Shinhye wasn’t sure which hallway she was in anymore, nor did she know why she was still running. It had been two minutes since she last saw Hyomin and that sketchy rose, but now she had ventured into an unfamiliar part of the university. In the middle of her mental struggle, a cold hand touched her arm, causing her to halt.

            “I know universities don’t have silly rules like ‘no running in the halls’, but you look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” A soft voice spoke more closely into her ear than she had thought, though she felt no one beside her. From a few metres away, Yonghwa was passing by with his guitar neatly protected by its case, about to make a turn into a room when he saw her. Without being noticed, he watched from afar as Shinhye turned and leapt a few centimeters from the ground feeling like she just had a mini heart attack. The new kid, Kang Minhyuk, was standing far too close to her. After inching away, he tried not to look offended and asked,

            “What were you running from? Him?” Minhyuk guessed, nodding his head towards Yonghwa who kept his cool image and entered the classroom without Shinhye being suspicious of his observance.

            “N-no…” She mumbled, deciding that if she were to tell anyone about the rose, it certainly wouldn’t be a guy she had only seen a few times. He shrugged off the awkward atmosphere created by Shinhye and proceeded to ask,

            “Well since you’re here and I’m new, can you help me find this room?” He held out his schedule for her to see and pointed to his next class—surprisingly the same as Shinhye’s. Naturally helpful, she nodded with a sweet smile and turned back the way she came until she met the main hallway where her directions became clear. He followed close behind her, but not close enough to startle her again. After they were out of sight, Yonghwa exited the room he had gone into, now apart from his guitar and out of pure curiosity, headed to the corner where Minhyuk was standing. Yonghwa knew this hallway the most out of others in the university, always having to tune instruments in the storage as a compromise for dropping the ‘mandatory’ English course here, and from what he knew, the view from that window was nothing special though occasionally he would see Hyomin and Shinhye both sitting outside on the bench “studying”. The moment he looked out the window, an immediate cold chill went down his spine. There, on the ground beside the bench was a red rose.

@}--,--'----

            Shinhye and Minhyuk both enter the classroom together, meeting Hyomin’s accusing eyes that darted directly towards them when they stepped in. She had just finished warning Shinhye about how dangerous he was, and now here she was rebelling against her good-hearted words. Not to mention she had just ditched her a few minutes ago over some stupid flower.

            “Hey…” Shinhye mumbled nervously, knowing already that Hyomin would be mad. She sat down beside her anyway, with Minhyuk on her other side and a row of grand pianos at the very back. Ignoring her, she pulled out a folder of sheet music and browsed for the one she was going to play for their grand Christmas ensemble. Shinhye had planned to perform something along with Hyomin as well, but her lack of confidence drove those thoughts away. Timidly now, she pulled out a more rumpled and carelessly stored sheet of music and compared hers with Hyomin. Hyomin’s song choice was definitely much more challenging, but Shinhye had entered this course without any previous knowledge of piano so her progress was surprisingly good.

            “No need to wait for my cue, you all can continue your preparations.” The professor announced, organizing sheets of paper on her desk before walking around uncomfortably in her shiny black high heels, giving them a kind of intimidating stare that would urge them to work harder. She had wanted them all to perform at the ensemble, and as far as she knew, everyone except Shinhye was a definite yes.

            “Are you sure you don’t want to do it?” The professor asked Shinhye again, who was now alone at the long table. Hyomin had gone to practice and Minhyuk was now browsing through catalogues of classical piano pieces. It felt almost like a routine to her that the professor would come and ask the same question 5 minutes into class every day.

            “Well, there is one song I’d like to try, but I don’t want to perform it if I don’t master it by Christmas.” Shinhye made clear, showing the sheet music to her professor. Her face immediately lit up as she showered Shinhye with encouragement, and soon enough, she was seated in front of a grand piano just across from Hyomin, who still would not spare any eye contact. Though she was mad now, Shinhye knew her friend well and was certain y the end of class she would have gotten over it. Placing her hands delicately on the keys, she eyed the music sheet intensely before beginning, stumbling with her fingers here and there. Almost on the verge of giving up for the day, she tried one last time and the same cold hands she had felt earlier were now brushing against her own, gently guiding her fingers to the right keys like a kindergarten teacher showing a student how to hold a pencil correctly. Shinhye’s eyes panned upwards briefly to see Minhyuk’s small face concentrating on guiding her. How did he know the song so well? He never even glanced at the music sheet. At the end, he immediately let go and turned his gaze to Shinhye, smiling satisfyingly. She wasn’t sure if he was trying to boast or if he was just being helpful.

