Sehun stopped, the music still playing in the background. He was sweating, his hair was damp and he was panting. 

"Dude, how long have you been dancing?" Kim Jongin walked in, yawning. Sehun scowled at his presence. Sure, he and Jongin were friends and all, but he hated how well Jongin danced, how effortless he made it look. Technically, he was competing against Jongin. Competing against every single trainee in the company. Competing to see who would debut first. Sehun sometimes wondered if he'd ever debut at all. He did have a lot of competition. There was Kim Junmyeon, who had already been training for six years, or Kim Jongdae, who could sing ridiculously well. Everyone seemed to have more talent and potential. He often felt overshadowed.

"Long enough." Sehun opened a water bottle and felt the cool liquid run down his throat. Jongin began to pick up where Sehun left off, improvising his own dance. Sehun looked on enviously, watching Jongin dance like it was natural and easy. For every hour Jongin practiced, Sehun would have to practice for three. He had to work much harder. 

He had to work his off if he wanted to catch up to her. To stand beside her. 

It's almost been a year since she made her debut with f(x). A year since she'd left him behind.

He missed her. 

***

"You new here?" she had asked him when she found him all alone in the hallways of the SM building. Sehun was only twelve. He was told to go meet someone in dance studio B. He had managed to get himself lost in the large building. He was far too shy to ask for directions and wandered aimlessly in the halls. After awhile, he gave up and sat curled in the corner by a water fountain. A girl no older than him found him, cooped up all alone. She had straight dark brown hair, with her bangs tied into a small ponytail on her head. She had very delicate and mature features, for a twelve year old at least.

"Are you lost?" she had asked, real concerned. Sehun could only nod. She asked where he needed to be. He told her quietly. 

"Oh, dance studio B? I know where that is!" the girl had grabbed his wrist and pulled him down the hallways. Finally arriving, Sehun saw an impatient lady wearing crimson red lipstick standing in the room, clearly waiting for him. 

"Good luck, new boy!" the girl had smiled a smile so pure, beautiful and bright that it etched itself permanently into Sehun's brain. 

"Thank you." Sehun said quietly and politely. The girl grinned one last time and turned to leave. She paused and turned around. 

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Oh Sehun... You?" 

"Soojung. Jung Soojung!"

***

"Sehun! Hey! Oh Sehun!" 

Sehun had just left the practice room, going to find Luhan. He spotted Soojung, half-hidden behind a vending machine. He trudged up to her, tired. Soojung beamed at him. She was wearing light make up and a track suit. Today was her day off, he supposed.

"What's up, Krystal."

"Call me by my real name. It's weird when you call me by my stage name." Soojung punched him playfully on the arm. Sehun feigned immense pain, clutching his arm and opening his mouth in agony. Soojung rolled her eyes and punched him again, harder this time.

"Fine. What is it?"

"I kind of need a favor." Soojung blushed and pressed her lip into a thin line. Sehun felt his stomach lurch. She was absolutely adorable. No wonder she debuted first. 

"Yeah?" 

"Well, you know how my manager said that I needed to go on a diet?" Soojung fidgeted with her hair.

"I guess?"

"Anyways, I need you to buy me some food... I'm starving." Soojung looked at Sehun apologetically. 

"...What do you want?" Sehun asked suspiciously.

"I've been craving tuna kimbap recently..." Soojung looked at him with hopeful eyes. Sehun thought about it. The kimbap shop was around a five minute walk. In total, he would have to spend ten minutes walking there and back. Not bad.

"Alright, fine." Sehun sighed. Soojung squealed and ruffled his hair excitedly. Although several months younger than him, Soojung often assumed of the role of the older sister, since she joined the company first and frequently had to guide and teach Sehun. 

"Get me five, okay? One for each of the girls." 

"Whatever you say."

"You're honestly the best, Oh Sehun! I love you so much!" Soojung beamed at him and skipped down the hallway. Sehun bit the inside of his cheek as his heart skipped a beat.

***

Soojung sat in dance studio B, her and Sehun's usual meeting spot. It was rarely used, so she and Sehun deemed it "their" spot. They would practice together, talk together or simply sit with each other. Words weren't always needed. They got to the point where they could simply communicate through their eyes. 

Her stomach rumbled. She had been living off of all sorts of greens and dietary foods. She hated it. 

"Here." Soojung's ears perked up as she heard Sehun's voice ring out in the silent room. She stood up excitedly, her hunger driving her crazy. Sehun walked over, swinging the bag around casually. 

"Here." Sehun held out the bag. Soojung reached for it. And missed. Sehun had lifted it over his head and was smiling deviously.

