Last Dance

Part I

Haneul stares at the bottle in her hand. "Bottle of love", coughs Sehun beside her but she chooses to rib him and continue staring. Five minutes ago, she had been complaining of the paucity of water bottles in the canteen, the last one having been bought a while ago before her, when all of a sudden, Kim Jongdae had given her half a tap on her shoulders and handed her his sealed bottled, with a smile that was all cheekbones and crescent eyes, leaving a dumbfounded Haneul and a snickering Sehun. Yes, she stares at the bottle for a full five minute before cracking the seal and drinking from it, hands shaking a bit from her fast heartbeat. Sehun holds his tissue in front of her face. "Wipe the excess blush off before someone thinks it's real— oh wait, it is!" And he laughs at his own joke, ignoring Haneul's death glares.
The next lunch, Haneul is sure to stand in line a little early buying an extra bottle of water with the nervousness of performing one's first surgery and looking around.
"I can't watch this," mutters Sehun. "Call me if you make an idiot of yourself, I'll be there to laugh at you. Ciao." She hears him without actually listening, and spots Jongdae finally, sitting at his table with his friends, Kyungsoo, Baekhyun and a girl she doesn't know. Jongdae and Baekhyun eat, each occasionally cracking up with laughter at what the other says. Kyungsoo sits calmly riffling through a notebook as does the girl opposite him, though their half is less full of food and more filled with files a and sheets of paper.
"—should have seen his face! You owe me an ice cream for winning," Jongdae says to Baekhyun as Haneul clears her throat carefully behind Jongdae. Baekhyun is the first to look at her, raising his eyebrows at her before Jongdae takes notice and turns around. "Yes?" He asks and for one horrible moment Haneul wonders if he's forgotten her.
"Y-your bottle, sunbae. Thank you." Jongdae blinks, and then throws her another blinding grin.
"Thanks, you didn't have to though," he accepts the bottle, raising her heartbeat when his fingers graze hers. The girl beside Jongdae raises her head, with a sigh and a pout and Jongdae wraps an arm around her shoulders. "Don't make that face here, some people will have a heart attack." Baekhyun cracks up while Kyungsoo shakes his head, muttering under his breath. Haneul suddenly feels a weight settle in the pit of her stomach as she watches Jongdae poke her cheeks causing the girl to break out into a bigger pout.
"I should get going, you guys look busy..." she finds herself saying. The girl looks up surprised, almost as if she only just realizes Haneul's presence.
"Kinda," she says, detaching herself from Jongdae. "We're going over bills for Saturday's fundraiser for the drama club." Haneul nods, not really sympathetic. "Hey, you should come if you're free." She smiles brightly at Haneul who returns it with a non-committal hum. 
"You should," Jongdae adds. "We'll all be there." Haneul almost chokes on air as her brain runs loud sirens and "indirect date alert!!!" chimes through her head.
"Bring your friends," Kyungsoo says, looking at her for the first time, his eyes as intense as they're rumored to be. The girl clicks her tongue and laughs.
"Stop trying to make money!"
"It's a fundraiser for a reason," he smiles at her lazily. Baekhyun rolls his eyes for some reason that eludes Haneul.
"So?" Jongdae asks again. Haneul nods automatically, earning another cheekbones-enhanced smile. If only the lab rats were given this kind of positive reinforcement, she thinks, they'd work so much better. "Great! See you Saturday evening."
As Haneul walks away, she hears the girl and Baekhyun laughing, and Jongdae's loud "yah!!", turning around to notice Jongdae put her in a half-hug and half-headlock and cover her mouth.

"He has a girlfriend," wails Haneul that night as she talks on conference with Sehun and Jongin, who hasn't been to college with his fever.
"Really," sniffles Jongin, "I think he's single."
"He wouldn't have asked you if he had one," says Sehun while crunching what sounds like crisps.
"He was being civil, something you need to learn," mutters Haneul.
"I'm sorry what was that? Dude you should have seen her today, shaking like a leaf while trying to give him a freaking bottle. God forbid he kisses her."
"We'll keep medics on a standby," laughs Jongin, over Haneul's loud protests.
"He isn't kissing me!! He's probably cuddling with his girlfriend!"
"Okay," starts Jongin with what begins as a sigh and ends up as a sneeze. "Sorry, anyway, who is this girl?"
