He had always been known as the troublemaker, the evil maknae.  She had heard stories but never really witnessed it firsthand.  She didn’t like to think that about him.  She didn’t like to think that about anybody.  Maybe he was as bad as Yoona; that possibility had been considered and Yoona was tolerable, so perhaps he was tolerable, too.  And he was in a group with a sophisticated image.  How bad could it get?

“Cho Kyuhyun!”

Smack!

“How dare you!  Who the hell do you think you are?!”

The young man tenderly rubbed his cheek on which burned an angry bright red palm print belonging to none other than Im Yoona.

“What?  It was supposed to be a compliment, don’t snap at me if Seo doesn’t know how to handle one.”

Yoona glared dangerously at him before turning around and storming off to find her maknae hiding in the dressing room, drying her tears.  Yoona shook her head and gently put an arm around the girl, who in turn pressed her face to the inside of the older girl’s left shoulder.  “What he said was out of line.  Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he doesn’t do it again,” Yoona stated firmly, gently her fingers through her sister’s hair, letting out an exasperated sigh.  “If only you had been paired with Donghae or Siwon…”

Seohyun timidly raised her face, sniffing a bit.  “It’s ok, Unnie.  I can survive.”

“Are you sure?” the elder voiced concernedly, certain the girl was lying to her.

“Positive,” the girl voiced with a smile.  “Besides, he’s part of the family; it’s best to make up with him now before a rift occurs.”  Standing bravely, Seohyun clasped her hands together and strode determinedly back to the set, resolute in clearing the air between them.

Cho avoided her.  They filmed together—he appeared for the scenes and would disappear immediately after.  His intention was clear—act as if he and Seo were strangers—or better yet, as if the girl didn’t even exist.

How could this be that the two “babies” of the most successful and beloved Korean pop groups were so drastically different?  Albeit, both suffered the same fate upon the release of the music video.  Fans had inevitably loved the pairing and shipped them excessively—to the point that the stars themselves were asked to voice their opinions of the pairing.  Both, upon questioning, would very kindly compliment the other but remind those listening that the pairing was as real as the plot of the music video: pretend and fictitious.

Seohyun moved on to We Got Married and the YongSeo couple grew to be a popular ship.  Although she denied being more than friends with her co-star, the two remained extremely close, causing fans to speculate if the two really had fallen in love.

*****

Seohyun had just stepped backstage from a solo performance of “Speak Now”, only to be followed by Super Junior performing their new single “SPY”.  Super Junior happened to be gathered just behind the curtain.  She didn’t think much of it as she—blushing—thanked the boys for their compliments on her superb English and guitar-playing.  What made her stop in her tracks was the silky purr of the one she had forgotten.  “Still playing on Yonghwa’s pink guitar, huh?”  There was a pause as the young man pushed off the wall, hands in his pockets.  “His wife must miss him.”

Seohyun blushed profusely and quickened her pace toward her group—little realizing two eyes were focused on her retreating figure.

“Good job!” Tiffany cheered enthusiastically as Seohyun came within earshot.  The girl nodded appreciatively at the eye-smile and thumbs-up, keeping her face lowered as she quietly leaned against the cold concrete wall, half-listening as Jessica cursed in English over a snag in her outfit, Yuri asking, “Mwo?” and Jessica retorting, “Learn English.”

A loud roar, followed by a synthesized tune, reverberated through the studio halls.  Super Junior had taken the stage.

“Are you okay?”

Upon the quiet inquiry, Seo cast her eyes up toward her closest sister.  “I’m fine, Unnie.”  Her reassuring smile faltered for half a second as, just at that moment, a smooth, silky voice sailed over the airwaves, the audience rocking the studio with their screams.

“Is it Cho?”

The younger girl’s eyes widened in shock.  Not at the question itself, but that she had been so obvious.  Yoona nodded in understanding, mouthing a “we’ll talk later” before inclining her head in the direction of their leader, Taeyeon, who was bobbing her head to the music and forming fake guns with her hands.  Tiffany was the victim of the attack and threw her arms into the air in surrender.  Sooyoung’s gaze was also locked on the two.  After a moment, the wannabe gangster bopped the kid leader on the head, stealing the shorter girl’s invisible guns and passing them over to the manager, who in turn aimed them at her small companion.  Engaging in the stand-off with the American, Taeyeon turned her eyes on the tallest girl, offering her a glare of death.  Seohyun giggled and Yoona shook her head, not attempting to stifle an alligator laugh.

“Where’s Krystal?” Jessica suddenly grumbled under her breath, looking up from her polished nails.

“Maybe she’s testing out the piano,” Sunny cheerfully suggested with a smile.  “What me to go check?”

