Seo sat at the edge of her mattress, massaging her temples.  “You did great tonight,” Yoona praised, crawling under the covers, cuddling into the comfort of her own bed.

“Thanks,” the younger replied appreciatively, putting a hand to to stifle a yawn.

“Are you sure you are okay?  You’ve seemed kind of distant since the show,” the older girl commented, propping herself up on her elbow, her hand supporting her head. 

The frown on the face of her roommate caused Seo to chuckle.  “You’re sweet, but for the last time, I’m fine.”

“All right, all right,” Yoona laughed, rolling onto her back and raising her hands up in front of her in surrender.

“Thanks for your concern, Unnie.  I’m just tired.”

Yoona looked over to see the girl’s hands folded atop her rib cage, eyes focused on the ceiling.  Always so pensive.  A philosopher of her own thoughts.  So amusing.  With a small smile, Yoona drifted into a comfortable sleep, blissfully unaware of the internal nightmare now faced by her sweet maknae.

So..he liked her.  But…she couldn’t date anyone even if she wanted.  It was forbidden.  What did he mean by “rules are meant to be broken”?  What did she mean by “contract”?  Well, the obvious.  Nothing more, nothing less, and because she knew she could not be with anyone, then why bother allowing herself to feel anything more than mutual respect for her brothers?  Then again, she well knew the SM members were notorious for sneaking in their fair share of dates under the pretense of “friends”. 

A slight heaviness in the back of her head caused her eyebrows to furrow.  Her eyes came to a close, willing herself to push him from her mind.

Kyuhyun’s Birthday

“I think a day with Yoona would be gift enough,” Hyoyeon snickered at breakfast, resulting in a fish-face reaction from the aforementioned.

“Come on, girls, let’s think,” Taeyeon gently reprimanded with a tap to her chin.   “Maybe just a birthday video.”

“Of Yoona.”

Yoona glowered at the snickering blonde.

“All of us.”  Taeyeon excused herself from the table and went off in search of a video camera.

“Do we have to?” Sooyoung whined through a mouthful of banana.

“Hmm…I don’t know, what do you think?” Tiffany asked, casting her eyes around the table.  “Should we sing happy birthday?”

“Why even do anything?” grumbled Jessica, a scowl residing on her face, her eyes scanning the UFO updates on her phone.

Tiffany slapped her arm, eliciting a sharp “Fany-ah!” as the Ice Princess directed a frown at the girl.

Yoona looked up from the orange she was peeling, and with a mischievous smile asked, “Can I just mehrong at him in the video?”

“Sure.”

“Great!” The choding then turned her attention to the girl quietly nibbling at her rice, eyes hidden under her bangs.  What could she be thinking at this moment?

The cellphone turned over and over in Seohyun’s hand.  Normally she would have called and wished a happy birthday, as she was accustomed to doing for the other Super Junior boys.  But her situation with Kyuhyun was not normal.  It never was.  Should she do anything of the sort, it might look odd.  After all, the two were not on great terms by any means.  But then again, prejudice is petty.

A short, wavy-haired blonde bounded into the room, camcorder help up high, her hand waving spastically at the lens.  “Annyeong!”  She offered her cheesiest grin.  “The girls have a message for Kyuhyun!”

Discreetly stowing away her phone in the pocket of her jeans, Seo pushed her conflicting thoughts aside.  A group video would be sufficient enough.

Hands shot in the air, waving at the camera as Taeyeon twisted her wrist, focusing the lens on the rest of the group.  The camera panned around, scanning the faces seated at the table, before Taeyeon managed to angle it to capture all nine of them.  “Have a great birthday!  We hope you get everything you wish for this year!”

“And lots of cake,” Sooyoung added through a mouthful of rice.

“And have fun with your family,” chirped Tiffany, eye-smiling at the camcorder.

“Ne, all the best wishes.”

The camera clicked off.  And that was it.

After breakfast, Seo retired to her room where she proceeded to spend the whole of her afternoon.  Golden-orange rays of the setting sun fell upon the pages of the open textbook on her desk, right hand gracefully sliding back and forth across lined paper as she wrote out a report.  It was with some surprise that her phone vibrated right off the edge of her desk and into her open hand.  A stolen glance at the screen confirmed it had received one new text message.  Up slid the lockscreen and the message box flashed before her eyes.  The text was from Cho Kyuhyun.  Thumb grazing over the side of the phone, she contemplated opening the message.  What harm could it cause?

Kyuhyun Oppa: No birthday call? I’m insulted. :C

For half a second she hesitated before her fingers flew over the flat screen of her phone.

I’ve never called.

The response was received before she could set her phone down. 

Kyuhyun Oppa: Not even a text.

I’m texting you now.

Kyuhyun Oppa: No call either.

There’s a birthday video instead.

Kyuhyun Oppa: Go out with me.

“You okay?”

Seo’s head snapped up, eyes flying to Yoona who was reclined on her bed—back propped up on a stack of pillows—peeking over her book.  “Yeah.  Why?”

Yoona shrugged.  “Haven’t heard your pen scratching across the paper in a while...and I’ve never heard the bing-bongs of your virtual keyboard ding so excessively.”

The younger girl smiled and then turned her eyes back to the phone.

Kyuhyun Oppa: Go out with me.

Her fingers typed a quick response and then her thumb hovered over the send button, mind racing.  Would denying him be the proper response?  As if he sensed her unease and uncertainty, another text arrived in Seo’s inbox.

Kyuhyun Oppa: Not on a date.  Just meet me tonight, outside the studio at eight.

Backspace, backspace.  Ok.

The phone was placed upon the desk and the pen crept back into her fingers, resuming scratching across the paper.