"Hey, it's Yoonmi!"

 

Again.

The girl got up behind the refreshments tables and turned around to see a familiar group of guys--yet another one of Baekhyun's many acquaintances that were in the Suwon Summer Dance's high school party.

She quickly bowed with a polite smile, as if she and Jungkook definitely hadn't been in the middle of sneaking into the high school party past the security guards.

Yoonmi anxiously eyed the men in black checking student ID's and driver's licenses, somewhat unsatisfied. She could've sworn that the guy on the left was Mr. Han from down the street--

 

"What brings you here?" Jonghyun's voice interrupted her thoughts as he looked between the girl and Jungkook. "And who's this? Why isn't Baek with you?"

Yoonmi tried to act casual, as if she definitely wasn't up here in the high school party talking to a bunch of high schoolers trying to avoid a high school boy named Byun Baekhyun.

"Byun Baekhyun Oppa probably died, that's why he isn't with us today." She ignored the guys' snickers and put a hand on Jungkook's shoulder. "And this is Jungkookie."

"Hi," Jungkook waved with a charming smile. "I'm Yoonmi's friend."

Honestly, Yoonmi was very surprised and somewhat impressed by this point: Had she been Jungkook, she would've turned around and ditched herself the second Baekhyun's second group of friends had waved at them. They were like ants, infesting this entire place with 'Woah, look it's Yoonmi!'s and 'What's Baek's little sis doing here's. Of course, each of Baekhyun's friends had never failed to look at Jungkook and raise their eyebrows suggestively to question who the new face was, making Yoonmi feel sorry for him every time.

Either Jeon Jungkook was a very patient boy, or he just really really liked crepes.

 

"Ohh," Taemin suddenly nodded in realization. "I think Jongin told me about this... Something about Baekhyun hyung scaring Kim Myungsoo away from Yoonmi, wasn't it?"

"Oh, yeah!" Onew chuckled. "I heard about that from Chanyeol, too... Man, poor kid."

 

Yoonmi felt herself blush out of embarrassment. It was probably the eleventh time hearing this exact same Kim Myungsoo thing tonight.

She made a note to herself to permanently tape both Kim Jongin's and Park Chanyeol's mouths shut when she got back home.

 

"So," Minho patted Jungkook's hair. "I'm guessing Baekhyun's okay with this handsome little kid, then?"

"Strange. From the Byun Baekhyun I know, he'd usually follow them around for the entire night--"

"Like he did a couple years ago for that Byunghun kid? That was goddamn hilarous--"

Yoonmi only rolled her eyes when the group started laughing, not even bothering to toss her usual retorts and bickering back to the group.

Wait... Byunghun? She frowned in confusion. Did something happen with Oppa and Byunghun?

Yoonmi quickly shook the idea away, too much of a headache racking her brains to even finish the thought. The music upstairs was becoming a bit too loud for her ears to handle, and the entire situation they were in was rather nerve-wracking.

After all, right now, she couldn't risk causing even the tiniest scene: Just one more person discovering her presence in the high school party would be dangerous, and currently, Yoonmi was much too close to having that happen with this loud group of boys.

Yoonmi looked around nervously.

 

And somehow--other than the fact that she was literally walking around talking to Baekhyun's millions of friends when she was supposed to hide from him--it felt like Yoonmi was forgetting something.

Forgetting something important.

 

"Welp," The girl said anxiously, the strange gut feeling inside her gaining stronger by the second. What was she forgetting? "It was nice seeing you Oppas! But we gotta get going..."

"Of course." Taemin ruffled her hair. "Have fun, you two!"

"Bye, Yoonmi!"

 

Before Yoonmi could grab Jungkook's arm and blurt out that they should go back downstairs after all, the boy suddenly pointed to a nearby table.

"Hey, I think I found the crepes, Yoonmi!"

Yoonmi blinked, unconsciously letting go of Jungkook's arm. ".... You did?"

"Yep," The boy ducked under a packed, chaotic crowd of dancing high schoolers and reached the crepe table safely.

He turned around and gestured at Yoonmi to do the same.