"I don't know her name..." admits Haneul. "I think she's on the drama club board...? Short bob.... pouts a stupid lot..."
"Cho Ara," drawls Sehun. "If she looks like she should still be in middle school, then it's Cho Ara." Jongin laughs amidst his sneezes and wheezing coughs.
"There's no way she'd date Kim Jongdae," he says.
"But but but!! He was cuddling!!!"
"You're exaggerating," states Sehun and she can see he accusing eyes in her mind.
"No!!! Okay a little... but they looked close!"
"Does that mean Sehun and I should be dating?"
"No! I mean if you guys want it that way then..."
"EWWW! Gross!"
"That was a poor example on my part... sorry dude. You're already taken by that TA... what's his name.... Luhan?"
Sehun chokes on a chip and for ten seconds Haneul hears dying wheezes before hearing Sehun's loud swears.
"Shut up," he says finally.
"Best comeback of the century," says Jongin dryly. Haneul sighs.
"Can we get back to my crisis?"
"Just go," says Jongin.
"Sehun come with me...?"
"Can't. Got plans," Sehun goes back to his crisp eating.
"Plans?"
"Plans," and he refuses to say another word, in spite of Jongin's threats to disown him and turn over his "S♥L" doodles to Luhan.
"Forget it, I'm not going then...." Haneul sighs for the umpteenth time that night, rolling over on her back, and staring at the ceiling, seeing a smile and kind eyes in her mind while her best friends continue to bicker.

Even though she's all alone, Haneul finds herself at the gates of her college, rubbing her arms for warmth, while debating on entering them. Maybe coming alone was a bad idea, she starts to think as she sees other couples and friends walking in together.
"Haneul...?" She spins around, knowing fully well who the owner of the voice is. "I knew it was you," Jongdae grins and then pulls off his jacket and wraps it over her shoulders. Haneul blushes a deep maroon as he steps into her space, and all she can see are his arms over her shoulders and smell the faint cologne. He steps back just as soon and she sends her thank you to the ground.
"Going in?" He asks. She nods. She has his jacket after all. Though it would be a lie if she tells anyone that's the only reason.
Jongdae leads her through the half open gates, placing a hand between her shoulders for a moment to direct her.
"Girlfriend, girlfriend, a goddamn annoying girlfriend...." Haneul chants in her mind, demanding her mental processes not shut down because of the touch.
"Ara!!" She hears Jongdae yell, and a short distance away the bob haired girl waves at him, running over. Haneul uses all the curses she's picked up from Sehun in her mind.
"Haneul-ssi, right? I'm glad you came!" She flashes Haneul a big smile which Haneul barely returns, stewing away in anger silently. "Your friends?"
"Had plans."
"Oh. Shame... Don't run into Kyungsoo, he'll demand you drag them back here," she laughs, then pauses, eyeing Jongdae and the jacket on Haneul's shoulders.
'That's right, be jealous,' Haneul mentally high fives herself. But Ara doesn't say a word about it.
"Well I'd take you around but I'm busy, so will you take her? You know where everything is." She looks at Jongdae who nods, while Haneul's stomach does flips. "Okay! See you then."
'Yes! Take me sunbae!!!' She thinks, just about ready to perform somersaults of happiness. Jongdae walks ahead with Haneul for a bit, before pausing and telling Haneul to wait a moment. He runs back to Ara, and says something that Haneul doesn't catch but she sees the happy grin on Ara's face and the tongue sticking out as Jongdae runs back to her. There is a little green monster boiling inside Haneul as she watches the exchange, but it's gone the second Jongdae runs over to her, smiling, and asks if she's ready to go.
Haneul has always guessed that Jongdae was the skinship types having seen him with his friends — and HER— but she doesn't foresee the naturalness with which it comes to him. It hasn't been over twenty minutes with Jongdae and he's put his hand on her shoulder or arm at least fifteen times— not that she's been counting, but yes fifteen times and each of those times her ears turn red hot, and her chest thumps so hard she might pass out until she can't take it anymore.
"Hey! They've finally opened the scary house again! Finally," claps an excited Jongdae as he grabs Haneul's hand and drags her over to the entrance lines. "I have to see who they nabbed for it!"
