Chapter 17-
Dongsaeng

"Kissy Face."

"Chipmunk Cheeks."

"Kissy Face!"

"Chipmunk Cheeks!" 

Everyone sighed. The two were at it again. "Guys, calling each other cute couple nicknames over and over is really getting you nowhere." 

"Shut up!" Both of them yelled at the same time. They went back to bickering.

"Aish, these two. What are we going to do with them." They shook their heads. 

Woohyun looked over to Sungjong with a sympathetic smile. *Poor maknae, he has to see this.*

"What's up with your for poking me?!" Minchae yelled in the background.

It was now after school, and Sungjong asked Minchae to hang out at the cafe with him. They were sitting at a table drinking their coffee. Sungjong was oddly quiet. "So, was there a reason you wanted to hang out here?" Sungjong woke up from his daze. He paused for a moment. *C'mon! Tell her already!* He panicked. 

Sungjong smiled,"I-I just wanted to hang out with you, Noona." *Darn, I chickened out.*

"Oh, then why are we just sitting here? Let's go somewhere fun! How about the mall?" 

"Sure, why not? Let's go." He stood up and grabbed his brown cup of coffee. He grabbed her wrist, hoisted her off from her chair, and smiled. She blinked at him. "You said you wanted to go right?" She nodded. His smile widened,"Then let's go!" 

*It looks like something is bothering him...*

Sungjong and Minchae were walking through the mall and pointing out the interesting things in the store windows. They passed by the pet store and went in. 

"Omo! This puppy looks so much like Woohyun!" Minchae pointed out as she held the puppy up to her face. "Say hi to Sungjongie Woohyun-ah~" she held the puppy's paw and waved it at him. Sungjong laughed. 

"Oh. This one looks like Gyu Hyung." Sungjong said as he pointed to a medium brown puppy laying down on the floor with small, slit eyes. Minchae laughed. "He's just as lazy as Sunggyu." 

"I wonder what would happen if we bought this for hyung. It looks exactly like him, but too bad he's scared of dogs."

"Sunggyu is scared of dogs?" Minchae giggled. "How come? They're harmless." 

"I'm not sure actually, he's just distant from them. I don't get him, dogs are the sweetest pets ever. They're man's best friend." Sungjong commented as he stared warmly at the puppy.

"You seem to like dogs a lot, Jongiee." 

He nodded. "I love dogs. I used to have a Dachshund named Clover. He grew up with me ever since I was little. He was the sweetest puppy in the world," His eyes were were warm, but they had a hint of sadness to it,"but then he all of a sudden stopped eating for a couple days and just when we thought he was okay, he started throwing up. We took him to the vet and it turned out he got sick. A month later he... passed away." Sungjong sighed. Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought of the moment he found out that his puppy had stopped breathing. "I miss him."

Minchae smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry,"she grasped his hand lightly,"but he's probably in a better place now. Isn't that what matters?"

Sungjong's stomach did flips. He grinned and nodded. "Yeah. It is."

Minchae all of a sudden dragged him out the store. "Noona, where are we going?"

"To cheer you up, let's go get ice cream! I'll pay." She winked. Sungjong wiped his tears. *Thank you Noona.*

"I'll get 1 chocolate cone and 1 strawberry cone." Minchae smiled at the part-time worker. "Coming up." He replied.

"Thanks for hanging out with me today Noona." Sungjong smiled. 

Minchae ruffled his hair. "Anything for my dongsaeng. It was nice hanging out like this, it's been awhile."

Minchae went up to the cashier and paid for their cones. They walked around the streets of Seoul and chatted for awhile. 

"So I see you're starting to look happier. Things looking up?" 

Sungjong paused, gave a small smile, and nodded. "...Yeah." *If you don't count my affection and jealousy for you increasing, then yeah.*

"That's good. I don't have to worry anymore." She said as she her chocolate cone. His eyes softened. *Caring Noona.*

"Thanks Noona. For caring about me." He smiled as he looked forward, eating his ice cream. 

"Of course Jongie, my pleasure. You're my dongsaeng after all." She smiled. 

*Noona and dongsaeng. That's all we're ever going to be.* He inwardly sighed.