But... Yoonmi fidgeted between obeying and not. I really really have a bad feeling--

"Come on, Yoonmi!"

The girl looked up.

 

Whatever.

Upon hearing his voice, she ducked under the crowd as well and reached Jungkook's side. 

It's probably nothing.

 

 

And just like that, the two anchored themselves in Jungkook's heaven this time, exploring all the various crepe flavors and commenting on which fruits matched best with which topping. 

 

"Yoonmi," Jungkook suddenly began with a crepe in his mouth. "Were you always like this with Baekhyun hyung?"

She looked up from her masterpiece of a banana+chocolate flavored crepe. "Huh?"

"You know... You guys were always together from, like, the beginning of time. So much that all of Baek hyung's friends know you, too." He took another bite. "It must be fun having so many older friends... Especially people like Suho hyung and Kris hyung when it comes to getting help with your homework."

Yoonmi scoffed. "That's a common misunderstanding, ya'know. Oppa never lets me play with him and his friends. Don't you know? No girls allowed in anything in the entire world," She mocked in what she assumed to be Baekhyun's voice, making Jungkook look up from his crepe and laugh.

"He barely helps me with my homework, either, except for when I downright beg him to." Yoonmi suddenly picked at her crepe with a fork, lowering her voice to a small mumble. ".... And nowadays, I don't think he even cares about me, to be honest."

Jungkook shot the girl a doubtful look. "Well, from what I heard from Kai and Chanyeol hyung--which basically means the entire world--Baekhyun hyung seemed to care a LOT about the entire Kim Myungsoo thing--"

Yoonmi groaned, cursing Park Chanyeol and Kim Jongin under her breath yet another time for their light mouths.

 

"I'm telling you... that's different, Jungkook. He didn't scare Myungsoo away because he cared about me. We're not making a big deal out of this entire 'Yoonmi's going to a dance with a date' thing because Baekhyun cares about me."

"What?" Jungkook grabbed a new crepe. "But I'm pretty sure Baekhyun hyung just wants to protect you, since he's known you all his life. He's probably just worried about you, Yoonmi. Just like Luhan hyung and Kris hyung."

The girl shook her head, pointing a fork into the air as if she was giving a lecture about life to the boy.

"Jungkook, Baekhyun oppa doesn't want me to go to a dance because he thinks I'm a little girl. A little girl who can't go to dances or beach parties. Remember? No Girls Allowed." She mimicked again, making Jungkook choke on his crepe this time in laughter.

"But I swear, just because I'm in middle school doesn't mean I can't do anything... not even go to dances." The girl waved her fork in the air, exploding with the injustice built up inside her for the past few days. "Even he went to dances when he was in middle school. For three years in a row! So why can't I?"

Jungkook carefully laid a strawberry on his new crepe, bending down to an eye level with the fruit. "Yeah, Chen hyung and Lay hyung told me about that once. About how Baekhyun hyung got asked by four different girls each year, and he went with the prettiest one each time, right?."

She scoffed. "That was when Im Yoona unni couldn't ask him, because he wasn't in high school yet.... I bet'cha that he's one hell of a happy teenager right now, that selfish jerk."

Yoonmi sighed, while Jungkook laughed at her dramatically distressed expression.

"And you know what's worse? I have a feeling Baekhyun Oppa will forever treat me like a baby, even when I go up to high school." She sulked. "And that would be horrible."

"Yeah, that would be pretty bad." Jungkook couldn't help but agree. "But, atleast the other guys aren't like that.... Especially the ones who're the same age as us, like Sehunnie and Tao, or the ones much older than us, like Xiumin hyung."

"Yeah," She muttered. "But Baekhyun oppa will."

 

Jungkook only stared at the girl wordlessly.

For the past few minutes of their entire conversation, he had mentioned almost every other hyung's name.

And yet, Lee Yoonmi would always end up talking about Byun Baekhyun.

 

Jungkook ate another crepe quietly.

"... I think you should just wait."

Yoonmi looked up. "Huh?"

"Jin hyung always tells me that 'We're all fetuses 'till college'. So why not just wait?"

 

Jungkook shrugged.

