“Yah, Junsu!” he called out, jogging up to him.

Junsu turned around, his face stoic. He stopped in his tracks, shut his book and pulled out something red. It was a keychain of a car. “Yours?”

Jaejoong turned his backpack around, finally realizing that his keychain wasn’t there. He took it from Junsu’s hand and smilingly thanked him. “Aw, thanks for picking this up! Anyway, I was wondering why you didn’t wait for me…” he playfully pouted and jabbed Junsu’s arm.

Junsu inclined his head and smiled. “I was going to wait for you at the gate. Where were you?”

Jaejoong stuck the keychain into his pocket and scratched the back of his head. “Oh, I was in the restroom…”

Why lie, Junsu asked in his head. “Ah, I see. Weren’t you going to look for someone?”

His friend laughed, hand still behind his head. That was something Jaejoong always did when he was lying. “It’s fine, I don’t have to anymore.”

Junsu merely smiled in response. Out the corner of his eye, he saw two girls exiting the school in a hurry. They were familiar; Yuri and Taeyeon.

As they headed out the doors, Junsu swore he saw Taeyeon sneak a glance at Jaejoong. Turning back to his friend, he could make out an unreadable expression on Jaejoong’s face.

He sighed, frustrated.

=/

Yoona threw her books into her bag as she headed out the building. Waving goodbye to her classmates, she shrugged all the stares she was getting. Smiling to herself, she prepared herself for a long walk home.

It was halfway through the campus grounds when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around swiftly, she saw a tall figure standing in front of her.

“Hi,” he greeted.

Yoona nodded her greeting. “Yunho, it’s you!”

Yunho smiled, gesturing towards her bag. “That looks heavy. May I help?”

Yoona waved it off. “Nah, I don’t think it’d be nice if you helped. Besides, I’m going home. Thank you for the offer!”

He scratched the back of his head, lowering his head. “Well… Then I’ll walk you home?”

Yoona laughed. “Gee, you really are a nice guy. But I won’t be nice if I made you walk with me!”

Yunho reached out for the bag abruptly, catching her off-guard and successfully getting her bag. “I have your bag now, you can’t run. Let’s go!” Throwing a naughty grin at her, he led the way towards the gate, Yoona trudging on behind him.

“Yah! Yunho!” Yoona called out, laughing. When Yoona reached him, she lightly slapped Yunho on his arm. “Yah, you know I’m not good with reflexes!”

“You weren’t? I thought you were, for a girl as strong as you,” he replied, winking at her.

Yoona smiled and continued walking with Yunho. She felt a flush in her face, but she did not know if she was blushing. “Thank you for walking with me,” she shyly said.

Yunho chuckled. “It’s my honor to walk with you.”

Yoona blushed more. Touching her face in futile, she had a question in her head.

‘Was I in love with him?’

She smiled inwardly at that thought, until she looked down to her legs. Laughing at her own stupidity, she looked away.

‘But he won’t fall for a girl like me.’

Little did she know; little did a girl like Yoona know.

=/

Junsu tapped his table with two fingers, thinking hard about what he saw.

He was wondering if he should say, or ask, anything.

He watched Jaejoong step out of the shower, hair wet and topless. Sighing, he knew he had to voice out.

“Hey, Jaejoong,” he called out.

Jaejoong turned to face his friend. “What’s up?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Wow, you sound serious,” Jaejoong replied, dragging a chair along the wooden floor of their shared apartment. “Alright, spit it – what’s up?”

Junsu sighed again. “I saw something today,” he began, expression grim. Forcing a smile on, he tried to lighten the atmosphere. “I saw you talking with Taeyeon on the roof… I heard bits of your conversation with her. It sounded interesting.”

Jaejoong’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping. “Well—that—“

“Come on, tell me about it.”

“I—Ah, count yourself lucky for being my best friend.”

Jaejoong went on, much to the hidden chagrin of his best friend, explaining how he fell for Taeyeon after seeing her on his way to the restroom, how he dragged her to the rooftop to confess, how he got rejected, and how he wouldn’t give up.

Junsu extended a hand, drawing an invisible chart in the air. “So… You fell for her, literally.”

“I would prefer it better if you didn’t include the word ‘literally’.”

Junsu chuckled. “Well, what are you going to do now? She did reject you.”

Jaejoong shrugged, waving at the air in front of him. “She rejected me, but it doesn’t mean things won’t change. Feelings can be nurtured.” Winking, he stood up and dragged his chair away, entering his room.

Junsu’s smile faded away. With every second, the momentum was rising, and so was the tension only he felt from this situation.

He didn’t know why he felt this way, but he knew he wasn’t looking at this positively.