            “Les Derniers Jours D'anastasia Kemsky, what a beautiful piece.” He commented, now humming the chorus loud enough for only Shinhye’s ears. He was definitely musically talented, and it seemed as though he had a pretty singing voice too. Hiding her sprouting jealousy, she agreed.

            “You know Richard Clayderman, I’m guessing?” Shinhye decided to entertain their conversation. Hyomin was mad anyway so she had no one to talk to all class. Work periods were dead boring without any room for chitchat.

            “Yes, well, not personally of course but I’m a big fan of his works.” Minhyuk answered willingly. Shinhye scooted over to make room for Minhyuk to sit. He noticed a solid glare from Hyomin just a few metres away and laughed a little in his head, ignoring her obvious discontent with his presence.

            “I can help you learn the song if you’d like. You’ll be a master long before Christmas.” He offered, placing his hands back on the keys in the starting position.

            “What about you? What are you performing?”  Shinhye asked out of curiosity, trying to dodge his offer since she still wasn’t sure.

            “Requiem for a dream—ever heard of it?” He began playing the first few chords and then stopped to look at Shinhye. Her eyes showed that she was clearly impressed, but just for kicks he played the chorus three times faster than the original without messing up a single note, and at the end, Shinhye’s jaws almost dropped. He didn’t need practice at all for his performance, he was born to perform.

            “It sounds like a really… depressing and dark song.” Shinhye exclaimed afterwards; still awestruck but also wondering why he would choose something so unfitting for a Christmas ensemble. He shrugged casually, beginning his short lesson on how to play the intro to Les Derniers Jours D'anastasia Kemsky. Shinhye was following along completely entranced by him, just like he anticipated.

@}--,--'----

           “What is wrong with you Shinhye? What did I just tell you?” Hyomin scolded her after class ended. It was their last class of the day and they usually went for some ramyun afterschool on this day of the week. It was unlikely they would break that tradition over a small fight.

            “You mean what’s wrong with you?” Shinhye finally found the courage to speak back, “You don’t even know Minhyuk. You’ve never even spoke to him! He’s a pretty friendly guy, I don’t get why you’re so worked up. Since when did you get to dictate who I hung out with?” Hyomin was blown back by Shinhye’s sudden defense and she decided she was going at this with the wrong approach. Sighing, she nodded realizing how overboard she went. She didn’t really have a reason to be mad, maybe she was just letting jealousy get over her. Hyomin didn’t have a lot of friends at university despite her extroverted personality, and she wasn’t fond of sharing Shinhye. It was a best friend thing, but Shinhye was right.

            “Mianhae…” Hyomin apologized, throwing in some aegyo that always got Shinhye to forgive her no matter what she did. Like magic, it worked again. Shinhye playfully pushed Hyomin’s head backwards and stuck out her tongue teasingly as if they were elementary children.

            “Just promise me one thing.” Hyomin added before they entered the ramyun shop.

            “Depends,” Shinhye sighed, knowing how absurd Hyomin’s promises can be.

            “That you won’t fall for Minhyuk no matter how much he woos you.” She said with a light smile but her tone was serious. Shinhye felt a little annoyed that she was bringing this up again, but Hyomin had always watched out for Shinhye’s wellbeing.

            “He’s not wooing me.” Shinhye rolled her eyes in denial. Hyomin seemed to always think every guy that talked to her liked her.

            “Whatever; just promise me.” Hyomin insisted, blocking the doorway until she agreed. Shinhye’s stomach growled suddenly and realizing her hunger, she quickly promised without much thought and they went in to order.

@}--,--'----

            The next day, Shinhye was greeted at front door by Minhyuk, holding something behind him that his broad shoulders kept her from seeing.

            “Well aren’t you a morning person,” Shinhye greeted with a smile. She could assume that they were friends now, and with Minhyuk being a new student, he probably really needed one. He shrugged, a common gesture from him, and then held out a bouquet of bright red roses in front of her. She was stunned and confused, but gladly took them, immediately checking to see if there was some hidden proposal card or ring, even though she was certain there wouldn’t be.

            “What are these for?” Shinhye asked, inhaling the pleasant scent of the roses.

