---15---

Daehyun sauntered back into the apartment with a huge smile across his face.  He did all but skip to his room, oblivious to the curious gazes of his friends.

“What’s wrong with hyung?” Zelo muttered, raising an eyebrow at the closed door.

“He looks like he’s high on something,” Jongup snickered, mimicking the goofy grin on his hyung’s face.

Yongguk chuckled and leaned back in his chair.  “That, my dear dongsaengs,” he said, “is a little thing called being in love.”

“Love?!” Youngjae bolted up from his slouched position on the couch.  “Seriously?”

Himchan threw in lightly, “Is Daehyun even capable of loving anyone?”

The members laughed, glancing at the door to his room.  Yongguk sighed and shrugged.  “I wouldn’t underestimate Sooyoung.  I can tell she’s a definite keeper.”

Meanwhile, Daehyun had collapsed onto his bed.  He vaguely heard the others’ voices but not clearly enough to know what they were saying.

Instead, Daehyun immersed himself in his thoughts.  As the clock ticked by, the smile slowly slipped off his face.

He did not understand his feelings, and that irritated him.  Feeling unsure was one of his greatest annoyances; he knew he had to do something to clear himself of such uncertainty.  He felt himself veering off from his original direction, emotions under which he had no control over.

And that’s what scared him the most.

This isn’t right.  It’s time to straighten myself out and get this situation under control.

The next morning, Sooyoung found herself unable to concentrate in class.  She tapped her pen absentmindedly against the side of her desk, creating a consistent pattern of tap tap tap.

Her neighboring classmates glared at her, asking her in hushed voices to stop the incessant tapping.  The teacher even glanced over at her several times.

But Sooyoung was in a distant world of her own.  As the hours passed by, her mind swirled with thoughts of her close contact with Daehyun yesterday.

I’m acting so immature, she thought to herself.  It wasn’t even an actual kiss, so get a hold of yourself!

True, Daehyun had not actually kissed her.  Nevertheless, the light touch of his lips on hers was enough to send her heart into a flurry.  Her cheeks warmed at the memory.

But then she wondered, Did he feel the same as I did?  Or was it just a spur-of-the-moment thing for him?

As she pondered the latter, she found herself being more and more convinced of it being the truth.  This is Jung Daehyun we’re talking about.  He doesn’t show emotion to anyone… I guess we both just got caught up in the moment.

However, a hopeful spark remained in her heart.  So she made up her mind.

I need to see him again.

Her fellow students sighed in relief as her tapping finally stopped.

When the final bell rang, Sooyoung gathered her books as fast as she could and rushed out of the school.  As she burst through the front entrance, she stopped short and gaped in disbelief.

Her family’s chauffeur had parked directly in front of the school, an obstacle to the flow of students as they left the school grounds.  The driver had obviously wanted to make sure she did not miss the car.

But more shocking was the person standing beside it, tapping her shoe impatiently on the concrete as she waited.

“Umma?” Sooyoung gasped.  “Why are you here?”

Mrs. Kwon uncrossed her arms and sternly looked at Sooyoung, “Just making sure you remember our agreement from yesterday afternoon.”

Sooyoung mentally groaned.  Really, umma?!

Although he had promised himself to stay away from Sooyoung, Daehyun found himself waiting by the café window again.  He had managed to convince himself that he was only there to end things before they started.  I’ll just tell her it’s over.  Wait, no!  Then it sounds like we were in a relationship…

He kept alternating between fiddling with his phone and glancing outside.  “Why isn’t she here yet?” he muttered, taking note of the time.  “She’s usually passing here by this time.”

Another thirty minutes crept by.  Daehyun finally had enough.  He abruptly stood up and shoved his phone into his pocket.  “Screw it,” he grumbled, slinging his jacket over his shoulder.  “She’ll figure it out eventually.”

Sooyoung slouched in the backseat of the car, staring at the blurred world rushing past the window.  She twisted her fingers to calm herself as her mother continued on and on about her flaws.

“I’m very disappointed with your behavior at the party last night.  Mrs. Cho brought it to my attention that you refused to interact with many people and stayed seated the entire time,” she scolded.  “Did I raise you to be so impolite?  Everyone at that gathering could be either an ally or an enemy, but that is determined by your attitude around them.”

“Umma, I–”

“And here you go, interrupting people again!  Sooyoung, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that!”

“Sorry,” the girl whispered, interlacing her hands together.

Sooyoung bit her lip and stared out the window again.  She could not wait to return to the privacy of her room.

When the agonizing car ride finally pulled into the driveway, Sooyoung bowed to the driver for taking her home and excused herself from her mother in a hurried tone.  Before the woman could scold her again, Sooyoung sprinted into the house, up the stairs, and into her bedroom.

It’s amazing how ten minutes of her mother’s reprimanding could drain her so much.  As she layed on her bed, Sooyoung felt completely void of energy, her earlier vibrancy gone.

Later that night, after begrudgingly sitting through dinner with her parents, Sooyoung quickly finished up the little homework she had.  “Finally!” she breathed, snuggling into her covers, prepared for a good night’s sleep.

She turned her head to the side and stared at her phone for a while.  I didn’t get to see him today, she realized, her mood sinking further down.

Should I talk to him? she thought to herself, conflicted.

In the end, she settled for a simple text before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

Daehyun looked away from the TV when his phone buzzed beside him.

Goodnight, oppa :)

--Sooyoung

He sighed and silenced the phone before flipping it over screen-down on the table.

A/N:  And there we go, just a bit of conflict to make things interesting :)  Any comments?  ;D

(I've completely forgotten which gifs I've posted already... but I like this one soooooo ^-^)