"Who knows.... A lot of things might change in the next few years."

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

 

It was when Yoonmi had finished her third crepe when she saw it: a barely familiar face in the distance laughing with his group of friends, with light brown hair, an eye smile, and pierced ears.

Yoonmi froze. A huge "OOHH" of realization popped in her head.

 

Lee Hyunwoo.

 

"Shoot."

She had totally forgotten.

Yoonmi automatically turned her head to face Jungkook, and let out a rather awkward laugh. Her heart had already begun a countdown.

 

"W-WEll," She spoke so fast, her words were jumbled together. "Tonight was a very fun night, but I think the time has come for me to take my leave--"

"Right now?" Jungkook watched her hastily stuff handfulls of the various candies and crepes across the table into her purse, his eyes wide in genuine surprise.

"Y-Yep!" The girl clasped her hands around her cheeks. "If I go to bed any later, my cheeks will explode overnight because of all that chocolate! Haha!"

Yoonmi was amazing herself with her lying skills.

"Ooohhh," Jungkook nodded rather solemnly, as if he had just heard a new life theory. "I understand."

Yoonmi stared at him.

This guy was amazing her even more for believing her.

 

"H-Hey, but really, thanks for letting me have fun today... with everything and all," Yoonmi raised a hand into the air in a high-five, grinning. "Best date I could've ever wished for!"

Jungkook grinned back while high-fiving her.

"Same here!"

And thus the two exchanged their brief farewells, with Yoonmi still dwelling over the shocking sight of Jeon Jungkook looking very happy despite the ridiculously rushed ending to their night.

 

Once the boy finally disappeared into the crowd, Lee Yoonmi didn't wait a single second to flip around and run downstairs, frantically scanning the different people around her for a particularly dark-haired, flirtatious-looking guy amidst a group of girls.

Of course, she thought to herself in a mental smack. No wonder something had felt missing!

For once, her gut feeling had actually been right.

She had totally forgotten about Lee Hyunwoo.

 

Downstairs, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, either romantically or simply with friends and their own form of entertainment. It was getting slightly darker outside, with more people beginning to go outside for the pool party or to see the beautiful beach scenery from the large balcony while it lasted under the sunlight.

Yoonmi pushed past the talkative crowds around her to be met with the fresh beach air outside. Immediately, she started hastily looking around.

Kim Jongin, Kim Jongin, Kim Jong--

 

"Girl, I was born with this face. Clearly, God loves me."

Yoonmi turned around.

Found him.

 

For the first time in his life, Kai didn't angrily demand an explanation when Yoonmi suddenly pulled him from of a group of girls.

 

"Did Baekhyun hyung find you?" He blurted out rather quickly, eyes wide in anticipation. "Did he?!"

"Nope," Yoonmi quickly linked arms with him and robotically looked straight ahead, much to Kai's confusion. "But Lee Hyunwoo almost did, and he'srighttherewalkingtowardsus."

Kai didn't demand an explanation for this either. He immediately pulled the girl closer to him.

"You're my date in three.... two.... on--HEY YOONMI, WANNA GO TAKE PICTURES UPSTAIRS, JUST LIKE WHAT ALL THE OTHER COUPLES ARE DOING?!"

Yoonmi let out a rather loud laugh. "OF COURSE. BECAUSE WE'RE A COUPLE. JUST LIKE THEM!"

"YEAH!"

It took an additional awkward second of silence for Hyunwoo to pass by completely into the groups of people behind them.

It was then when the two could finally relax.

 

"Jesus Christ," Yoonmi immediately slumped onto Kai's shoulder, exhausted. "That was absolutely horrifying."

"You know what," Kai set a fist down onto his palm very seriously. "I think it's safe to swear by all means that we're never doing something like this ever again."

Yoonmi nodded very eagerly.

"Swear?"

"Swear by my heart."

"THERE you are, Kim Jongin!" A familiar voice suddenly interrupted. "I couldn't find--"

Suho froze the second Yoonmi turned around, staring at her up and down in complete silence for the longest time.

 

He pointed at her.

