“Tell me a bit about yourself,” Taeyeon smiled at Jonghyun as they sat on her bed, swinging their legs over the edge onto open air. She was enjoying this quiet time that she got to spend with Jonghyun- being near him made her feel relaxed, comfortable, and happy. And he was the first person to actually approach her and talk. In a sad but joyful way, he was her first friend since basically… middle school.

Oh man. That was one the most dreadful time period in her life after Seohyun had left.

“Taeyeon?”

Jonghyun’s hesitant but soft voice drew her out of her thoughts and she blinked, returning once more to the familiar surroundings of her room.

“Ah. Sorry.” She had totally drifted off in to la-la land.

“Are okay? You seemed kinda upset for a moment there.” His hand reached out and poked her in the cheek, startling her with his sudden movement. Her eyes met his and he broke out into a goofy grin.

She couldn’t help but allow her lips to curve upward with humor lighting her eyes for a split moment before returning back to her serious, sorrow filled face. “I was thinking about middle school and how horrible those years were.”

“Why?” Grabbing her pillow, he huddled with it against the way quite comfortably, settling down as if to prepare himself to listen to a bedtime story.

“Guys,” she rolled her eyes.

“In middle school?” Jonghyun knew that Taeyeon was pretty and that most guys were most likely attracted to her (and were thrown off by the intimidating aura that seemed to float around her), but for serious male drama in her life at that young age… He scooted a foot closer to her and laid his head down on the pillow that had been placed on his knees, peering up at her with his large puppy-dog eyes.

“I was extremely social back then. I twirled around the school and was friends with basically every single student, even the younger kids.” She broke off her story slightly by turning to the side and muttering, “Kinda unbelievable, seeing how I am now,” and then returned to her story. “I was really popular with the guys, especially the sunbaes. There was one guy, however, who made my life miserable. Well, I guess he didn’t make me miserable- his female fans did. He was Yonghwa’s best friend back then and the two of them ruled the school, kind of like the way you three rule our school now. For some reason this kid really liked me and talked to me all the time, even going out of his way to say hi. Of course, the other girls got jealous and this whole drama erupted…”

She shook her head as she reminisced. “Two girls in particular were the worst- they would elbow the other girls on and before I knew it, I went from being the most popular girl to being the most loathed girl. Those two girls, Jessica and Yujin, destroyed me. They made my life hell. Every single day there was a surprise waiting for me. Yonghwa and his friend tried to help me, but in a way that made everything worse because that made Jessica and Yujin even more jealous and fueled their hatred. The sad thing was that those two girls were the people who I thought were my best friends. Turns out they were friends with me only because I was popular with the guys… I’m just extremely glad those days are over and that they don’t go to our school.”

The whole time as Taeyeon recounted her memories, Jonghyun had been silent. Now he watched as Taeyeon grabbed her other pillow and bury her face into it without making a sound.

“You know, you seem to give off this air about you that makes you seem rather unapproachable,” he ventured forth, choosing his words carefully.

She nodded into her pillow.

“Is it because you don’t really trust people anymore?”

She nodded again.

Jonghyun furrowed his eyebrows, a strange sadness building up inside of him. So Taeyeon used to be this really bubbly and outgoing girl, the girl he had imagined her to be, once upon a time. Then these two “best friends” of hers went and stabbed her back, these two “Jessica” and “Yujin” girls.

His head tilted to the side as he inhaled a sharp breath. Yujin. Oh. Crap. Shaking his head rather desperately, he threw the thought away, though it came back moments later. Yujin. “What middle school did you go to?”

“Hwawon,” came her mumbled reply.

Jonghyun’s head snapped backwards as he leaned back and uttered a noiseless sigh, closing his eyes with disbelief. It was definitely her, then. The girl he tried so hard to forget. Now he understood Taeyeon’s feeling of betrayal more clearly, since they could both relate to the same exact person.

Yujin was his ex-girlfriend. He hadn’t dated anyone in the past two years.

He also could sharply feel Taeyeon’s feelings of distrust.

Ever since that day Jonghyun caught Yujin making out with her other boyfriend at a club, Jonghyun couldn’t ever really open himself up to another girl. He kept his heart bottled away, locked tight in a sea chest lost at sea, never to be found again. Until he met Taeyeon, that is. Taeyeon, this silly, clumsy, innocent girl who was finding ways to melt the ice bastion he had constructed around his heart.

It was truly unbelievable how small the world was.

“Did you know,” Jonghyun wanted to laugh but felt too miserable to do so, “Did you know…”

Taeyeon’s head slowly lifted and he could see the faint glistening reappearing on her cheek.

“Yujin is my ex-girlfriend?” He seriously wanted to laugh. Why he ever dated such a fake, double-faced, lying, was out of his mind. He wanted to zip back in time and shake the Jonghyun of two years ago so hard that he would spontaneously combust and never have had to go through that torturous pain.