Maybe he should’ve voiced out some sort of disapproval.

=/

Yunho gently placed the bag onto the two frail hands of Yoona’s. He marveled at how she still managed to lift the bag up as if there was nothing inside.

“Don’t you think it’s heavy?” he asked, concerned as he watched her lift the bag up.

Yoona winked at him. “Like you said—I’m strong!”

Yunho grinned, happy that she liked his compliment. But inside, he was melting from that wink.

Yoona bit her lower lip when she turned, ready to leave. She glanced at the empty road and turned back to Yunho. “Yunho, can you do me a favor?”

Yunho raised a brow. Asking for a favor was probably what Yoona wouldn’t do, but she just did. He found this odd. “Sure, what is it?”

“I’m sorry for troubling you so much… But can you cross the road with me?”

Yunho’s lips parted as he tried to piece everything together. He felt his heart cracking at the thought of it.

“Of course I can, that’s no problem…” he replied, his voice trembling just a wee bit as he realized what Yoona was implying.

“I’m sorry! My brother usually crosses the road with me, but I think he’s at work today…” her voice faded as a smile slowly crept up to her lips. The thought of her brother usually made her smile.

Yunho nodded, his face vague of expression, though an adamant smile could still be seen. He eventually let himself sink into the surreal feeling of being beside Yoona, and a smile lit up. “Let’s go,” he announced, taking the liberty of picking up her hand.

He was shy, yes; but he felt that having her hand in his would give her more security.

He felt that all she wanted was security.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling as they crossed the road swiftly.

“No problem! You don’t have to keep thanking me; you make me feel shy.”

Yoona laughed and nodded. “Alright.”

As they stood outside the flat where Yoona’s apartment was located, they heard a set of footsteps coming from behind Yoona.

“Yoona!” the man called out.

Yoona turned, a huge but restrained smile lighting up her face. “Oppa!”

The dark-skinned man approached, his well-defined body showing through his collared shirt. Yunho squinted as he tried to make out who he may be.

‘Oppa? Did Yoona call him oppa?’

A dark cloud of dismay appeared above Yunho’s head, until the man finally reached and greeted Yoona.

“Yoona, sorry I’m late.” Turning to Yunho, his eyes narrowed a bit.

Yunho swore he saw his eyes widen with shock for a nanosecond.

“Who is this?” he asked Yoona, his voice faintly defensive.

Yoona giggled. “Oppa, you’re scaring him… This is Yunho, my new friend.”

The man plastered on a stiff smile, somewhat reluctant to even greet Yunho. “Hello, I’m Yoona’s brother, Seulong.”

The smile reappeared on Yunho’s face as he stuck out a hand to greet him. “Hi, nice to meet you.”

Seulong shook his hand. Yunho found him weird, but he was taught since young to never judge people he meets for the first time.

“Oppa, he walked home with me today. He even crossed the road with me because you weren’t here!” Yoona gushed, excited and happy.

Seulong bit the insides of his mouth. “I see,” he responded, voice cold and firm. Turning back to Yunho, he gave a polite nod. “Thank you for taking care of my younger sister.”

Yunho nodded. “It was nothing, really.”

Seulong turned to the building and looked at his watch. “Aish, Yoona, I’ll be late if we don’t hurry back home. Let’s go!” Giving another nod as a farewell to Yunho, he turned towards the direction of the entrance, ready to pull Yoona in.

Yoona smiled and waved at Yunho. “Thanks for today, Yunho! This was a great first day!”

Yunho did the same, smiling and waving. Still smiling, he felt himself melting again as he thought about her face. It was perfect.

Turning away the moment Seulong and Yoona entered the double doors, he felt his mind wavering away.

He couldn’t deny that he was thinking about the strange familiarity he felt from Seulong’s presence. He couldn’t deny that he noticed all of Seulong’s actions. He couldn’t deny that he found his actions peculiar. He couldn’t deny that he found Seulong peculiar.

Most importantly, what was Seulong thinking about when he saw Yunho just now?

Was this even the first time he’s met him?

A call jolted Yunho up from his thoughts.

“Hello?”

“Hello, young master Yunho, second lady is worrying about you because you are not home yet. Do you need the chauffeur?” So it was his butler.

“It’s fine, I’ll get my bike.”

“Second lady also questions why you are not home yet, young master.”

Yunho bit his lower lip, thinking hard for an answer. “I was busy with schoolwork. I’ll go and get my bike now. Bye.” Swiftly hanging up, he looked at his watch.

So this much time had passed while he walked her home. He probably had to run back to school now.

Thinking about how troublesome this was, he felt no need to rant at all. For Yoona, it was worth it.