"This is by all means a bad idea--"

"OhmyGod I SWEAR, if I have to hear another NINE of these--"

"No, I mean, this is a bad idea--"

"Hyung, we've been over this a couple of times already," Kai interrupted tiredly as he pulled Yoonmi back onto his shoulder, clearly aware of her half-dead state. "But Byun Baekhyun hyung still hasn't found out, yet, miraculously. And the second he does--"

The guy stopped when he caught sight of the strange look on the older one's face.

"... Hyung?"

When Suho didn't answer, Kai's face fell.

"... Ah.... n-no, Hyung, please say no--"

"Yes, actually." Baekhyun's voice interrupted from behind them.

 

And it wasn't too pretty.

 

Kim Jongin immediately threw Yoonmi off of his shoulder.

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

 

"Is something wrong?"

Baekhyun looked up at Yoona in surprise.

"Oh, nothing, really.... I.... I just saw someone I knew," He forced a smile. "Would it be okay if--"

"Of course!" Yoona smiled back. "I'll be waiting right here."

 

Byun Baekhyun didn't waste a single second to make his way through the crowd.

 

 

 

When he first caught sight of Yoonmi up close, Baekhyun couldn't help but feel unhappy.

Unhappy over the fact that she had walked around like this for the past few hours at none other than the Suwon Summer Dance.

 

"Hahaha," Kai laughed nervously, ignoring the glare Yoonmi was giving him for suddenly throwing her off of him. "Sh-She's pretty, isn't she? T-Tao picked out the dress!"

Even Yoonmi slapped her forehead next to him.

 

Kai quickly threw his hands up in defense.

"Okay, I swear, hyung, what you're probably thinking right now is a BIG misunderstanding--"

To this day, no one knows how, but as if on cue, Chanyeol and Chen suddenly appeared panting heavily, having run towards them.

Either they smelled the danger, or they actually had the imaginary earpieces they were supposedly using this morning to connect with Kai.

Chen immediately stretched his arms out into the air, as if bowing to Baekhyun while standing up.

"Byun Baekhyun, I can EXPLAIN--"

"I SWEAR, BAEK, IT WAS KAI AND CHEN WHO FORCED ME--"

"WHAT THE HELL FIREHAWK I THOUGHT WE WERE IN THIS TOGETHER--"

 

The brunette only turned to face the inevitable.

"Lee Yoonmi."

 

The girl barely squeaked in response, unable to look up at the brunette in the eyes. The long speech of apologies and subtle hints of complaints that she had prepared all day was ready to explode right at the tip of her tongue--

"Why... why are you here with..." Baekhyun looked between them, looking somewhat left out. "Why were you with Kai?"

".... What?" Yoonmi looked at him in confusion, definitely not having expected him to say this. "I... I wasn't with Kai--Well, I mean, I was..... but--"

"Yoonmi, I saw you just a couple of seconds ago--"

"Th-that was because of Hyunwoo!" The girl blurted, ignoring the groans of the three guys behind her. "It's a long story, but I promise, it was all an act! You're just misunderstanding--"

"Hyunwoo?" The brunette frowned in confusion. "Who the hell's Hyunw--"

"B-Baek!" Chen butted in. "I'll explain everythin--"

"Oh, but I didn't hang out with Hyunwoo, or anything!" Yoonmi quickly explained, having caught sight of Baekhyun's unhappy expression. "I only saw him today, while I was with Jungkook--"

Shoot.

Yoonmi immediately shut , this time paying heed to the groans and curses of the three guys behind her. She had screwed up.

"What?" Baekhyun's frown deepened. "Jungkook?"

Before she could let Kai say anything else to desperately attempt to wrap up the situation, Yoonmi suddenly blew on her bangs.

 

Screw everything.

 

"You know what,"

She crossed her arms and looked up at Baekhyun rather angrily, ready to fight.

Chen and Chanyeol cowered up on the floor in fear.

 

"Fine! I went to this stupid dance with Jungkook as my date. What, is that a crime?!"

Chanyeol nudged her in alarm. "Yoonmi--"

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes at the girl. "Do you really want to start a fight?!"