"Hey! Give it!" Soojung jumped to get it, but Sehun lifted the bag even higher with little effort. Soojung stamped her foot and glared at Sehun. When they were younger, she used to be at least half a head taller than Sehun. Lately, however, he had gone through a series of growth spurts and Soojung could only watch helplessly as he began to tower over her. 

"Come on Soojung. You're better than this." Sehun taunted. Soojung grimaced and kicked him in the shin. He groaned in pain and dropped the bag of food. Soojung swiped the bag from the air and stuck her tongue out at Sehun.

"Thanks." She opened the styrofoam container and tried not to drool at the sight of the glorious rolls of rice, seaweed and fish. She popped one in and chewed slowly, savoring the taste. Sehun rolled his eyes and plopped down next to her. He held out his hand.

"Payment please." 

Soojung flicked him in the nose and continued eating. Sehun poked her cheek, causing her to nearly choke. She swallowed and glared at him.

"Hey! What the-" Soojung was cut off by Sehun's lips, closing in on hers tenderly. She didn't even have time to drop the contents of her hands in surprise before he pulled away abruptly. Soojung stared at him, motionless. He looked away and the tip of his ears turned a bright red. He stood up and shoved his hands into her pockets. Soojung still hadn't moved. 

"I'll take that as my payment." Sehun said as he slipped out of the practice room. Soojung sat in the room, mouth gaping and cheeks burning.

What the hell just happened?

***

Soojung sat in the dorm, flipping through the channels of the TV absentmindedly. 

"Hey! Look! It's Chanyeol!" Jinri came into the room, stirring the cream of her yogurt with a small spoon. Soojung tossed the remote onto the coffee table. EXO had officially debuted last week and Soojung hadn't really spoken to Sehun lately. As of right now, Sehun was dancing on stage in these stupidly tight pants. Jinri was singing along to their song. 

"History~" Jinri giggled and spooned a mouthful of yogurt into .

Soojung had heard Sehun dance to this song multiple times in their practice room, but she never went in. She would only watch from outside as Sehun danced until he was soaked in sweat and collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. She would be itching to go in and give him a bottle of water or just to something for him. However, the stupid kiss would haunt her and she would chicken out and walk away. Why did he do that? What the hell was he thinking? Soojung didn't know. she wasn't dense. She and Sehun had known each other a long time. She dismissed the idea that he liked her. That was impossible. How could you suddenly just fall in love with your friend? Soojung didn't understand. She assumed that Sehun had made some stupid dare with his friends.

Ha ha, very funny. 

***

"Man, that was tiring." Baekhyun ran a hand through his hair as he pulled himself into the van. Sehun didn't reply. He still couldn't believe he had debuted. It was an exhilarating. He did it.

He wondered if Soojung was watching.

After he had kissed her, he couldn't bring himself to face her again. It wasn't hard to avoid her. He was busy practicing and she was busy with group promotions. Soojung herself also seemed to be going out of her way to avoid him as well. They were still civil with each other. They would greet each other in the halls and stuff like that, but it just wasn't the same. 

"Sehun, you okay?" Junmyeon patted him on the back. Sehun nodded and swallowed hard. Kyungsoo tossed him a water bottle and he downed half the bottle in one sip. Jongin was already nodding off on Chanyeol's shoulder in the back seat. Sehun's phone sounded loudly, indicating he got a text. Jongin glared at him sleepily before closing his eyes again. 

From: Luhan

Congratulations Sehunnie! :))) So proud of you! You did great on stage! LOL I caught Chanyeol's mistake though. EXO K!!!

Sehun couldn't help but smile. Luhan had the uncanny ability to make Sehun laugh even if he was on the brink of depression. He could see Luhan's smiling face as he typed this text. EXO M was promoting in China, so Sehun couldn't see Luhan much. 

"Is it your boyfriend?" Baekhyun leaned over and peered at Sehun's phone. Sehun shut it off and rolled his eyes.

"Luhan's not my boyfriend." Sehun retorted. He was used to the teasing by now. Luhan was practically his best friend. What's wrong with that? 

"Sure sure." Baekhyun smirked and began to poke fun at the sleeping Jongin. Sehun unraveled his ear buds and stuck them in his ear. The very first song was f(x)'s Danger. He actually wasn't too fond for the song, but anything with any remote relation to Soojung earned itself a spot in Sehun's playlist. He had every single f(x) song there was. He heard they were making a comeback later this year and he wondered what SM had in store for f(x)'s 2012 comeback. Whatever it was, he was excited. He closed his eyes, falling asleep within minutes.