"Sunbae!" Haneul exclaims as she feels herself jerked forward. Jongdae halts abruptly, and Haneul stops short of crashing into his back. "Don't — don't you want to go there with your girlfriend?"
"Girlfriend?" Jongdae looks genuinely surprised.
"Cho... Ara....?"
Jongdae's eyes grow dangerously wide as he jumps to cover Haneul's mouth with his hand, looking wildly over his shoulders.
"Girlfriend —!??! Don't say things like that in public!!"
In spite of the proximity, Haneul has to mentally roll her eyes as a voice in her head, that sounds strangely like Sehun, says,
'Are you going to deny it then? It's only just about obvious from the moon.'
"Don't. Say. Things like that!!!" Jongdae steps away and Haneul breathes again. "Kyungsoo would have me guillotined, minced and then fed to the pigeons!"
"Wait what?" Haneul frowns. "Ara is dating Kyungsoo sunbae?"
"Dating....?" Jongdae taps his chin. "Not dating but they're.... something... definitely something, though I doubt they know what that is themselves. In any case, don't say sacrilegious things like that where Kyungsoo can hear!" Haneul just stands there blinking at him, processing the information. "Uhh... Haneul...?"
"So you're not dating her?" Jongdae shakes his head with a laugh.
"No way. Do you want me to?"
"No!" Haneul exclaims a beat too fast and Jongdae raises an eyebrow. "I— I mean you should do what you want," she stares at the floor again.
"Well I really want to go to that haunted house, more like room, so shall we?"

Haneul happily skips behind Jongdae to the entrance of the second floor classrooms. The boys at the door let him, the vice-president, pass without waiting. It's only once the door shuts behind her and she's left in near-darkness that she remembers— she hates scary houses. Sh hates the darkness and the random people who dash out and grab you.
"Let's go!" Says Jongdae next to her, a little too gleefully, causing her to jump. She takes cautious steps behind him, shooting glances over her shoulders every minute.
The entire classroom is divided into islands of fallen furniture, draped with white cloth, bathed in a dim green glow that comes from the covered lights in distant corners, while there is a constant soft white noise in the background accompanied by a loud, steady, periodical dripping sound. Drip. Haneul thinks some of the furniture is shifting. Drip. The noise is definitely unnerving. Drip.
"This is neat, right?" Jongdae whispers beside her, and she manages to transform a squeak into a cough, and swift nod. "The concept designs were Ara and Kyungsoo's master plan for the raiser. They pulled it off." That girl, Haneul could not be feeling any less kindly towards her. Jongdae's whisper gives her goosebumps now, and not the good kind. She almost forgets that they're supposed to be looking for hidden chocolate amongst the furniture. Jongdae on the other hand seems to be enjoying himself to boot. Haneul looks over at the door, wondering if it would be wise to escape that way.
Suddenly, her vision is blocked by a hand dangling something before her eyes. Haneul screams loudly, wildly beating the arm with her own until she hears Jongdae's calm voice and feels his arms around her shoulders.
"Haneul, Haneul-ah, I'm sorry, it's me. It's me. It's okay." Haneul stops mid shriek, frozen from Jongdae's backhug and gentle side to side rocking. "Are you okay?" She nods in jerks. Jongdae exhales audibly. "I'm sorry," he says again, and then slowly steps back. Haneul lets out a breath, afraid to turn to him. Jongdae walks before her instead, face etched with worry and concern. "I didn't realize you were that scared.... I'm sorry.... I found chocolate," he says with a nervous laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. Even in the dim light, Jongdae's smile seems just as warm and comforting. Haneul shakes her head.
"It's okay sunbae, I was surprised..."
"No it's not, I'm being selfish. Never mind, I'll come back with Baekhyun and watch him scream and destroy everything," he laughs. "Come on, let's get out." He steers Haneul with a hand between her shoulders, like he has done a countless number of times (Haneul has counted though), allowing her to walk a little ahead. This time though, he doesn't remove the hand. Even though her heart rate is dangerously high, Haneul feels a little better knowing he is right behind her.
The "haunted rooms" are built over two of the language classrooms which are connected to one another. The dripping sound really unnerves Haneul as she reaches the connecting door. Just as she is about to open the door, someone lunges at her from beneath the draped furniture. Haneul utters a pronounced shriek, saved from falling backwards only by Jongdae's arm around her shoulders, as the lumbering giant looms over her with a deep, "where is my bride."