"Just because you think I'm too young doesn't mean I should listen to whatever you think, you know!" She blurted. "Why can't I make my own decisions for once?!"

"Yoonmi, that still doesn't mean you should lie to me!"

"I never lied to you!" Yoonmi blurted. "I only never told you, just like how you never told me about Yoona unni!"

Baekhyun only looked back at her, speechless. Everyone around them did the same.

 

"Umm.... guys?" Chen squeaked, looking around nervously at the people who were beginning to look at them by this point. Even Kris, Luhan, Tao, Lay, and Sehun had joined them a few minutes ago with Kai's emergency calls. "Could you please keep the volume down--"

"Why am I always the one who has to match up to everybody else?!" Yoonmi said bitterly, ignoring Chen. "I get that we're four years apart, but that doesn't mean you get to choose when I can go to a dance and who I can't go with--"

"That's because you're always so careless!" Baekhyun insisted. "You don't fit being in places like this--"

"And you do?!"

"Lee Yoonmi--"

 

Seeing what the situation was beginning to turn into, Luhan quickly stepped in between them with a light laugh.

"Alright, alright," He placed a hand on Baekhyun's shoulder. "Baek, why don't you go back for now? You don't want to keep Yoona waiting."

"But--"

"I'll talk to Yoonmi for you." Luhan promised.

The brunette eyed both the girl and his hyung, a bit hestitant at first. Yoonmi couldn't help but hold her breath in anticipation.

Is he seriously gonna--

After a moment, Baekhyun gave a curt nod, turning away.

 

The moment Baekhyun left, Yoonmi immediately turned around to storm out of the place. Luhan quickly followed her and called out for her to slow down.

 

Lee Yoonmi suddenly wished Jungkook had been with them to see the entire exchange.

Then, she would've been able to say, "See? I told you Baekhyun Oppa doesn't care."

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

 

Baekhyun sighed, slumping back onto a chair sulkingly.

"I really need water."

As if on cue, Chanyeol handed him a glass, much to Baekhyun's surprise. "Here," The taller guy smiled understandingly. "I gotchu, my friend."

 

Suddenly, Baekhyun felt guilty for having always kicked Chanyeol around. All those adults had been right, with the entire 'Friends are all you have left in the end' thing.

With an emotional 'thanks,' the brunette quickly chugged it down, somewhat relieved that he atleast had Park Chanyeol on his side.

 

Immediately, he spit it back out.

 

"PARK CHANY--"

Chanyeol burst out laughing, throwing himself back with his hands over his stomach.

 

Baekhyun considered smashing the now-empty glass into his so-called 'friend's face, but realized that that could possibly lead to murder.

 

The brunette ran his fingers through his hair, thoroughly annoyed and in panic.

"This is illegal." He blurted. "You just fed me something ing illegal."

"Oh, come on, it was just a tiny bit of champagne!"

"Park Chanyeol. Even if you kill someone just a tiny bit, that counts as ing murder!"

"OOOHH," Chanyeol yelled across the room. "BYUN BAEKHYUN SAID A BAD WORD, AND TWICE AT THAT--"

Baekhyun let out a loud groan, throwing himself back onto the couch and kicking the air in annoyance.

 

"But hey," Chanyeol jumped onto the couch next to him, unaware that the reason why Baekhyun had suddenly fallen quiet was that he was contemplating over his previous plan of smashing his glass onto Park Chanyeol's stupid--

"Are you sure you don't have to get back to Yoona noona? She's your date, after all."

Baekhyun let go of his tight grasp around his glass cup, sighing tiredly. "She probably won't mind."

"Uhhhh, yes she will. She's a girl." Chanyeol stated as-a-matter-of-facty. He suddenly sat up and frowned, confused with how Baekhyun was acting. "Why the hell are you even thinking this over, anyways? Did you and noona get in a fist-fight, or something? Was it awkward with just the two of you during the entire dance?"

The brunette scoffed. "No. It was the opposite. I probably won't have a smoother time with the opposite gender in my life."

"I thought so," Chanyeol lied back down. "You two looked like you were having a blast from afar. It was getting kinda annoying, to be honest."

