Timeless - Chapter 6

Chapter Six

“OMO!!!!!!!” I screamed into the phone for the sixth time as Poppy was describing her wonderful last night.

She rang me at 11 in the morning when I was still asleep, I cussed, thinking who would be disturbing me in the middle of the night, I’m so gonna bite him/her to death. I fumbled around the sheets to look for my phone and flipped it.

“uhhro.” I mumbled.

“WAKE UP YOU! IMMATELLYOUMYFANTASTICNIGHTITWASSOAWESOMEAWESOMEAWESOMEICANDIEHAPPY!” She gushed into the phone. 

“Er-.”

“ITELLYOUITELLYOUITELLYOUIMETTHEMOSTHANDSOMESTGUYEVEROMOHEWASSOCUTESOADORABLESO-.”

“HELLO?” I shouted to the other side of the phone.

“Huh?? Are you listening?”

“I’m trying, but the human ear can only receive that many words at a time ya know, try again in English?” I replied groggily.

“Oh. Okay.” She said in a small voice. I can just see her shoulders shrugging. “Where was I?”

“You can die happy?” I said helpfully.

“YES I CAN! I SO CAN! I MET THE CUTEST GUY LAST NIGHT!” Her excitement flowed through the phone into my ear, loud.

“So go die. I need my sleep.” I held the phone away from my ear and proceeded to flip it close.

“No no no no no !!!” She yelled, as if trying to prevent me from hanging up. I put the phone back to my ear.

“THE BEST PART IS YET TO COME!” Her voice deafening my ear. “GUESS WHO I SAW LAST NIGHT!” She said quickly, attempted to get me excited. But who will get excited in the middle of the night. I glanced at the clock at the side of my bed. 11.20am.

I sighed, “Santa Claus?”

“BETTER!!”

“His reindeers?” I replied in a bored voice.

“No, pabo!” Giving up with my answers, she yelled again. “IT’S YOUR MAN AT THE MALL!”

“Who?” I arched my eyebrow, mystified.

“THE ONE YOU BUMPED INTO, STUPID!”

“OMO! YOU SERIOUS? WHY IS HE THERE?” I jumped at sat straight on my bed, clutching my phone like it held the answers to the greatest mysteries in life.

Poppy chuckled, delighted to get hold of my attention at last. I take back my words just now. I am excited like fuck. Poppy continued to pour her story on me.

“So they were like, walked towards us and introduced themselves, and then they asked us to dance!”

“MY GUY ASKED YOU TO DANCE? AND YOU ACCEPTED? ” The jealousy inside me flared up. I am going to kill-

“Calm down bitch, I was asked by his friend.” Her voice giddy when it reached “his friend.” My nerves immediately obeyed.

“So who did he asked?” Determined not to change the topic.

“Um- Don’t you wanna know his name? and his profile?” Poppy stopped, hiding the guilt in her voice.

“Ohhhh yess, tell me quick!” I can almost hear the relief in her voice as she thought she had successfully 

distracted me, from asking that question. Something is not right… I decided to push that aside first. Important issues first. Yum. I licked my lips.

“His name is Jung Yun Ho, he’s from Myeonji High School.” Ignoring my continuously high pitched “OMOs!” “JUNG YUN HO!” “MYEONJI HIGH SCHOOL!” She paused.

“That’s it?”

“Yep.”

“WHAT? YOU HAVE THE WHOLE NIGHT TO ASK AND YOU JUST GOT THIS INFO?” I basically yelled.

“Well, I have to enjoy my night with my guy you know.” Her voice annoyed but giddy at the end. “I’m not there to be your stupid spy, it’s not like I know he was going to be there.”

“Jung Yun Ho…OMO you didn’t even ask for his phone number?” I asked hopefully.

“That, you have to ask Sunny, she was dancing with him.” She let slipped.

“OMO, WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

“No, no, no… ” She fumbled over her words, but I don’t need to hear her explanation.

“Aish” and I hung up.