"Yeol?" Jongdae asks. "What the hell are you supposed to be?"
"Jongdae?" The giant blinks. "I thought it might be you. Frankenstein's monster," he grins drawing himself to his full height.
"Cool, this is Haneul. Haneul, this is my friend Chanyeol." Haneul manages a weak smile and Chanyeol shakes her hand vigorously, flashing his teeth at her behind his grey-painted lips. Had it not been for Jongdae she probably would have hit Chanyeol with the nearest object. "We're trying to leave as soon as possible..." Jongdae says discreetly. Chanyeol frowns in confusion and ventures,
"Should I tell the guys....?" Jongdae nods. Chanyeol opens the door and bellows, making Haneul flinch at his deep baritone.
"GUYS STAND DOWN, JUST JONGDAE PASSING THROUGH, OKAY? HEAR ME?"
For a few seconds there's just the dripping sound and then a few voices muttering variations of 'yes' and 'okay' float in. Haneul peers into the other room, unable to see anything in the pitch darkness,just hearing the swishing of curtains.
"See you around Haneul," waves Chanyeol disappearing beneath the furniture again. Haneul gulps, receiving a gentle push forward from Jongdae. The second room is much too dark for her to brave through. Jongdae fishes out his phone and turns on its flashlight. In a very casual motion, he slips his hands into Haneul's and pulls her along into the darkness.
Haneul doesn't have time to be afraid anymore. She can't get over the feeling of Jongdae's hands in hers and the constant chatter of his voice as he tells her how Baekhyun destroyed the haunted house that they had been to once before and how Ara and Kyungsoo had kept this one a secret from him so he would be scared again. The light that hits her eyes when they open the door is a little too bright but so is Jongdae's smile.
"Here," he says handing her the chocolate he'd found earlier. "For suffering through that." Haneul blushes, ducking her head and muttering thanks. "Oh! I heard they managed to get a cotton candy guy! My treat." Haneul can't possibly say no.
While Haneul turns her lips pink with cotton candy, Jongdae tells her to wait while he talks to a few of his friends— he seems to be friends with everyone. She walks along the rows of food stalls and spots a sign that says "MISTER ZHANG— great fortunes at affordable prices!" and the post graduate student Zhang Yixing smiling serenely at everyone who passes by next to it.
"Yixing sunbae?" Haneul can't believe her eyes, as she sees the otherwise prim and propere Yixing, sitting cross legged on a stool with a scarf fashioned into a turban over his head. "What are you doing....?" Yixing points to the sign and then to the cardboard money box, with a crystal ball drawn on it. Haneul decides to humor him, dropping the amount into the box and crossing her arms before her skeptically.
"You're in love," he says, peering closely at her face. "And you're wondering if he likes you too." Haneul chokes on air, staring wide eyed at him.
"How'd you—?!"
"I'll tell you what he feels, but for a small amount," the smile he shoots at her is so innocent that Haneul finds herself paying again and looking expectantly at him. "Yes.... he does, he's probably liked you for a long time, whoever he is..."
"And how do you know that?"
"I have the gift," beams Yixing. Haneul resists the urge to hit herself on the head. She thanks him and decides to look for Jongdae again. "And oh," Yixing calls out after her. "I've heard that the last dance is a good place to tell him what you feel," he send her one more dimpled smile.
"Last dance...?" Wonders Haneul. "What last dance....?" But some other girls crowd before Yixing squealing at him while he just points to the money box. Mystified by it all Haneul turns to look for Jongdae but realizes that he isn't talking by the benches anymore, in fact she can't see him at all.
Haneul looks around carefully trying to spot the familiar mop messy brown hair but fails to. She wonders if he's found someone else he'd rather spend time with or if he he's got a date, after all he was only supposed to be showing her around...
"There you are!" Jongdae stops to catch a breath, holding out two slips of paper. "I had to go get these from Ara."
"What...?"
"They organized a bonfire dance in the soccer field. Tickets.... that is only if you want to come..." Haneul gasps silently at the message Yixing had given her an takes the small slips from Jongdae.