Baekhyun scoffed. "So were you, ya'know."

It was quiet.

"Anyways," Chanyeol got back up, a bit red in the cheeks. "What's wrong with you, then? Just go back to her before things actually start to get bad. Didn't I tell you? Yunho Sunbae-nim literally called war on you when Yoona noona said yes to this dance. My friend," He made a chopping motion with his hands. "You gotta get working!"

Baekhyun rolled his eyes at him. "I can't."

"Why can't you?!'

"Because!" He blurted. "You know!"

Chanyeol's shoulders slumped back down.

"Dude, didn't you hear Luhan hyung? He said that he's gonna talk everything out with Yoonm--"

"Why did you guys keep it a secret from me?"

 

For a moment, Chanyeol felt genuinely apologetic.

"Baek," He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry that we all kept it away from you--"

"I-I'm not even that mad about Jungkook or anything," Baekhyun muttered under his breath, resting his cheek on a hand. "I... just felt kinda stupid for being the only one who didn't know. That's all. It's probably not even your fault, anyways. Knowing Yoonmi, you wouldn't have a choice BUT to go along with it."

"Yeah, that's actually pretty accurate."

It was silent for a couple of moments.

"Tell me the truth, Yeol."

Baekhyun suddenly turned to look at him, a bit embarrased.

 

"Was... Was I too harsh about the Kim Myungsoo thing?"

Chanyeol didn't waste a single second to answer.

"Yeah, you were pretty horrible."

 

With that, Baekhyun got up looking for Yoonmi.

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

 

"He's just so selfish," Yoonmi muttered, leaning her cheek on a hand. "I can't do anything that he does. Does that even make sense?"

"Hmmm," Luhan hummed in thought, leaning his back onto the wall. "I think it's just that Baekhyun doesn't know how to express things that well."

He turned to look at Yoonmi.

"He probably only wants to protect you. You're like a younger sister to him, anyway."

Yoonmi scoffed in doubt, wondering whether Jungkook and him had been in this together.

"Well, do all older brothers kick their younger sisters out from every little thing they do?"

Luhan laughed. "That's just a joke on us, Yoonmi!"

"Well, that joke was stretched for so long, I'm even used to it, now!" She said with her infamous pout.

Luhan smiled. "He does care about you, though. Why would he not?"

 

Before Yoonmi could think of anything to say back to that, Baekhyun's voice called her from behind.

Without meaning to look so eager, she swiftly turned around.

 

"I am nOT forgiving you Byun Baekh--"

"Baekhyun!"

Yoonmi froze when Yoona suddenly appeared before them, stopping Baekhyun's arm.

"Where were you?" The older girl asked in confusion. "I was waiting, but you were taking so long--"

Yoonmi's shoulders dropped.

And there you have it again, with Byun Baekhyun going after his beloved Im princess yet another time--

 

"Sorry, but I'm kinda busy, noona," Baekhyun gently pushed her hand away, taking Yoonmi's instead. The younger girl looked up at him in surprise. "Can I call you back later?"

Yoona blinked between him and Yoonmi in surprise.

"... Yeah."

 

 

"Are you gonna stay here for the rest of the night?"

Instead of answering him, Yoonmi glanced at the long-haired, gorgeous girl in the distance looking at the two in a rather irked gaze.

She turned to look back at Baekhyun, who was still staring back at her waiting for an answer to his question.

The younger girl finally looked down at her shoes, suddenly feeling a bit bad, and somewhat guilty for ruining the star couple's night--She knew for a fact that both Baekhyun and Yoona had looked forward to it. Maybe this whole thing hadn't been that of a good idea, after all.

 

"Yoonmi," Baekhyun took her hand rather gently. "Let's go home."

The girl let herself get pulled through the crowd, past the water fountain, and out into the beach's cool night air.

 

 

Although she didn't want to admit it, beneath the sea of guilt of bothering Baekhyun's dance lied the slightest spark of relief.

 

For the first time in her life, the prospect of Byun Baekhyun's possessiveness didn't seem so bad, after all.

---

lol I'll edit this later