Deep breathes, deep breathes. Inhaled, exhaled.  Fuck. Jung Yun Ho. I tasted his name on my lips, yum, delicious. I thought about his beautiful eyes, his thick eyebrows, his oddly shaped lips, his strong abs, the way he scooped me up at the mall, the way he put ice on my forehead… the way he held Sunny as they danced. Heat shot through my veins, and a violent hatred nearly choked me.

The phone rang and vibrated, took me by surprise. I jumped violently, fumbled through the sheets once again. It wasn’t under the sheets. Nevermind, I thought.

“Shut up” I mumbled at the ringing phone, wherever it was. The ringing stop.

“Ha-ha.” I laughed wryly, not amazed by my psychic powers. I buried deep into my blanket once more and tried to sleep. My mind refused to relax. It thinks too much for its own good.

The phone missing in sight rang again shrilly. I threw a pillow randomly. It hit something by the table and a thud sound was heard. That something hit the floor.

It was my phone.

“What a bad morning.” I blearily picked it up and flipped it open.

“Say.” I was not in the mood for manners.

“Are you still sleeping? Gosh! What time is it?” A different voice from Poppy spoke. It was hard to  distinguish the voices when my mind is all concentrated on one thing, or rather,  one man to be precise. Jung Yun Ho.

“Yun Ho…” Was all I can say. The vocabs are all erased. I just got brainwashed by Jung Yun Ho. My brain only stored this one name and refused to accept the other horrible words, like Sunny.

Sunny.

“Wake up and hear my incredible tale about last night!” Sunny’s voice whined into the phone

My nostrils flared. I waited a moment to answer, reining in the anger that I’d never quite gotten used to.

“Your incredible tale?” I repeated dumbly.

“Yep” Her voice was exactly the same as Poppy, giddy, about to explode.

“Your incredible tale with Jung Yun Ho?” I added.

“Eh? How did you know about him?” She ignored my anger, or maybe she was oblivious about it.

The anger tightened my throat.

I ignored her question. “With MY Jung Yun Ho?” I emphasized on the word “MY”

She ignored my anger once again, and considered the question thoughtfully.

“Actually, I just danced one song with him. I changed partner afterwards.”

I didn’t move as her words sank in, She didn’t seem to notice that I didn’t respond.

“He is soooo adorable, his name is Shim Chang Min. Study at the same school with that guy Jung Yun Ho and Poppy’s partner, Kim Junsu. He’s younger than his mates though. But I don’t mind.”

I nodded numbly.

“Oh, don’t you wanna know about your guy?” Sunny was annoyed with this one-sided conversation.

I nodded numbly again.

“Yun Ho…” I finally said. I can see Sunny rolling her eyes at the other side of the phone.

“I meant, yes. Tell me.” It took every effort in my brain to force out these words.

“Hmm, guessed you know about his profile from Poppy.” She paused, thinking.

“He… asked about you.” Sunny said slowly, waiting for my response.

“He…” I paused, “He asked about me?” I asked weakly.

“Yeah, he asked about you while we danced, I can see he’s interested in you.”

“Yun Ho… interested in me?” Giddiness took over me. I started giggling.

“And I was so annoyed, I wanted to dance, but I didn’t expect it to be a questionnaire.” She complained.

I continued to giggle.

“Aish, stop it. But he introduced me to Chang Min though, guess he’s an okay guy…” I twitched at the “okay” word. He’s a wonderful guy, not just okay!

“So tell me about Chang Min, and that Kim Junsu.” I was floating with happiness, eager to gossip. And we chatted till morning.

Tri-Angle - Seven

Seven

“ How are you going back home?” Yunho asked when he walked me to meet Sun after school.

“ Cycle.” I grinned. “ With Sun and Changmin.”

“ Oh?” He looked at me surprisingly. “ So your houses are near to each other?”

“ Sort of. We cycle to school and back home together every day.” I replied.

“ Wow, you guys must be really closed.” He smiled a warm smile.

“ Yeah, we knew each other since we were kids.” I announced proudly. “ We used to hang out with each other a lot. Changmin is a very nice guy, he always take cares of us.”

“ Sounds good.” He beamed.

“ He’s more like a big brother to us.” I added quickly.