“What?”

“She’s my ex. We dated for a year.” Jonghyun shook his head, an unbelieving, sarcastic smile lining his mouth. “I caught her cheating.”

“Oh.”

The pain felt too real.

To his surprise, he felt Taeyeon’s hands wrapping around him as her hand gently patted his head. He leaned his head in the space above her chest and listened to her calm and caring heartbeat.

He had always imagined that he would be the one who drew a woman into his arms, offering her comfort. Now it was the other way around. It wasn’t weird. It wasn’t awkward. It felt… normal. It felt right.

They sat there in the dark, in her room, on her bed, in silence, no romantic thoughts whatsoever, just the thought of being able to be there for each other when it mattered.

They sat like that in peace.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

A/N: Aw, Jonghyun & Taeyeon are cute.

I like how they're sitting there, on her bed, in the dark, hugging each other & it's not  with romantic/love interests.

They're just telling each other that they'll be there for each other.

<3

Tomorrow's finally my rescheduled Driving Test! GAH. IM NERVOUS LOL.

& the Next Chapter, which-I-can-hopefully-get-done-today-but-might-not-be-able-to-since-I-haven't-started-my-homework-yet, will be about...

DRUMROLLPLEASE!

Of course. The YONGSEO COUPLE [who's not a couple yet in this story but still]!

Thank you for taking the time to read this! <3

rocket_star [block]  on 10-26-2011 07:35:12 says: x
oh finally they had to face each other!! cant wait!!! update soon!!

Hehe, not in this chapter! But it's coming up in the next one (: 
IDK how I''m going to make them react to each other O_o

hiko27 [block]  on 10-25-2011 22:43:00 says: x
Well it's true right? xDDD She just became cooler ;) But now, Yonghwa's gotta step it up if he wants to end up with her lolololol

Yes you did ;) I comment a lot when I like a story.

So wait... Wait whut?! How can you graduate early even though you're a junior? O.O I'm confused now lololol you graduate when you're a senior... right? hahahahaha well, I know I'll miss high school when I graduate ;) I'm going to cry during graduation, that's a sure depending on where I go to college.

Lolololol hi-yo? that sounds weird xDDDD 안녕 동생! :D

Forreal, right? Yonghwa.. Man. What girl is gonna date a guy who's strong, but still weaker than her? ;P 
LOL. If that ^ was true.. Seohyun wouldn't really be able to date anyone.. 

YAAY :D 

I'll graduate when I'm a senior like normal. It's just that my sophomore&junior years got smushed into one. 
I'M GOING TO CRY SO HARD >< 
I'm most likely going to UT Austin [University of Texas] since I know people there, but still.. IMMA CRY. LIKE A BIG BABY <3

I can't read korean :[ Even though I'm in the middle of learning [: 
One day I'll be able to read that. AH WAIT! THAT SAYS ANNEONG. & something.. ^^ 

안녕HASEYO! SUNBAE-NIM! [Is that right? D:]

lingericious [block]  on 10-25-2011 22:22:33 says: 

And Taeyeon is also quite cutely slow... She thought that Jonghyun did not know she is the stepsister of Yonghwa. However, she never realized that she brought him to HER house, and he was not surprised that she is staying in the same house as Yonghwa... Haha.

It seems really easy for Jonghyun since Seohyun kind of indirectly helped him get rid of all his rivals... Haha.

He wasn't surprised since he already knew, but Man. Taeyeon had a slight blonde moment there. [No offense to blonde people!]

I actually think that Seohyun might like Jonghyun once she gets to know him. *coughcough once she gets to know him coughcough*

lingericious [block]  on 10-25-2011 22:19:23 says: 

SEOHYUN IS SO COOL HERE. She settled the drunkards AND reached home within 5 minutes! Faints~ She is a supergirl! Kind of explains why she is the "leader" and why no one messes around with her school... And I love how she has the "Taeyeon's-in-trouble radar". XD

And I also love how even though Jonghyun is the romantic idol in school, he is kind of slow when it comes to Taeyeon. Haha.

So Nichkhun is the main rival for Yonghwa, am I right? What about Jonghyun? XD

And I noticed you added Minhyuk in the tag, but not Jonghyun, yet now it seems that Jonghyun is more of the main four... XD

She's amazing! I wish I had her skills! & Yup, her little radar ^^ 

He's dubbed as the RomanticIdol because he treats girls really nicely & seems like he's really romantic [which he is, though he hasn't been one for about two years now]. HE'S STARTING TO LIKE TAEYEON ~~~ ^^ Hehe They're so CUTE! 

It's a secret [;

LOL. Yeah, originally Minhyuk was going to be the one who's all involved with Taeyeon.. but I decided that I should use Jonghyun, who isn't my bias. [My CNBLUE biases: Yonghwa & Minhyuk]. *nodnod. (: