July 23, 2004

"Oppa~~"

The boy didn't answer her.

"Opppaaa~~" She said a bit louder.

Silence.

"OPP--"

"WHAT YOONMI, WHAT." Baekhyun threw the blankets off of his face, revealing his messy bed-hair and the deeply annoyed frown underneath.

Yoonmi immediately lifted up a piece of paper for him to see. "Can you help me with number six?"

"Jesus," He nudged the paper away with his leg, lying back down. "Can't you ask someone else?"

"But you know this stuff!"

"So does Sehun! And he's in your class, isn't he?!"

"But he lives waaayyy over there! And you're right next to me!"

Baekhyun stuffed his face into a pillow with a low groan and rolled around his bed.

"Who even let you in at a time like this." He mumbled.

"Auntie. And it's already 11, you know."

"Yoonmi, you don't get it. It's a SATURDAY."

"Two days before my math homework's due!"

"Are you seriously not going to go until I help you?!"

She scoffed.

"Of course! And if you still refuse to help me, I'm gonna tell Auntie all about that time you peeked into the girl's changing roo--"

Baekhyun immediately jumped up.

"That was an accident!" He blurted. "And it was Kai who actually walked IN there, not me!"

Yoonmi smiled, knowing that she had hit the right spot.

"Let's be realistic here, Oppa. If I went up to Auntie and told her that you, a fourteen year-old teenage boy, snuck into the girl's changing room, who would she believe? Me, or you, the fourteen year-old teenage boy?"

For a long moment, Baekhyun shot her a glare in silence.

He hated how things were turning out this year: Ever since Yoonmi had reached middle school, the girl had gotten smarter with her words. She actually knew how to argue now, and that meant Baekhyun actually had to think when going against her.

And everyone in town knew that Byun Baekhyun wasn't exactly a genius in that area.

He snatched the math paper from her hands reluctantly.

"Which problem." He grumbled.

"Number six. Oh, and fifteen and sixteen too." Yoonmi pointed out happily.

The boy let out a sigh, rubbing his eyes under the blinding sun shining outside his bedroom window. He did not at all like the fact that he was solving a math problem first thing on a Saturday morning.

"And you know what Saturday's mean to me, too." He muttered under his breath.

"You done?"

"Yeah. It's because you did your multiplication wrong, you idiot. Why the hell would these add up to this. The answer should be greater."

Yoonmi made a face. "Hey, you didn't know how to add when you were my age, okay?!"

"You wanna fight me on a Saturday morning?!"

"What?! It's true!"

"That's different! The curriculum changed between my time and yours! And I knew how to add, stupid. I just had a hard time doing it!"

"So?! That doesn't mean you should teach me how to multiply while treating me like an idiot!"

Baekhyun made a loud groaning-whine noise while throwing himself back down onto his bed. "It's a SATURDAY MORNING!"

Yoonmi threw him a glare for a good two minutes. Then she suddenly got up with her homework and jumped off of the bed.

"Whatever, I'll just ask Sehun--"

"Give me that," Baekhyun pulled both the paper and Yoonmi's arm back to the bed. "Okay, for number 6, you take the number of kiwis Cheolsu bought and pretend there are seven groups of them..."

---------------------------------

July 25, 2004

If anything, the week of the Suwon Summer Dance in Yoonmi's middle school began in the strangest, most unexpected way.

"Will you go with me to the dance?"

Yoonmi groaned.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Oh, come on..." Kim Myungsoo practically whined. "It's just for one night. Pleeeaase?"

Sulli rolled her eyes as she witnessed the weirdest Homecoming ask ever.

"Seriously, guys. You two would make the worst possible couple on earth."

The guy gave her a look. "Shut up, Choi Sulli. I'm talking to Yoonmi over here. And how would you know? You have absolutely zero sense."

Before Sulli could give her usual heart-stopping retort, Myungsoo quickly faced Yoonmi again with his charming smile.

"Pretty please? With a cherry on top? I promise I won't be too much of a jerk... Atleast, not on the day of the dance."

Both girls scoffed.

"Plus," Myungsoo smirked with confidence. "You'll have the time of your life if you be my date. Don't you know about the long line of girls wanting to go to the dance with me back at school? I'm that charming to be around with. If you want flowers, I'll get you the most expensive roses in town. If you want a classy drive, I'll come pick you up in a limo--"

"God, no. Stop talking, please. I hate roses and limousines."

"Well... Fine, then. I'll give you tulips and a ferrari--"

"Sulli, get this guy away from me." Yoonmi practically shoved her hand in front of Myungsoo's face. "Doesn't he know that I'm allergic to tulips?!"

"Fine! How about irises--"

"Are you seriously going to get me flowers that have the same name as an eye part?!"

Myungsoo rolled his eyes with a scoff.

"Hey! If you're going to be like this and not cooperate, then I have no choice but to--"

He stopped himself just in time.