The brunette poked the cheek of the pixie blonde, muttering, “Thanks, Soonkyu.”

“No prob, Unnie!”  With a salute and a wink, Sunny was off in search of the missing Jung.

After Sunny scurried out-of-sight, Seo and Yoona’s attention was drawn back to the frenzy.  It seemed Hyoyeon had joined the fray and was adamant that Sooyoung should be hogtied and arrested.  The leader and manager shared a sly smile before all three jumped upon the tallest in an attempt to bring her down.  Yuri flew to her aide to wrench Hyoyeon off her back. Tiffany—being tickle-tortured by the one she was attempting to wrestle to the ground—squealed for the assistance of Jessica.  Jessica merely shook her head in response, causing Taeyeon to grab her by the wrist and jerk her forward.  Yoona, finding the scene too fun to not participate in, immediately squeezed herself into the middle of the pack, smugly proclaiming, “I’m the judge and you’re all guilty, condemned forever to a life of servitude!”

Seo laughed heartily, shaking her head at the antics of her elder sisters.

“What seems to be going on here?”

At the unexpected sound of the voice, the girl spun around and looked up into the smirking face of Cho Kyuhyun.  She quickly averted her eyes, redirecting them to the pink guitar in her hand, and opted to say nothing.

Cho stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets and studied her out of the corner of his eye.  “Why aren’t you saying anything?”  She visibly flushed.  Why was he here?  As she pondered how to respond, his head tilted to the side.  “May I talk with you?”

She sneaked a quick glance to see a very polite smile playing on his lips.  “Ne,” she answered with a curt nod, tucking hair behind her ear, freezing and staring in confusion as he held out his arm for her to take.

“Away from here.”  He cast a wary eye toward the choding cackling wickedly in the center of the Soshi hysteria.

Seohyun nodded again, strapping her guitar over her left shoulder.  Her hands folded delicately in front of her, wordlessly yet politely refusing to take his arm as they began slowly walking alongside each other.

“Your husband told you how y you are right?”

Scarlet burned on her cheeks.  “I-I’d rather not talk about it,” was her stammered response.

He shook his head, not seeming to hear her words but to instead be lost in his own dismal, dismaying thoughts.  “I don’t understand why you got mad at me.  It was a compliment.”

The two continued on in a painful silence for a moment before he dragged a heavy breath, resuming, “Was it too forward?”

Her silence left an opening for him to voice his thoughts, and so he took the opportunity.  “I didn’t mean for you to take offense.  I meant y to be a compliment.  Even if it was too forward, I don’t think it deserved a slap from Im.”

“She looks out for me like an older sister,” she replied softly.

“But you’re a woman.”

The floor became a fascination to her eyes as she self-consciously folded her arms. 

A piano ballad drifted through the air.

“I’m…I’m sorry for offending you.”  He stopped, turning a bit to study her.  “You have to understand that I liked you.”

Seohyun stopped too and looked up to see they were within feet of the stage.  “Then why did you push me away?”

Her question faded into Jessica’s voice, and the two maknaes turned their attention to the brunette with the microphone in her hand and to her sister who was seated elegantly at the grand piano, fingers waltzing to the music they were creating.

“Would you ever have gone out with me if I hadn’t insulted you?” he asked softly, glancing down at the girl whose eyes were shining as she fought back tears, tears she convinced herself resulted from the beauty of the ballad, from the beauty displayed before her very eyes.  Sighing at her lack of an answer, his gaze found the sisters and locked on them, his thoughts focused elsewhere.

“No.”

His spine stiffened at the soft-spoken denial.  “Why not?”  He did not take his eyes off the singer.  He couldn’t.  Neither of them could.

“Contract.”

Both fell silent, the unspoken meaning of her confession pulling at their hearts.  The song drew to a close, Seo applauding proudly before folding her hands, turning slowly and heading back toward her sisters, Kyuhyun at her side.

“Some rules…are meant to be broken,” Kyuhyun whispered, causing her to look up at him as he departed her presence, his steps leading him toward his own assembly of friends.

Some rules are meant to be broken…  The girl shook the thought from her head and continued on, Yoona spotting her first and waving her over to the crowd surrounding Jessica.

“Where were you?” Yoona whispered fiercely as Seo joined her on the outer ring of the group hug.

“I was watching Jessica Unnie from the edge of the stage.”  She smiled and then squeezed through the girls to hug the star of the night.  “You did great, Unnie, it was beautiful.”

“All right, Seo, but you don’t have to cry about it,” Jessica chuckled, wiping tears from the face of the younger girl.  Seohyun smiled sheepishly and quickly dabbed at her eyes.

Some rules are meant to be broken…but I am a rulebook girl.