Geez, I don’t want my prince to misunderstand anything. Plus, we’re having our first date today right? It is a first date to me. I don’t care, it counts, and I’m not going to spoil it.

Changmin and Sun were already waiting for me at the front gate with their bikes beside them. I hurried over to get my bike and joined them.

“ Hey.” Yunho waved at them.

“ Hey there.” Sun and Changmin smiled at him.

“ How are you going back?” Sun asked.

“ By car.” He glanced around and said “ My driver should be here by now –“

Driver? The three of us looked at him with an astonished expression.

Just then, a shiny silver Mercedes Benz pulled up right in front of us.

“ Oh here he is.” Yunho grinned.

A man dressed formally with a peaked cap came down from the driver seat and went to hold the back door open for Yunho.

“ Got to go. See you at three o’clock sharp later.” Yunho winked at me. “ Bye guys.”

He waved at us and stepped into the car. His driver closed the door for him and went back to his seat. Changmin was the only one who waved back. Sun and I continue to gawk at the car until it drove away and disappear into a corner.

“ Wow” Sun choked out a minute later.

“ Wow” I echoed.

“ Awesome eh? Good looking and wealthy. Every girls dream man.” Changmin spoke behind us.

Sun and I nodded dumbly.

Wait, I’m forgetting something.

“ HEY!” I gasped and spun around. “ Let’s go ! I’m going to be late!” I said anxiously while getting on my bike. I started to cycle away immediately.

“ Late for what?” Sun shouted behind me.

“ My date !” I shout back. “ I mean - my appointment ! As Yunho’s tour guide !”

“ But do you have to cycle so fast? You’re riding a bicycle ! Not a motorbike !” Sun shouted again and I heard Changmin laugh. I ignored them and continue to cycle at full speed. I turned around to look at them when I reached my house, but they were nowhere to be seen. Okay, so I did cycled really fast. Anyway, I don’t have time to worry about them now. I left my bike aside and went for the keys. I kicked my shoes off and stumbled into the house to find April licking my feet.

“ Hey April. I don’t have time to mess with you now.” I said, throwing my keys on the table and ran to my room. I took out my contact lens and went for a hot shower. I cleaned my face, washed my hair with my favourite shampoo while I planned our date. First of all, we’ll go to the beach. We’ll have a walk at the beach and then we’ll play water! We’ll splash water at each other and I’ll wipe his face dry with a tissue when we’re leaving. He’ll think that I’m so caring and sweet! Then, we’ll head downtown. We’ll go to the mall and I’ll pass by some restaurant and claim that is my favorite restaurant. Then, he will ask me for dinner and fetch me home. When he is about to leave, he will give me a goodbye kiss. And there goes my romantic and perfect date!

I sang happily and dried myself when I’m done. I wrapped my towel around me while I headed towards my wardrobe.

“ What should I wear?” I thought. I went through all my clothes and tried on a few. Not this, not this, not this either. I kept on digging out my clothes until my bed is fully covered up with clothes.

“ Why don’t I have something elegant to wear? “ I screamed in frustration after fifteen minutes of cloth picking and jumped into the piles of clothes on my bed. I took a glance at the clock on my dressing table. It reads two thirty. Oh my God ! I jumped up in shock. I am going to be late ! I quickly grab a T-shirt with a pink bunny picture in front of it and slid into a pair of skinny jeans. Then, I wore my grey contact lens and put on new make ups. I was combing my hair when suddenly the door bell rang.

Shit ! He’s here. It was only two fifty. I haven’t packed my stuffs yet. I ran down the stairs and went for the door.

“Hi.” Yunho greeted me. He was standing in front of my house gate with a shiny silver Mercedes Benz behind him. He wore a pair of jeans and a black coloured T-shirt. The muscles around his arm are clearly to be seen and he looked really fit and hot, very distractingly handsome too.

“ Hi. I err – “ I gulped. “ You’re early.”

“ Yeah, I thought it would be better if I’m the one who waits. Guys shouldn’t keep girls from waiting.” He smiled and winked.