"But to what?" Yoonmi eagerly looked up at him with wide eyes, as if urging him to go on.

"...... No choice but to.... uh..."

Myungsoo sighed in defeat.

"But to give you lilies!"

Both Yoonmi and Sulli groaned this time. This guy was as stubborn as ever. What did he even want?!

"Myungsoo, I can't believe I'm telling you this instead of Park Chanyeol, but..." Sulli remarked rather bluntly. "Please stop talking."

Myungsoo gave her a look.

"Mind you, I can't stop talking when Lee Yoonmi over here is not giving me a favorable answer!"

Yoonmi scoffed. Once again, she started looking at him as if he was pulling a ridiculous joke on them.

"A 'favorable' answer? Why would you even expect an answer from me when it's so obvious? I mean, you're KIM MYUNGSOO."

Myungsoo lit up.

"Is that a yes?"

"Hell no!"

A series of loud bickering followed between the two supposed 'date' candidates for the dance. Sulli only scoffed at the ridiculous situation, adding in comments about their annoyingly noisy volume here and then.

"And now that I think of it," Myungsoo stated. "Why am I even pleading you to be my date?! Shouldn't you be thankful that such a popular guy like me is asking you out?!"

"Now, now, Myungsoo." Sulli cut in before Yoonmi could yell back an insult. "There's no need to be this loudly resentful just because you got rejected. It's perfectly normal for a middle school student to be rejected once or twice in their life. No need to be loud because someone told you off--"

"R-Rejected?! Who got rejected?!" He jumped up. "Because I certainly didn't!"

"Jesus Christ! I am NOT going to the dance with you, Kim Myungsoo!"

And thus continued the strange 'asking out' session between the two middle schoolers, with no flowers, no posters, and no signs of lovey dovey timidness in sight.

But then, it was pretty normal if you thought about it. This was Lee Yoonmi's neighborhood... a neighborhood with strange people and strange events to cause downright strangeness.

-----------------------------------

"Are you kidding me?!"

Kai gaped at the sight of his hyung walk into the basketball court with a stack of chocolate boxes in his hands, less than five minutes having passed since school had ended.

"Fricking Byun Baekhyun hyung got one again!"

"That doesn't look like one to me," Xiumin muttered next to him. "I think it's safe to say that he beat the all-famous Kim Jaejoong sunbae-nim."

Kai groaned. "I swear, I'm gonna be the one to beat him in a few years! I really am!"

Tao rolled his eyes at his hyung. "I'll be in college by then."

"Shut up, you--"

"Hey, what's Yoonmi doing?"

Chen squinted at the girl sitting on the bench in the distance, a pencil and paper in her hand.

"I think she's doing her homework?"

"That girl... Even I did all my homework this weekend," Chanyeol remarked. "And I never do it at all!"

"Sheesh... why is the last problem always so hard..."

Yoonmi frowned at the problem for a while, before glancing up at the kiwis drawn all over problem six.

She burst into a grin.

"Okay, so I take the number of chocolates Maria bought and pretend there are two groups of them..."

"Yeah."

"Mmhmm, and so that would be--" Yoonmi stopped when she realized someone was there. She looked up to see a brunette with a stack of chocolates in his hands. "Woah.... What's all that?!"

Even Kai, who was a good few meters away, could see Yoonmi put on her signature face of longing.

"There she goes again, that little devil," Kai shot a glare in her direction. "If she dares to take that middle box with the purple stripes, I swear I'll--"

The girl reached out and grabbed the middle box with the purple stripes.

Baekhyun scoffed. "Seriously, I help you with your homework this morning, and I get zero "Hi, Baekhyun Oppa" but a Minus One Chocolate Box instead."

"LEE YOONMI!"

The two turned to look at Kai running towards them with an annoyed look on his face.

Baekhyun automatically pushed him away when he reached them.

"Which happens to be the expensive looking chocolate box, out of all of them, ya'know."

"I just picked randomly!"

Kai shot her a look. "Don't lie!"

"And it's the one Noona gave me, too--"

Kai suddenly froze and stopped struggling in Baekhyun's grasp. He looked up at him with wide eyes.

"'N-N-Noona'?! As in, as in.... HER?!"

By now, all the guys were crowded around Baekhyun, having heard the last word.

"What do you mean by 'HER'?!" Lay exclaimed excitedly.

Chen snickered. "I knew this would come up one day."

"One day?" Chanyeol cackled, rolling over on the ground. "More like NOW. Didn't you guys hear?!"

Baekhyun shot a look at his best friend. "What are you about to--"

Chanyeol only flashed him a grin, suddenly lowering his voice.

"I heard you're going on a basketball date with Yoona noona."

Baekhyun immediately rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"What?!" Luhan gaped at the brunette. "Are you serious?!"

"Wait," Tao leaned in with wide eyes. "The Im Yoona noona that I know?!"