"I'd be happy to," she says, smiling shyly at her feet. Jongdae grins at her, seamlessly fitting his hands into her and pulling her along the cark park.
The students at the entrance take their tickets and let them through and Haneul watches in fascination as the groundskeepers make preparation for the bonfire, dousing the logs with oil and slowly starting the fire. The fore crackles ablaze and the  waiting students cheer. Jongdae smiles at her softly.
"Thanks for spending time with me," he says, staring at the burning logs, as the music starts and people slowly drag each other off to dance. Haneul shakes her head rapidly.
"It was nothing sunbae, in fact I'm grateful that you showed me around."
"Haneul-ah... you're cute, you know that?" Haneul snaps her head towards him, unable to speak.
"Wh-what??!" Jongdae laughs, and momentarily dormant butterflies rise again in her stomach. She reckons the warmth around her collar is not from the fire.
"Yes you are, and I've been waiting ages to say that," he admits. Haneul blinks. "Wanna dance?" He asks, not really giving her time to answer, as he pulls her along and places an arm around her waist, holding her hand in the other. Haneul has difficulty in thinking as Jongdae smiles down at her, making her stomach flip several times over. As they gently sway to the music, Haneul opens her mouth to reply to his earlier comment,
"I..." And as Yixing's words replay in her head, she blurts out, "I like you sunbae!" For a moment Jongdae freezes in his spot, staring down at her, mouth formed into an 'o'.
"You...?" He gulps. "Umm... It's not too late, let's go get something to eat?" Jongdae rubs the back of his neck, his ears turning red. Haneul resorts to nodding to the ground and Jongdae's fingers slip in through hers and he leads her through the crowd of people in the field. Haneul spots Kyungsoo and Ara sitting in the bleechers, laughing about something, wondering if this was what Kyungsoo was like with people he knew, less of the assassin types and more of the huggable type? Ara catches her eye and gives her a quick wave. For the first time, Haneul beams at her.
Jongdae doesn't leave her hand till they get to the café, down the road from college— not that she could complain. Dinner, apart from being a club sandwich and hot chocolate, is full of shy looks and blushes when their hands accidentally touch. Haneul can barely get the food past her throat while she and Jongdae talk about their own friends, blushing when they meet eyes. She nods happily when he offers to drop her home.
Haneul doesn't want to let go of his hands when she arrives at her front door. Neither does Jongdae seem to want to as he stalls, asking her about her classes on Monday and if he could meet her during lunch. When the conversation finally dies out to awkward feet shuffling and quick glances, Jongin clears his throat.
"So umm... I guess I'll see you around on Monday?" Haneul nods. "Okay then.... night..." He unclasps his hand around hers and steps away, only to step back in and press his lips on her cheeks. A breath hitches in Haneul's throat as she feels the soft peck and she turns a deep red under the porch light.
"I like you a lot too," Jongdae flashes her a cheeky grin before running down the driveway and waving to her once more.
It takes a while of standing and staring into space for Haneul to resume normal mental functions. As she whips out her phone, and speed dials Sehun, she wonders, does Zhan Yixing really have the gift?
•

Part II

The fundraiser is Kyungsoo's idea, propelled mostly by Ara's constant complaints of the lack of money for the new production of The Phantom of the Opera which their director Yixing refuses to begin with unless the funds are there. So on a Sunday afternoon she is interrupted in her favorite bookstore by none other than President Do, who looms over her table, arms crossed and face serious.
"Let's have a fundraiser," he says without any prolog.  Ara has to shut her book and think carefully before she knows what he's talking about. "Next week," he says with a note of finality. Ara raises an eybrow up at him.
"Next week.... Next week? We don't even have plans!" She sighs. Kyungsoo shrugs.
"What are you wasting time for then? Let's go." Ara groans in protest, lifting her things from the table and paying for her book, before catching up to Kyungsoo on the streets.
"You ruined my Sunday reading, you know?" She pouts. Kyungsoo drapes an arm over her shoulders.
"You asked for it."
Ara's house is empty when they arrive, her mother having gone out to her sister's. Kyungsoo steps into the kitchen and puts a kettle to boil as Ara races upstairs to put her book into place.
"So? What are we doing?" Ara asks, propping herself up on a counter as Kyungsoo rummages around for cups.
"The usual? Food, games and the lot..."