Aww, he’s such a gentleman. “ I’m almost done. I’ll just have to grab my bag. Do you want to come in?” I asked.

“ It’s okay. I’ll wait in the car. You don’t have to rush.” He beamed.

“ Okay… Be right back.” I hurried back into my room to pack my stuffs. Purse, mobile, mascara, eyeliner, mirror . I threw them all into my bag and checked myself in the mirror for the last time before going down. After wearing a pair of high heels, I went out of the house. Yunho came down from the back of the car and held the door for me.

“ Sorry for waiting.” I squeaked nervously.

“ It’s okay.” He smiled and bowed down, gesturing one hand to the car. “ Please, princess.”

I laughed and climbed into the plushy leather seats, followed by Yunho. The door closes with an expensive clunk before the driver spoke.

“ Where to go young master?”

Yunho turned to look at me. “ Any nice places around?”

“ Umm… the beach?” I suggested, going on with my plan.

“ Sure. Please lead the way ma’am.” He snorted a laugh.

“ Yahh.” I smacked him playfully on the arm. I started giving directions to his driver while we purr away.

***

“ Here we are !” I said cheerfully as soon as we got down the car.

I skipped happily towards the beach. The sun felt so warm against my skin, the air blowing on my face was wet and cool. I stretched my arms, closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I can taste the salt in the air.

“ Wow. The scenery here is very nice.” Yunho spoke beside me.

I opened my eyes and turned to look at him. “ It sure is. Do you like it?”

“ Yes.” He smiled. “ Shall we have a walk?”

“ Sure.” Yes, this is how it’s gonna be.

“ Do you come here often?” He asked when we were strolling down the beach.

“ Not really, but I do like the beach very much.” I said.

We continued to talk as we watched the waves crest and crash over the other from the shore. There were some kids running around, splashing water at each other. Time for water splashing, I thought happily.

“ Maybe we should play with the wa–“ I turned to look at Yunho but he was walking away. “ Yunho?” I followed him to see that he was approaching a little girl who was sitting on the beach alone, sobbing.

“ Why are you crying?” He asked with concern when he neared her.

“I – I can’t build my sandcastle.” She cried. “ It kept collapsing.”

“ Oh, don’t cry. Oppa will help you okay?” He smiled. “ C’mon. You can’t build a sandcastle with dry sand.” He took her hand and stood up slowly.

Crap. Building sandcastles? This wasn’t part of my plan.

The little girl wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and looked at Yunho. “ You will build a sandcastle for me?” She sniffed.

“ Yes, I promise.” He assured her. “ If you’ll stop crying.”

“ Yeah, Oppa keeps his promises.” I handed the little girl a piece of tissue and smiled her an encouraging smile. “ Unnie will help you too.”

She took the tissue hesitantly and said “ I want a big one.” She pouted.

Yunho chuckled. “ Okay.” He led her nearer to the sea, where the sands are wet and much stickier.

“ We’ll make it here okay?” He asked her.

She nodded excitedly.

“ So, we’ll start with the base.” Yunho started pushing the sands into a circular shape. Then, he started molding it into a more recognizable wall shape.

“ It’s not collapsing ! It’s not collapsing !” The little girl squealed happily. “ I want another tower here, and this middle tower to be really tall !” She started giving instructions to Yunho.

“ Okay, okay. We’ll do it slowly okay?” Yunho laughed.

Plan A is ruined. I sighed and turned to see a little seashell lying beside my feet. I picked it up and handed it to the little girl.

“ How about some seashells for decoration?” I asked her.

“ Yes !” She clapped her hand and laughed a tinkling laugh.

“ So why don’t you help unnie to look for some really pretty seashells while I build up your beautiful castle for you?” Yunho smiled at her.

“ Sure. Come unnie, I’ll help you.” She tugged my shirt slightly, signaling me to follow her.

“ What’s your name?” I asked her when we were picking up seashells around the shore.

“ Hyo.” She replied, smiling happily. She had a really pretty smile.

“ That’s cute.” I said while picking up more seashells, I’ll remember that. “ I think these are enough, we should take it back to Yunho oppa now.”

