It took a whole hour for Hyoyeon to deal with all her friends and family who rushed backstage to congratulate her and there were so many people patting her back proudly, she was quite sure her back was going to be black and blue the next day. Even the CEO, Lee Soo Man, himself came looking for her.

Everyone except…oh well never mind about that. She had to hurry and go to the dance room to meet Yoochun … she looked at her watch nervously – wondering if he got tired of waiting and left already.

‘Please be there! Please please be there… I have to do this while the adrenaline is still rushing through me.. if I lose the nerve today, I don’t know if I can bring myself to do it later. Ahhh.. I don't even know if it's the right thing to do.. but I should do it while it feels right.'

Finally, after the last group of visitors had left, she walked her family to the parking lot, waved goodbye to them and rushed back to the studio. There was going to be a party the next night to celebrate her showcase since Jessica and Sooyoung knew that Hyoyeon and Hyukjae had a tradition of celebrating dance showcases by watching a movie together.

‘Thank god for best friends…. best friends?’

The room looked empty when Hyoyeon entered and she let out a disappointed sigh – ‘there goes that chance’;

but suddenly Yoochun crept out of the shadows – an indiscernible smile on his face.

“Oh oppa.. you are here!” Her voice was already sounding shaky and awkward.

The older boy just watched her carefully, his pretty brown eyes carrying a solemn expression, “So umm…  what’s up?”

He continued to watch as she stayed silent and wrung her fingers nervously - knuckles almost turning white. He really liked her.. even though it was just physical in the beginning but through the small glimpses that he had gotten of the real her in their short time together, he knew he could easily fall head over heels in love with her – he already was. It was everything about her – her innocence, her unrefined sweetness and the bright halo of joy that seemed to radiate from her….

And so it made it all the more bittersweet when he realized that….

Well maybe he was wrong. It could’ve been his eyes playing tricks on him. After all, he was sitting just a few rows ahead… it could also have been him, right?

Yoochun knew he had to confirm it from her before he made any move.

****************************************************************************************************

He reached out to give her nervous hands a calming pat, “Did you have something to say to me?”

“Y..y..es. I..” Hyoyeon squirmed trying to find the right words. There was really no easy way to do this – rip it off quickly like a bandaid! She closed her eyes tightly and blurted out, “Oppa, I like you,

I really do. You know that, right?”

Yoochun’s dimples deepened but they didn’t seem cheerful like usual -

“but there’s a ‘but’ coming isn’t there?”

Hyoyeon looked down at her feet and nodded, “I’m sorry..”

“Kwenchana, you can tell me.” Yoochun’s suspicions were confirmed. He had dated around enough to know the signs and Hyoyeon was just so inexperienced, everything was blatantly written on her face.

‘Probably for the best,’he tried to be positive. There was such a thing as ‘fate’.

“I just.. don’t think we... would work out in the long run.”

‘But we didn’t even give it a good shot, yet!’ An unexpected voice inside him protested and he tried to ignore it. He had made up his mind to play the cool noble guy and let her go easily if that was what she wanted but seeing her, right in front of him, was clouding his confidence.

She made his heart beat like no other girl had before.. if she could feel it, there was no way she could deny it, right?

He gulped – he was about to confess to a girl for the first time (it had always been the other way around).

Yoochun locked his gaze with hers, “Are you sure?”

*******************************************************************************************************************

Hyukjae bounded up the stairs grinning happily – looking forward to the impressed look she would no doubt reward him with. There she was scolding him for being late to the showcase but it was only because he had stopped by the flower shop to get her favourite flowers.

He checked his watch – they had planned to meet there three hours after the end of the showcase and watch a movie here instead of at the theatre. There was a brand new flatscreen tv! He was way early but with nothing else to do, he figured he might as well wait for her inside.

When he finally got to the room, he extended his hand to pull the door open but stalled at the last moment. She was already there..

but not alone

Yoochun was with her.

“Ah~ pabo!” he scolded himself, “Of course, they probably want to spend time together. Why did I suggest watching a movie? Way to make yourself a third wheel, Lee Hyuk jae.”

He watched curiously at the serious conversation the pair seemed to be having. He could only see Yoochun’s face since her back was facing him but he approved of the sincerity in his friend’s eyes. He had initially been worried about the possibility of Hyoyeon entering a relationship – her first relationship – with Yoochun since he was far more experienced but now, he was starting to think it was a good idea. Yoochun had made it clear that his player days were over and so far, he seemed to be giving Hyoyeon a wonderful dating experience.

“I’ll just wait for them to be done, give the flowers, and leave them alone. Hopefully Yoochun has some celebration planned for later!” As he talked to himself while tapping his foot lightly and waiting for Hyoyeon and Yoochun to finish their conversation, he noticed one of his laces was undone and bent down to tie it up.

But when he looked back up, his eyes grew wide.

Their positions were now reversed with Yoochun's back facing him.

And he was holding Hyoyeon’s face in his hands and... kissing her.. on the lips!

AND she appeared to be responding as well.

As the shock wore off, a tiny smirk made its way to his face. ‘Aigoo, this little kid is grown up for real. I think it’s time for me to loosen the reins,’ he thought. He was happy for her – love was a great thing and Yoochun had proved himself to be a nice and sincere. ‘Good. Now I don’t have to worry about her anymore,’ he chuckled.

But for some reason he still felt a little disoriented – unable to focus on anything but the image of her with her eyes closed dreamily. ‘Aaah it must be the trauma of seeing that kid  like that. Yes, that’s it… I should remove it from my mind.. I should.. I should… oh I know! It’s time to focus on my own love-life or else this kid is not going to stop rubbing it in my face.’

Almost bumping against the wall, he left the flowers by the door and hurried out of the building.

He didn’t even notice that his hands were balled up into tight fists the entire time. 

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A/N:

before you say anything, i fully expect rotten tomatoes to be thrown at me. i am a horrible person for teasing you all like that but i did warn you there would be drama right? if you re-read the prologue and the song lyrics again, i think it will make sense.

"A guy and a girl can just be friends, but at one point or another, they will fall for each other...

maybe temporarily…”