            “For helping me out yesterday,” He answered shortly, and then left to go to class. He never asked anything more, which was strange for Shinhye but she didn’t want to over-think his kindness. He seemed like a pretty well brought up gentleman. Shinhye shrugged it off and entered the school, looking for Hyomin. Instead, she caught sight of Yonghwa sitting by a windowsill with a novel in his hands. She wanted to say hi, but he seemed too preoccupied and she would feel bad for disturbing him.

            “Ooh look at those beauties. Did Romeo over there give them to you?” Hyomin suddenly appeared beside her, pulling out a rose stem and taking a whiff. Her eyes trailed towards Yonghwa as he flipped the pages of his book.

            “No, Minhyuk did.” She replied honestly, knowing from experience to never hide anything from Hyomin. She watched as the playful grin on Hyomin’s face turned into an unpleasant frown.

            “I should’ve known Yonghwa was too much of a coward to make a move. Now his damsel’s being courted by a jester.” Hyomin sighed, just as Yonghwa looked up to see the two girls staring back at him. Shinhye quickly turned away, feeling rude for staring as she slapped Hyomin jokingly on the head.

            “We’re not in medieval England, and Minhyuk’s not ‘courting’ me.” She continued to deny. Hyomin looked as if she were counting them.

            “There’s 13.” She assured, now eyeing Shinhye skeptically.

            “Your point?”

            “13 roses mean he’s your secret admirer.” She educated, still trying to prove her point. Yonghwa was now walking towards them, his eyes locked on the bouquet of roses in Shinhye’s hands.

            “Morning,” Shinhye waved with her free hand. Yonghwa gave them one of his casual nods of acknowledgement, still eyeing the flowers.

            “Shinhye can I talk to you?” He asked immediately, never beating around the bush. Sometimes it was a good thing, and sometimes it just left people wondering whether they did something wrong. For a brief second, Shinhye may have believed that he was jealous, but her everlasting denial of Yonghwa’s feelings made her forget the thought. The two girls waited for him to speak.

            “Alone?” He added after a moment of silence. Hyomin coughed and turned away towards a vending machine where she entertained herself with a few coins while they talked.

            “What’s up?” Shinhye asked casually. This was the first time Yonghwa demanded to talk to her like this. She wasn’t flattered, just startled.

            “Who gave you those flowers?” He asked seriously, now making eye contact with her. His face held no emotion, but his question made Shinhye’s theory of jealousy seem even more relevant.

            “Why?” She asked, trying to entertain that possibility.

            “You don’t recognize them?” He sounded slightly baffled, plucking a petal from the largest rose blossom and holding it up to her eyes. The bright red made her eyes sting and her head spin.

            “These are roses from the exact same bush as the one from that night, and the one from that bench.” He declared without a doubt.

            “How can you be sure? Wait. The bench? How did you know about that?” Shinhye was now letting curiosity drive her questions. He rolled his eyes. Why did girls have to pick at every little detail rather than just the general story?

            “You went to that bench yesterday didn’t you? Minhyuk was watching you from the instrument storage hallway where I frequent. I saw the rose.” He explained briefly, receiving a dull nod in return. She was unwilling to make the connection.

            “What’s your point?” She answered after a long moment for thought. Yonghwa seemed frustrated that she still didn’t get it, but class was starting in a minute and Hyomin was coming back.

            “Forget it.” He sighed, turning away with his backpack hung over one shoulder, descending down another hallway without a proper goodbye. That was just how he was, and Shinhye was used to it.

            “No doubt he’s annoyed. Is he jealous of his new love rival?” Hyomin joked, still not letting go of her little game.

            “That’s not it…” Shinhye answered silently, dwelling on Yonghwa’s words. If that was true, then there was definitely more to Minhyuk that what meets the eye. 

A/N: Roses roses and more roses! Lol, you can tell what the common motif of this entire story is XD! Anyway, I updated again! Woo! This doesn't mean I'll be updating faster... It's just a long weekend and I still feel really drawn to writing. Though I wish I can update frequently, I definitely can't make any guarantees. This was a long chapter ^^ Hope you all enjoy!

BTW: Les Derniers Jours D'anastasia Kemsky by Richard Clayderman is a beautiful piano piece (for those who watched Can You Hear My Heart, it's the song that Dongjoo teaches Woori how to play^^)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxtjR06aoK4