“ Okay.” She cheered happily and skidded back to where Yunho was.

Yunho was piling up more and more sands to make the sandcastle taller. Now, the sandcastle was huge. The middle sand tower was taller than the others surrounding it just as Hyo asked for.

“ Wow. It’s very pretty.” Hyo jumped happily around.

“ Glad you like it. Now you can decorate it the way you want.” Yunho grinned.

Hyo started decorating the castle with the seashells we found.

“ It’s done !” She held her hands up and shouted.

“ Wow. Your castle is magnificent.” Yunho said.

“ Thank you.” She laughed happily.

“ We should be going by now. Nice to meet you, Hyo.” Yunho patted her head.

“ Thank you, oppa and unnie. I like my castle very much.” She gave us both a hug.

“ You’re welcome. See you, Hyo.” I hugged her back.

Then, the both of us headed back to Yunho’s car. Yunho turned to waved at her and saw that many kids were surrounding her and her sandcastle.

“ Your sandcastle is very beautiful. Can we join you to play with it?” A kid asked.

“ Thank you. A oppa and unnie helped me with it. Sure you can.” She smiled back and waved at us.

“ It’s good that she made friends and share her sandcastle with others.” Yunho said.

“ Yeah. You seem to like kids very much.” I took a glance at him.

“ I do. I think they are all very cute and innocent.” He sighed. “ You don’t like kids?”

“Oh ! Of course I do.” I lied.

Well, it’s not a total lie. I do like kids, but not all of them. Apparently, I like three years old kids, only. And I definitely hate babies.

“ So where are we going next?” Yunho asked.

“ Huh? Oh. Let’s go downtown.” I said.

“ Okay. We’ll head downtown.” He told his driver as soon as we got into the car.

Yay, move on to plan B.

***

Yunho told his driver to leave when we reached our destination. We visited a lot of tourism places around the town. Yunho seemed to be enjoying the tour, but I wasn’t paying much attention to our surroundings. I kept glancing at my watch to check if it’s time for dinner. Finally, it’s six o’clock in the evening.

“ Wow, it’s six o’ clock already.” I said.

Yunho took a glance at his own watch and said “ Wow, it’s so late already. Do you want to go home?” He asked.

What? Go home?

“ Nononononono.” I started.

Shit. “ I mean – Can we eat something before we go?” I prompted more calmly.

He looked at me for a second. “ Well, if you don’t mind, we can have dinner –“

“ Sure!” I cut him off before I can stop myself.

“ Let’s go then.” He said. His mouth twitched into a smile but he tried to fight it back.

I jumped in excitement when he turned around. Yes ! We’re going for a romantic candlelight dinner. I couldn’t help but giggle silently and hurried to catch up with him.

Timeless - Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Sunny looked at Junsu and Poppy, they were laughing all the time, “They seems to be having fun.” Yun Ho saw her looking at them, and said. Sunny was startled by his sudden response. But she replied, “Yeah, Poppy’s a real laugh. People get along with her very easily.” Yun Ho chuckled, 

“That’s good then, Junsu is kind of a shy guy, doesn’t talk much either. I’m glad he asked Poppy to dance.”

“Hmm… so you guys are best mate? Where’re you from?”

“Yeah, we are. Practically inseparable.” His reply earned a sunshine laugh from Sunny.

“We’re from Myeongji High School.” He continued.

Sunny and Yun Ho talked while they danced.

“By the way, I didn’t expect to see you both here, you two are graduated seniors?” Yun Ho asked.

“Nah, we haven’t graduated yet, we’re here just to have fun.” Sunny winked at him.

“Phew, I thought you guys are older than us.” Yun Ho grinned, he paused for a second and then his expression turned shy and sheepish. Sunny tilted her head slightly, surprised at his expression.

“Err, is your friend here, somehow? “  Sunny arched her left eyebrow, not understanding his question.

“I mean… your friend? Who bumped into me at the mall?” He blushed.

“OMO, he actually blushed, how cute.” Sunny looked at his slightly pink cheek.

