'She swore at me and called me a 'stupid bastard'! Can you believe that?!' Baekhyun told Minseok what happened between him and Taeyeon.

Their bus ride home was filled with Baekhyun calling Taeyeon crazy and Minseok trying to calm him down. People even started staring at them after Baekhyun's sudden outbursts during his storytelling became continuous.

'Woah.. Kim Taeyeon really has no chill. I've heard that she has a carefree personality but this is just.. wow' Minseok wasn't very good at expressing himself. But he did notice the ahjummas judging them so he told Baekhyun to pipe down.

Minseok lived a few blocks away from Baekhyun. They were close friends and they went home together after school every day without fail. Talk about loyalty. Minseok was one of the few people that could tolerate Baekhyun's personality. He was a great listener and always respected Baekhyun's actions. If Baekhyun wanted to talk in the bus that day, he would listen. If Baekhyun just wanted to play games on his phone the whole time, he'd let him be.

Their classmates used to always tease Minseok and say that he deserved an award for not abandoning Baekhyun, who basically had no other friends. Merry Minseok had loads of buddies, yet he still chose to stick with Baekhyun. Talk about loyalty 2.0.

The bus was about to arrive at the Baekhyun's stop.

'Minseok-ah see you tomorrow!'

'Don't think too much about the fair and focus on tomorrow's test!' Minseok replied, just as Baekhyun was getting up from his seat to alight. Baekhyun nodded his head.

He stood at his bus stop and dramatically stared into the horizon. He pushed his bangs neatly to the side and straightened his shoulders. 

He definitely wasn't going to let some girl ruin his focus and occupy his thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Aishhhh. Why isn't she replying?? At the time when I need her most, she goes MIA.' Taeyeon thought to herself as she stared at phone's screen.

She had just sent Tiffany the full story, through 9 messages. She furiously hit the letters on her screen, her nimble thumbs moving swiftly across the keypad.

Taeyeon was sprawled across her bed as she stared at the screen and impatiently refreshed her chats. Still no reply.

Then a miracle happened in the form of a phone call. The heavens had sent down an angel with a smartphone that came with free outgoing calls. Before the end of the first ring, Taeyeon had already hit the accept button. What followed was a series of screams from the other end of the line.

'TAEYEON-AHHHHHHH! I should have stayed with you after school so I could at least have kicked his . How dare he?! YAH TELL ME YOU GOT A HIGHER PERCENTAGE THAN HIM FOR THE PREVIOUS EXAM!!!!!!'

'I know right!!!!! UGH!! Of all people, why did I have to be paired with him. THERE ARE 50 STUDENTS IN OUR LEVEL. WHY BYUN BAEKHYUN.'

Taeyeon had reached a new low. At first she resorted to kicking her bed to release her anger. But as it dawned upon her that there was no way out of this mess, she slowly began to wrap her perfectly self-manicured fingers around the neck of her stuffed panda toy that she ironically named 'Hippo'. She kept her hands in a locked position for a long time; helplessness and melancholy written on her face.

She actually hated being in arguments and fights with others as it always made her feel uneasy. She would keep thinking about what happened and the guilt would eat her alive. She had tried her best to avoid making enemies throughout her 4 years in high school. She was already doing so well in maintaining happy relationships with her peers. Why did she have to swear at Baekhyun. She should have just swallowed her pride, shut up and gotten the science fair over and done with. But she didn't and there was no turning back. Now she had to prepare herself for phase 2.

'Taeyeon? Taeyeon, are you still there? Hello?'

Tiffany's loud voice blared through the speakers of Taeyeon's phone. Taeyeon was immediately thrown back into reality. For a moment there, she forgot that she was on the phone with Tiffany.

'Yeah I'm still here,' Taeyeon replied, sounding like she was still in a daze.

'Here's the plan. You are going to slay the science fair and prove to Baekhyun that you are far from anything he described. You have to be committed and you have to put your 100% into this, okay? I'm rooting for you, Kim Taeyeon!!!!!'

Tiffany not only played the role of Taeyeon's best friend. She was also her secretary and head cheerleader. By day, she kept Taeyeon in line and helped her figure out her schedule. By night, she cheered Taeyeon on and motivated her to drag her to school the next day. In other words, Tiffany could add 'Batman' to her resume.

'Okay, Taeyeon. Let's show Byun Baekhyun who you really are,' Taeyeon whispered to herself as she clenched her fists and closed her eyes.

A/N : 

Hi everyone!!! Thank you for subscribing to FORCES OF LOVE :) I am so excited and I really appreciate it *bows*

Sorry for the short update :( I've been studying the whole day and I've only had time to post this now (at nearly 1AM) hahhahah. I will post longer and better chapters soon!!

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