”

“O-Oh, well, thank you...” I bent my head down in thanks and brought it back up, only to see him smiling genuinely.

He looked a lot better when he did that.

I couldn’t help but smile, just a little, back.

“Yeah, sure.” he replied coolly. “Since we only have a few days to do this, you should come over to my house or something. We might as well get a head start on it.”

Was he...inviting me to his house?

I tried my best to remain impassive, but I think I failed. “Really? Okay!”

He laughed again. “You sure are eager.”

I wiped the smile off my face. “Ani...”

Kyuhyun chuckled again. “Whatever you say...” he turned away from me, and for a moment, I thought he was giving me the Silent Treatment again.

A few seconds later though, his head popped back up and he handed me a slip of paper.

“W-What’s this?” I asked, taking a glimpse at the words messily scrawled on the paper.

“My address,” Kyuhyun smirked. “You’ll need it, right?”

Why was this guy so good at making me feel embarrassed? I pursed my lips together. “I suppose...”

“See ya,” Kyuhyun stood up, gave a little wave, and made his way back to his seat.

Right as he left, Sunny returned with a big smile on her face.

“What happened?” I smiled.

She turned her smile into a frown. “Eh? Nothing, nothing...”

“You and Sungmin-sshi sure get along well.” I teased.

Sunny’s eyes widened. “What?! No way!”

I rolled my eyes slightly. “Arasso, whatever you say...”

I immediately thought of Kyuhyun. A stupid kind of smile formed on my face. Fortunately, Sunny was kind of in her own world, most likely dreaming of Lee Sungmin.

And I was in mine, dreaming of a boy that could never be mine.

Cho Kyuhyun.

---

“THIS is your house?” I whispered, shocked.

Kyuhyun shrugged. “Yeah.”

I spun in a circle slowly, taking in the rich, priceless-looking furnishing and the gorgeous architecture of Cho Kyuhyun’s house.

The house was mostly white. It was spotless. Not a stain, not a mark, not a scratch anywhere.

Flawless.

The sofas just looked plush and soft. I was too scared to sit on them. What if they broke and I had to re-pay them? The price couldn’t be cheap.

“Y-You never told me you were rich!” I cried defiantly, pouting.

Kyuhyun smiled. “You never asked. Besides, I’m not super rich. My dad’s an architect, so this house is an original. Mom’s an interior designer so that’s why this house is all black and white and match-y.”

My mouth was slightly open. I was still in shock, I think.

“Wow...that’s amazing.” I uttered, not knowing what else to say.

He shrugged again. “If you think so. I’m tired of all this white in the house, personally.”

“You don’t like living here?” I exclaimed incredulously.

Kyuhyun shook his head. “No, no, I do, it’s just too same-old, same-old for me.”

I closed my mouth and opened it again. “Oh.”

He smirked and grabbed my arm. “Let’s go to my room.”

I blushed--I HAD to stop blushing whenever he just smirked. It was becoming a horrible habit.

“Your room? I thought we were working on the project!” I said.

“We’ll work on it in here.” he insisted, pushing the glass door open.

I gaped. Again.

His bedroom was an art studio.

Paintings and sketches were arranged nicely in elegant frames on the walls. A mural of Seoul was painted on the wall by his bed. Four or five easels were set up around the room and old newspapers littered the floor. The room smelled of fresh and old paint and a little something like beauty.

Ifbeauty had a scent.

“This is your room?” I said in a hushed voice, in awe. I observed some of the sketches on the walls.

They were phenomenal. No, beyond that.

“Yeah, everything in here was made entirely by Cho Kyuhyun.” he grinned.

I whirled around in surprise. “You made everything?”

“Everything.”

I probably looked like a fish right about then, with my mouth opening and closing every few seconds.

He chuckled. “Close your mouth; you’ll catch flies.”

“Oh, please, like there would be flies in here.” I retorted with a soft smile. “I had no idea you were this good.”

Kyuhyun sighed. “Yeah, well, no one does, except for my parents and Sungmin.” he made his over to me and stared at a small sketch of a cherry blossom tree. “And now, you.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “I feel special.”

He patted my head. “Of course you are, Seohyun-sshi.”

I coughed awkwardly. “Um, you can just call me Seohyun. If you want...”