“No, she didn’t want to come....” Sunny trailed off looking at his expression, he looked disappointed…and yet relieved? Sunny couldn’t tell. “…But she’s coming next year though.” She added. Yun Ho nodded, changing expression every now and then. Now his face is unreadable.

“Why’d you asked? You fancied her?” Sunny asked with a amused expression. Yun Ho blushed again.

“Just wondering.” He answered with a embarrassed smile. “Can you…possibly tell me her name?”

“Bunny.”

Yun ho looked carefully at her at nodded slowly. “U-huh…cute.” Then he filled her with other questions about Bunny.

 Suddenly an awful uneasiness crept into Sunny’s head. This Yun Ho guy hadn’t really wanted to dance with her – not for her own sake. He just wanted to know about Bunny! This wasn’t a romantic dance. She wasn’t being wooed – she was being grilled.

Five minutes ago, Sunny had been in agony about not having a dance partner. But at least she had comforted herself with the thought that she was now dancing with a hot guy. The comfort had seemed rather faint and remote. But at least it had been there. Now, that idea had gone up in smoke.

The number ended. She retreated back in the direction of the punch table. She needed a drink dreadfully. However, Yun Ho was following her.

“Any more questions about Bunny?” She had filled her glass with punch and turned around to face Yun Ho. “One more question, I will dump this drink on him.” She thought, irritated.

Yun Ho’s expression turned into bewilderedness. Sensing her irritation, he drew back a little.

“What’s with you?” he asked, “We were having fun just now, at least I thought we were.” He said warily.

Sunny couldn’t answer him. She couldn’t just say, “I’m your dance partner and you was there, going on and on about Bunny.” It wasn’t jealousy, it wasn’t anything. She doesn’t fancy this guy. Speaking of fancy, she sneaked a glance at the DJ again. She sighed, “Nothing, I’m just tired.” She sipped her drink, and forced a smile at him. At the very moment when Sunny was poised to  start hating Bunny just a little bit for ruining her night, Yun Ho seized her wrist and start walking to where the DJ stood, he was observing the dance floor, headphones on his ears.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sunny struggled but he gripped harder. 

“It hurts!” She hissed. “Trust me, you won’t regret this.” Yun Ho winked at her. 

“No,” stammered Sunny, but she stopped struggling after seeing Yun Ho’s wink and followed him groggily.

“How you doing man!” Yun Ho slapped the back of the DJ. He turned around and eyebrows shot up in recognition. He knocked fist with Yun Ho, and shrugged, “You know, doing what a DJ should do, maintaining the vibe.”  He noticed Sunny, who was staring at his keyboard interestingly. “And who’s this, your date?” He nodded at Sunny, acknowledging her. Sunny looked at Yun Ho expectantly.

“Uh..Sunny, this is Chang Min…Chang Min, Sunny.” Yun Ho did the introductions, waving his hands around. Yun Ho put his hands around Sunny and pushed her forward, “and no, she’s not my date. I came here to introduce her to you.” He grinned at Chang Min.

Sunny widen her eyes, “C’mon, go dance with her.” Yun Ho winked at Sunny again. “But what about this, Chang Min took off his headphones, pointed at the keyboard and stuff.

“You need a break, I’ll take over.” He gave a push to Chang Min. Chang Min stumbled forward, almost knocking over Sunny.

“Uhh…if you insist…” Chang Min scratched his head and collected himself in a charming way. He held up his hand.

“Do you mind?” He bowed at Sunny like a real gentleman. Sunny placed her hand on his wordlessly and the two of them stride to the dance floor in sync.

“Why did he introduce me to him? Did he know I fancy him?” Sunny thought worriedly, arms around Chang Min. She took a peek at Yun Ho, and he gave her a thumb up. “Maybe he’s an observant guy.” She smiled in return. And she danced with Chang Min blissfully, who was no doubt a good dancer, and smile often.

