Warning: Has not been beta'd or edited.

Luna whispers into Song Qian’s ear,

“He’s good looking and he’s a doctor! What a score!”

Feeling a little helpless, Song Qian shoves Luna away and continues eating aimlessly out of her plate of sushi. “Aren’t you tired?”

The young girl shakes her head. “Not at all.”

Siwon smiles at them politely and keeps on eating.

“So, how did the two of you get close?” Luna asks.

Thinning his lips, Siwon swallows the food in his mouth before replying, “I don’t really remember, to be honest. All I remember is that we got along really well.”

Song Qian laughs. “He was a bookworm and that was exactly what I needed.”

“Really can’t tell just by looking at you,” Luna says, “you look more like the athletic type. Even Minho looks more like a bookworm than he does.”

“That’s because you didn’t see Siwon in high school,” Song Qian argues.

Luna nods apprehensively. “Did you have a lot of admirers?”

Siwon shakes his head. He feels like he’s being entirely honest, but Song Qian seems to differ in opinion.

“The girls were always too afraid to confess to him,” she interjects, “but he was definitely a topic. He was even a part of the flower boys’ crew.”

“That’s only because I hung out with Donghae,” Siwon refutes.

Song Qian slants him a look.

“Ah, speaking of flower boys,” Luna exclaims, as though suddenly recollecting something. “The panel on fragrance and flowers in the last issue was a big hit and the boss called me a while ago about expanding on that topic and finding a new group of models for it.”

“What’s he looking for?” Song Qian asks, picking at her food again.

Luna brushes her hair out of her face. “Well, since it’s mostly for advertising purposes, he just wants them to be, you know, attractive. He’s gotten tons of seekers looking to fill in the column and each brand is offering ridiculous amounts of money for the slot.”

“That’s not hard,” Song Qian nods. “Alright, I’ll get some people to work on it. Kibum was pretty confident about it to begin with, though, so I might just assign him to specialize in that panel.”

“Add Krystal to the crew,” Luna suggests, “She’s always had a lot of interest in fragrances.”

Song Qian purses her lips. “I’ll think about it.”

“Why?” Luna pouts.

The older girl forces a fake smile. “I need Krystal on figures and creativity for now so until I can find a replacement, she’ll have to stay there for a bit longer.”

“Taem?” Luna recommends.

Song Qian takes a deep breath. “I’ll ask him but you know how picky he is…”

“You’re the chief,” Luna reminds her, “show a little bit of authority!”

“My authority has only ever been in question with you,” Song Qian seethes.

Luna laughs heartily. “Alright, well, I better head back to the karaoke before they think I’ve gone missing. I’ll see you later, Vic! Nice meeting you, Siwon!”

The two of them send Luna on her way. After Luna is gone, they glance over at each other and burst into a small fit of laughter.

“Do you really think that you weren’t popular in high school?” Song Qian asks.

Siwon smiles and says, “Like you said, I didn’t get very many confessions…”

“That’s because they were scared,” she tells him.

“Of me?” Siwon furrows his eyebrows dramatically.

Song Qian shakes her head with a disapproving look. “No, of course they weren’t afraid of you, you were just a huge teddy bear! It was me.”

There are things that Choi Siwon does which make Song Qian wish didn’t affect her the way it did.

For instance, the way Siwon speaks so softly to her, as though he’s afraid he’d break her if he spoke any louder, and the way he always looks into her eyes when she’s speaking to him.

Or when Siwon always watches out for her when they’re on the streets, making sure no one gets too close and she doesn’t stray too far from him.

It makes her nervous when Siwon responds to her jokes with a straight face and it makes her anxious if he becomes speechless at what she says (unless she does it on purpose, of course). Yet, above all, beside Siwon is when she feels safest and most at ease, no matter what it is that he’s doing.

Siwon could be staring off into space and not listening to a word she’s saying and it’d be alright.

Thoughts like those are what scare her most, to be honest; sometimes, she wishes she could keep Siwon with her all the time and that they’d never have to part ways.

When was it that she started feeling this way?

How does she make it stop?

To make her less affected, Song Qian began to distract herself with other things. For instance, she began to tease Siwon a lot more often; the more flustered he was, the less rattled she would feel. Or she would even demand things of Siwon; if she could keep him busy and away from her, she wouldn’t have to worry.

In high school, Siwon caught on pretty quick.

“You’re being kind of weird lately,” he commented with a single raised brow.

Song Qian would just ignore him and continue on as she willed.

Now, however, Siwon seems to have accustomed to her odd behaviors around him. He never knows the true reasons behind her sudden mood changes, but he figures that is just how girls are; it’s something he doesn’t expect himself to ever understand.

When he was going through a hard time, Song Qian accidentally took a supporting role beside him.

Siwon said,

“Song Qian, thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being here with me.”

At that time, she wanted to say, “Actually, it’s all a matter of coincidence…”

Those words never did make it past her lips.

Ever since, Siwon saw Song Qian as an important comrade—someone he could always rely on when he needed help. Song Qian enjoyed having him beside her but the burden grew heavier and heavier; the more Siwon reminded her she was his best friend, the more she was aware of her own feelings.

So, teenager Song Qian told herself she couldn’t fall in love with her best friend and teenager Siwon didn’t know a thing.

Adult Song Qian gradually remembers everything and so she tries to remind herself the same things. Adult Siwon still doesn’t know a thing.

Sometimes, life just seems like one big continuous cycle.

It’s on the tip of his tongue but Siwon isn’t sure exactly how to ask her. As they’re leaving the restaurant and holler a cab over, he strategizes how to verbalize his thoughts. If he says something, maybe he’ll know whether or not they’re on common grounds.

So, maybe…

“You don’t have to introduce any girls to me.”

Will she be able to get the hint?

Song Qian furrows her eyebrows together and glances over at him in the cab. “Did Luna scare you off? I swear she’s the only abnormal girl I know.”

He can’t help but laugh a little. “No, it’s not because of Luna. I just… you don’t need to worry about finding someone for me anymore. You’ve got enough on your plate already, as it is.”

“You don’t have to worry about me—”

“If you care about your health then I suggest that you just take my word and follow it,” Siwon warns her. “You’re working too much, you’re being too active and you’re all around the place all the time. Just relax for once, will you?”

Song Qian smiles to herself and curls up in the leather seat of the cab, throwing her head back against the head rest. “When you’re being so gentle, it’s hard not to feel a little touched by your words.”

A warm hand reaches for hers and he fits his fingers into the creases of hers comfortably, using his other hand to lower her head onto his shoulder.

Siwon said,

“You can lean on me if you want to.”

This time even he doesn’t know why he doesn’t say, that’s what friends are for, right?

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A/N: Sorry for the sudden disappearance! I was on vacation, visiting family in another state, and I didn't have any access to my writing which I store on a flashdrive... Anyhow, I'll try to update quickly so that I can finish posting this story and get started on my next project! ^_^ Thank you for sticking with me through all this~ ♥Xue