Kyuhyun grinned. “Can I call you Seohyunnie?”

I reddened. “Absolutely not!”

“Then it’s settled, Seohyunnie.” Kyuhyun smiled.

My heart did a backflip. Then a somersault. And then I think it leaped out of my chest for a few seconds.

I took a deep breath to slow my heartbeat. “Alright.”

He clapped his hands cutely like a little kid. “Yay! Oh, and you can just call me Kyuhyun. Everyone does.”

“How about, Kyuhyun-oppa?”  I teased.

He shook his head firmly and did a weak impersonation of my voice. “Absolutely not.”

I pouted. “I don’t sound like that!”

Kyuhyun laughed then smiled. “I know.”

“Why can’t I call you Oppa?” I asked curiously.

“I don’t like people calling me that.” Kyuhyun made a face of disdain. “It feels weird to me.”

I frowned. “I see. Well, Kyuhyun, we should get started on the artwork. What do you want to do?”

Kyuhyun smirked at me--ah, the return of the smirk. “I’m not doing this whole thing by myself.”

I backed away slowly and smiled innocently. “But you’re so good at painting and drawing! You surely don’t need my help...”

Kyuhyun grinned devilishly and got a hold of my wrist. I expected his grip to be tight, but he was being gentle with me. He held me carefully, like I was a fragile doll.

I bent my head down automatically, feeling the red rising to my cheeks yet again.

Omo! Why am I like this? Stop it, Seo Joohyun. It won’t work between the two of you.

“I said I would teach you and I always keep my word.” Kyuhyun said, dragging me over to one of the easels. “Sit.”

I sat on the cold stool and smoothed my flowery dress out. “Now what?”

He laughed. “Pick up the paintbrush.”

I giggled at myself. “Oh, right...mianhe~”

“It’s fine. Paint something simple.”

I gasped as an idea popped into my head and dabbed the paintbrush into some gold paint. I made a big circle in the middle of the paper. Kyuhyun frowned, clearly confused, at my picture.

“Seohyunnie...what is this?”

“The sun!” I replied, feeling a bit offended.

Kyuhyun shook his head slowly in a disapproving way. “As your teacher, I cannot accept this kind of mediocre work.”

“So you’ll do the artwork?” I asked hopefully.

Kyuhyun scoffed. “What happened to you saying that you always ‘do your own work’ and all that?”

I stared at the gold glob on the canvas. “Kyuhyun...you’re so much better than me.”

Kyuhyun clicked his tongue. “At art, sure. Academics, duh. Well, I’m better than everyone at that.”

“Are you getting to your point?” I asked impatiently, folding my arms.

“The point is, you’re great at many, many things. Singing, acting, writing, being popular...” Kyuhyun trailed off, giving me a sarcastic smile again.

“Being popular isn’t an accomplishment.” I whispered, staring Kyuhyun straight in the eye.

“Then why does it matter so much?” Kyuhyun snapped back, starting to lose some of his temper.

I was at a loss for words.

What was he talking about? I felt like his words had a double meaning. I didn’t have time to decipher the code, however, because Kyuhyun stood up abruptly, knocking the stool over.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

“No, I should be apologizing.” I said back, using a gentle voice. I went to his side and saw that he had a hand over his face. “Kyuhyun, are you alright?”

He removed his hand from his face and blinked once, long and hard. “...Yeah, I’m okay.”

Perhaps I was feeling wound up that day.

Perhaps I was just utterly stupid.

Perhaps I was feeling kind or brave or a mixture of both.

I stepped towards him and wrapped my arms around his neck, finally understanding his words earlier. “I don’t care about social rankings. Neither should you. As long as we don’t care, it’ll be okay. Okay?”

He was stiff at first, probably not exactly sure how to respond to my strange actions. Then, slowly, he put his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him, burying his face in my hair.

“Okay.” he said, his voice muffled.

 

A/N: Wow, the ending was so...angsty. I did NOT mean for it to turn out that way. I just didn't wanna make it all happy, I guess. Aaah, I ~

My first time writing SeoKyu. I apologize if it's awkward. I wanted to make a drama. Meh.

My apologies again.

Thanks to Shyne-unnie for constructive criticism and advice! :) Check out her stories! She writes SeoKyu ten times better than me. :)

- Jessica