***

On the other side, Junsu and Poppy had taken a break from dancing; Junsu led her to a table and told her he would be back with drinks. Poppy spotted Sunny dancing with an unknown guy. She raised her eyebrows questioningly at Sunny, who gave a smile that said, “I will explain later.” And disappear to the other side of the hall. Junsu came back with drinks on each hand. Poppy expressed gratitude. As they talked, Poppy was only half listening. She was very distracted by his handsome face. Sometimes, when he smiled, she managed to drag the corners of her mouth upwards in response. He has a cute, slow, slant smile that could defrost Antarctica.

Junsu looked up suddenly and waved at someone behind her. Poppy turned and saw Yun Ho, playing with the keyboards.

“Why is he there? I thought Sunny was dancing with him?” Poppy asked Junsu, clearly confused.

“I guess she changed partners, she was dancing with one of my best mate now.” Junsu smiled.

“Yeah? Tell me about him.” Poppy had a glimpse of Sunny’s new partner and he was actually quite cute.

“His name is Chang Min. He was in charge of the keyboard just now, remember?”

“I guess.” An image of a guy wearing a suit and dark sunglasses over his eyes, yelling into the mic popped into her mind.

“Uh-huh, that’s him. He’s younger than me though. ” He paused thoughtfully.

“And he loves Harry Potter.” He burst out laughing.

Poppy laughed too. “That was random! But that is cute! I was a Harry Potter fan too”  

“Was?”

“Yeah, now I’m a Twilight Fan! I absolutely adore Edward Cullen.”

“Oh yeah, that Cullen guy. He’s so emo and desperate.” Junsu said dully.

“But he’s hot.” He added hurriedly as Poppy was about to say something.

Poppy laughed. “I was going to attack you when you start talking bad about my Edward.” She said in mock anger. “But I forgave you with the last comment.”

“So he’s yours now? Poor Bella.” He shook his head in mock sympathy. “ But Edward was cuter when he was a  Hufflepuff.” He grinned slyly.

“No way, he’s hot, handsome, dazzling-.” Poppy stopped when Junsu faked a yawn. “Hey! Pay attention while I describe my hubby!” She leaned forward across the table and whacked him playfully.

“Ow! Sorry, sorry!” He clapped his hands together and did a praying gesture at Poppy. “Please forgive me?” His puppy-dog eyes looking at her adorable-ly.

“Argh, how can he be so cute!” Poppy had a sudden urge to pinch his cheeks, but she resisted it. She crossed her hands over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him.

“Hmph.” Poppy let out a high-pitched grumble. She wasn’t mad, but why was she acting like this? Is she flirting? “It couldn’t be.” She thought.

“Aww, the princess is mad at me.” Junsu made a sad face and pouted.

“Kyah~! SO UNBELIEVABLY CUTE!!” She started to waver, but refused to give in to him.

“Guess I have to do something to make princess forgive me.” Junsu paused, looking at Poppy timidly.

“What is he going to do?” Poppy wondered.

Still wondering, she was unaware of his actions. Junsu had leaned forward, and kissed her cheek. Poppy gasped, feeling his pink jelly lips brushing across her cheek. He sat back hurriedly, not looking at her. Poppy uncrossed her hands slowly and touched the spot where he had kissed her, feeling very astounded.

After a long pause, “You’re forgiven.” Junsu looked up, pink dots on his cheeks. Poppy was smiling at him, not meeting his eye, and blushing hard. Junsu’s smile widen as he saw her blush.

“That’s a relief.” Junsu joked, breaking the awkwardness between them. “I didn’t want Ice princess to be mad, It’s cold enough already here.” He shuddered while chuckling.

“Hey! Don’t start giving me stupid nicknames!” She warmed up to him again. 

*****

It was almost midnight. The music faded. The couples stop dancing and retreated to their tables.

“Dear prince and princesses, it’s time to announced tonight’s Prom King and Queen!” Yun Ho announced into the microphone. A loud cheer came from the crowd, mostly guys.

“First off, the candidates for the Prom King and Queen will have to stand on the stage.” Yun Ho waved his left arm to the stage.

The people held their breath, hoping to be called out.

“FIRST CANDIDATE IS… KIM JUNSU FROM MYEONJI HIGH SCHOOL!!!” The boys howled. The girls screamed.