***

Soojung was just about ready to pass out in the practice room. They've done the Electric Shock dance about a million times and she was exhausted. They were shooting the music video tomorrow and their comeback stage was in just over a week. Jinri was chugging water like someone was holding her at gunpoint. Sun-young and Victoria were giggling in the corner about something while Amber was sort of just jumping and twirling around in the practice room. Soojung wiped her forehead with a damp towel. 

"From the top!" Vic ordered, pressing play on the speaker. Soojung groaned and pulled herself off the ground, positioning herself in the circle between Jinri and Amber. 

Finally, practice was over. Soojung' voice was hoarse from singing and her limbs felt like rubber. Her stomach rumbled, begging to be filled. It was just past four as Soojung exited the practice room with Amber. Jinri trailed along behind them, eyes drooping from fatigue. Vic and Sun-young caught up within a few minutes.

"I'm in the mood for chicken." Amber stretched. Soojung's stomach twisted and growled again. She reddened as Jinri giggled. 

"We aren't allowed to eat junk food." Sun-young pouted. Soojung made a face, remembering the weird beef tofu thing they had last night. Soojung barely managed to choke it down. Jinri was sweet enough to sneak her an energy bar when no one was looking. Soojung didn't ask Sehun to sneak her food anymore. It wasn't like she was avoiding him on purpose. Whenever she saw him, her face would flare up and she would feel the urge to hide. Technically, it was all Sehun's fault. If he hadn't kissed her, she wouldn't feel to confused and frustrated.

"Ah! Chanyeol!" Jinri called out. Across the hall, EXO K was making their way down the hall in a tight herd. Chanyeol grinned as Jinri came running down the hall to greet him. The two were close, like "siblings", as Jinri had whined when the girls about their relationship. Soojung saw Sehun and stiffened. She couldn't exactly leave, so she ducked behind Amber. It was a hassle that the f(x) and EXO dorms were not far from each other. They would often run into each other at places like the convenience store or when they were making their way to the SM Ent. Studios in the morning. 

"You guys wanna go out and eat? Grab some take out and eat here?" Chanyeol asked the group of now eleven people. 

Soojung shifted a bit, thinking about having dinner with the guys. Pros: They could eat whatever they wanted and say that it was a friendly dinner with another group. Cons: Sehun would be there. Before Soojung could so much as move a muscle, everyone agreed eagerly.

Sehun saw Soojung freeze as they made eye contact. Although he in no way regretted kissing her, because if he had another chance, then he would most definetely do it again, he hated seeing her avoid him. He's noticed it for awhile now, the way she would squirm if he was anywhere within eyesight. He hated it.

Chanyeol and Jinri were already walking, chattering happily about nonsense. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo soon followed, with Baekhyun poking Kyungsoo in the shoulder repeatedly. Sehun was pretty sure Kyungsoo was going to lose it any minute. He was never really patient with bubbly and somewhat annoying Baekhyun. Junmyeon seemed to have caught the menacing glint in Kyungsoo's eyes, because he caught up to the pair immediately and threw an arm over Baekhyun's shoulder and dragged him at least two feet away from a glowering Kyungsoo. Amber and Sunyoung walked on ahead, following Jinri, who was now far along down the hall. 

"Song Qian!" Victoria turned around, not used to hearing her Chiense name being called. Zhoumi stood beside the water fountain and motioned her to over. Vic patted Soojung on the shoulder and went to talk to Zhoumi. Soojung stood in the hall awkwardly with Jongin and Sehun. She was awkward with Sehun for obvious reasons while she just didn't know Jongin that well. 

"Let's go, Jongin." Sehun said briskly. Soojung was clearly uncomfortable with his presence and he didn't want to trouble her any further. Jongin looked a bit confused, as if he were watching his parents giving each other the silent treatment. He looked over at Soojung, who hadn't moved an inch. 

"Krystal, is it?" Jongin asked tentatively.

"Soojung. People call me Soojung." Soojung corrected. She generally prefered being called by her Korean name rather than her English name. Jongin nodded a bit.

"Alright... Soojung. You want to come with us or wait for Victoria?" Jongin asked politely. Soojung glanced at Vic, who was speaking rapid fire Mandarin with Zhoumi. This conversation wasn't going to end anytime soon.

"Uh... Sure I'll come." Soojung shrugged a bit and began to walk down the hall. Sehun and Jongin walked beside her.

The silence was suffocating. 

"So... Jongin, I heard you danced to Hot Summer on a dare. Apparently, you were pretty into it." Soojung wanted to break the silence. What better way than to bring up an embarassing story?

"Wait... Did Suho tell you that?" Jongin asked suspiciously and his