"Im Yoona?! IM Yoona?!"

Chen snickered, messing up Baekhyun's hair. "Good luck, man. I give you all my respects, but I'll kill you if you don't have lobster as the main course for the wedding--"

"What the actual--" Baekhyun repeatedly kicked Chen's hands away, making everybody laugh. "It's not even a date!" He groaned, blushing in embarrassment. "Geez! You guys are making a big deal out of nothing. She only asked me to teach her how to play... That's all!"

Yoonmi only looked at the brunette wordlessly, a bit surprised.

She'd never seen this side of him before.

"But why didn't she ask--I don't know--Minhyuk sunbae-nim?" Chanyeol pointed out. "Or all the other guys in her grade?!"

Baekhyun shrugged. "That's because I'm younger--"

"Only by an year!"

"--and she'd be more comfortable with me, you idiot."

Chanyeol snickered. "Comfortable? Baek, she liiikkkeeesss youuuu--"

Baekhyun gave his friend a good smack in the forehead.

Chanyeol made a pout. "Suho hyung, I think Baekhyun hates me."

Suho scoffed.

"That took a while for you to realize."

"But Baekhyun," D.O. interrupted, a suggestive smile on his face. "... Are you gonna do what we all think you're gonna do?"

After a few moments of looking at D.O. in confusion, the entire group of guys erupted into low "Ooohhh's~" and giggles. Baekhyun only rubbed the back of his neck, starting to regain the redness in his cheeks.

"N-No, of course not." The brunette muttered in annoyance. "That's--"

"A PERFECT idea, ain't it?" Chen raised his eyebrows back and forth. "Who woudn't love it if the one and only Byun Baekhyun--"

He was interrupted when Baekhyun quickly slapped his mouth shut with a hand. He was blushing even harder now, and much to the girl's surprise, he suddenly gestured to Yoonmi with his shoulder.

"L-Later...." He insisted quietly. "Not now."

Yoonmi shifted uncomfortably in her spot.

For a moment, she considered jumping up and tickling whatever secret Baekhyun was trying to hide out from him--Sure, she didn't care that much about them, especially nowadays, but the entire atmosphere and conversation was making her curious.

But then Yoonmi decided against it, realizing that although such a plan might've worked just a few years ago, it wouldn't work now.

Yoonmi made a face to herself before slowly getting up, a rather bitter feeling in her stomach.

Somehow, she had a feeling that situations like today's wouldn't be the last.

"Whatever... I'm going home to eat."

-------------------

"Mom?"

"Yes, Yoonmi?"

The girl lifelessly picked at her food with her fork.

"Why is Baekhyun Oppa different these days?"

Her mother paused setting the table and looked up at her daughter. After a while, an amused smile formed in her face.

"What makes you say that?" The woman passed her a glass of water. "Does he look different these days?"

"No... He just acts differently." Yoonmi stared at the glass. "He... doesn't come over that often anymore."

"What do you mean, sweetie? Baekhyun comes over almost everyday."

"Yeah, but that's only with the other guys or with Mrs. Byun." Yoonmi rested her chin on her hand. "He doesn't come over just by himself like before."

"Well, I guess he's a bit busier now that he's in middle school. Remember, things can't always stay the same, Yoonmi."

"Yeah, but..." She tilted her head in thought. "He started hanging out with more girls, now--Girls his age. And he goes to the beach with them!"

"Now, now, what's wrong with that? He's only having fun!"

Yoonmi let out a breath. "Okay, fine, I know that. But, everybody treats him differently now!" She waved her fork in the air. "I'm telling you, it's so weird! All my friends at school ask me if they can see Baekhyun Oppa, and isn't that the stupidest thing ever?! Why would they wanna see Baekhyun Oppa, of all things to do--"

Yoonmi's mother burst out laughing, much to the girl's confusion.

"Alright, Yoonmi." She sat down in front of her. "It's really nothing special, but... Everyone goes through a little phase of their own."

The woman tapped her chin in thought, wondering how to phrase what she wished to say.

"Oh." She pointed into the air. "I guess you would call it a teenage rebellion thing... It's just when they start growing up and get interested in different types of things around them."

Yoonmi raised an eyebrow. "And that includes girls?"

"Of course," Yoonmi's mother answered. "It's completely normal for every guy. Even you will change in one way or another when you reach that age or above. Everyone does."

Yoonmi blinked.

In a way, her mother couldn't be anything but right. Of course people couldn't stay the same forever. They had to grow.

Yoonmi suddenly frowned. "But, Baekhyun Oppa's growing up weird." She insisted. "I think I liked him better before."

Her mother laughed. "Alright, Yoonmi. I understand that, but don't treat Baekhyunnie like a total different person... Him growing up doesn't mean you should dislike him. Baekhyun's still the same person."

She ruffled her daughter's hair.

"He's just learning new things and trying them out--Nothing bad."