Junsu glanced around, clearly in shock. He looked back at Poppy, who was smiling and clapping, urged him to go up stage. He stood up sheepishly walked towards the stage, but not without earning another scary screams from the fan girls.

“THE SECOND CANDIDATE FOR TONIGHT IS… SHIM CHANG MIN, ALSO FROM MYEONJI HIGH SCHOOL!!!!”

Chang Min went up the stage, the crowd roared in approval. Sunny caught Poppy’s eyes and held up two fingers, grinning happily.

“Righty guys, sorry to say this but the third candidate is me.” Yun Ho said into his mic. There was a howl from the boys – part anguish, part agreement. Yun Ho continued, “But I decided to resign, now, MOVING ON WITH THE GIRLS CANDIDATE!” The girls screamed in disappointment , they wanted Yun Ho to participated. Several other boys booed.

“FIRST CANDIDATE… KWON YURI FROM DAEYOUNG HIGH SCHOOL!!!” Yun Ho continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. Yuri got on the stage, earning envious look from the girls. She stood shyly on the stage with Junsu and Chang Min, amazing-looking under the lights. 

“SECOND CANDIDATE IS THE BEAUTIFUL KIM TAE YEON!” Another trill ran though the assembled jocks as Tae Yeon walked charmingly onto the stage.

“LAST BUT NOT LEAST! IM YOONA!!” A loud applause came from the crowd as they were hoarse from screaming too much.

“Okay, it’s time to announce the PROM KING AND PROM QUEEN. Just for your sake, please don’t get sad if you’re not chosen. It is already a huge honor to get chosen as a candidate.” Yun Ho grinned into the microphone.

“THE PROM QUEEN FOR TONIGHT IS…” He paused for a dramatic response. The candidates held their breath nervously. The crowd cheered on.

“ KWON YURI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Yun Ho yelled both hands in the hair.

A guy in suit came up the stage holding a silk pillow with a crown on it, Yuri bent down and the guy placed the crown on her head as the crowd cheered on. Another guy came up and present her with a huge bouquet of roses. Tae Yeon and Yoona hugged her on stage.

“THE PROM KING ISSSSSS… KIM JUNSU!!!” The fan girls screamed and clapped. Junsu knocked fist with Chang Min and a girl placed a crown on his head as he bent down. He looked at the direction where Poppy stood, and grinned. Poppy gave him a thumb up.

“Alright girls and boys, congratulations to our Prom King and Queen, I feel sorry to say this, but the night has come to an end. Time to say goodbye with the seniors.” Yun Ho said, his tone remorseful. He proceeded to play a slow Christmas song and got down from the keyboard.

Chang Min walked down from the stage and made a beeline for Sunny.

“You’re not unhappy are you?” Sunny teased him.

“What for?” Chang Min asked.

“For not being the prom king tonight?”

“You’re kidding, who wants that silly crown anyway.” Chang Min laughed. Sunny giggled.

“C’mon, I have to find my friend.” They both walked towards Poppy

***

“Congrats!” Poppy smiled when Junsu got down from the stage and walked forwards to her.

“Thanks, didn’t expect this though.”

“No way, you’re like the cutest guy here.” She exclaimed before she could stop herself. Junsu looked surprised, but delighted with her comment. Poppy blushed.

“For my princess.” He present her the huge bouquet of roses in front of her.

“What? That’s your prize.”

“Nah, it’s yours. I think you should be the Prom Queen.” He pushed the flowers into her hands. She hesitated, but took it anyway. “Thanks” Sniffing the flowers, they were heavenly.

*** 

“Hey guys, ready to head back?” Sunny interrupted the pleasurable moment.

“How are you guys going back?” Junsu asked.

“How about I drive you guys” A voice came behind them before Poppy and Sunny could answer, it was Yun Ho.

“Yeah, are you girls fine with that?” Chang Min pressed on.

“Okay, sure, thanks.” And the five of them exit the hotel together.

***

In Yun Ho’s car. 

“Must..tell..Bunny all about this..in the morning..” Poppy thought sleepily.

"Happiest night of all time..." the four of them were thinking, as Yun Ho drove in the moonlight.