"Well there needs to be more, something special," Ara hands him the teabags with Earl Gray, something she saves only for the two of them.
"That's your job," Kyungsoo produces the cups and grins at her. Ara drops the tea bags in and smacks him lightly on the shoulders.
"Fine... how about a haunted house...? More like haunted rooms? We could use the language rooms, they're a little isolated." Kyungsoo purses his lips.
"Okay, we could work on that one."
Once they're settled down on the floor with their tea and notebooks, it takes little before both Kyungsoo and Ara get bored of setting budgets and estimating turnouts and decide to tune into Anime.
"Let's have a bonfire dance," Ara says, putting her head on the couch beside Kyungsoo's shoulders.
"Hmm?"
"You know, like a bonfire in the soccer field and then people dancing around it."
"People would pay for something as stupid as that?" Ara pouts again at Kyungsoo.
"Please. We'd get Baekhyun to DJ and it'd be so romantic!" Kyungsoo looks over at her wide eyes and bottom lip jutting out, and sighs.
"Fine. If it doesn't work, it's on you, okay?"
"Yay," Ara says, followed by a yawn. "It'll be nice, we should play Cannon D and Für Elise and..." Her words become drawled and her eyes close slowly.
Kyungsoo suddenly registers the silence as he turns to find his Treasurer breathing softly with her head on the couch. He tucks a loose strand of her hair behind her ears and puts away the dishes.
Ara wakes up on her bed, tucked into her quilt and walks downstairs rubbing her eyes. She finds her mother making dinner in her kitchen where she is greeted by a smile and a, "sleep well?" Ara nods, eyes trailing over to the couch. With a jolt she remembers. Hadn't she fallen asleep over there watching TV...?
"Umma did you..." She begins and then realizes how stupid she sounds. Her mother would never carry her upstairs, she'd just wake her and send her to bed. That would mean... her stomach feels strange as she gulps unconsciously.
"Did I what?" Her mother asks.
"Did you umm... wash the cups we had tea in?"
"Me? No, Kyungsoo did that I think, bless him." Her mother turns back to stirring her gravy. "Whoever gets him as a son-in-law would be very happy."
"Yeah, yeah umma," she snaps, waving her hands and ducking her head. She stares at the stairs on leaving the kitchen. What on earth had possessed him to...? She doesn't know but her ears feel hot thinking about it.

Most of Monday and Tuesday is spent in planning locations and budgets with Jongdae, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo in the auditorium. There isn't time for much else. Even when they're home, the four are on conference drawing up list after list. On Wednesday, Ara doesn't see Kyungsoo when she walks into class. When he doesn't appear by lunchtime she becomes pronouncedly low, barely listening to Baekhyun who says something about the Dean during lunch. By the last period Ara has taken to looking up the door every time someone walks in. By the time she's home, she's ready to snap at anyone who talks to her.
"Did you have a fight with Kyungsoo?" Her mother asks over lunch.
"No! Why would you think that?! It's not like my entire existence is dependent upon his! Who cares if he's there or not! Not me," she leaves her finished plate in the sink and stomps off to her room, to the utter bewilderment of her mother.
Having met Kyungsoo in seventh grade and having bonded over spaghetti in home economics class, Ara has seen several days where Kyungsoo doesn't show up or she doesn't. It mystifies her that she should feel so irritated by his absence and by dinner time she convinces that she has been a little on the hormonal side all day and that she would just see Kyungsoo the next morning.
That front of course crumbles when Kyungsoo calls her as she's preparing to sleep and she jumps over to her bed to grab her charging cell.
"Hello?"
"Hey," Kyungsoo's voice, husky with tiredness, rings in her ear. A lot of thoughts shoot through Ara's mind, the primary being, 'I missed you,' but she foregoes sounding stupid and instead says,
"Where'd you vanish to all day?"
"At the Dean's, got him to approve everything and then we went to get people for cotton candy and popcorn. Didn't Baekhyun tell you?" Ara stares at her curtains. Was that what Baekhyun had been talking about?
"Oh, I wasn't paying attention."
"Yeah, Jongdae was with me, in case you were wondering." Jongdae had been gone too? She really hadn't noticed...
"Well, I was busy drawing plans for the haunted house..." Ara twists the bedsheets with her fingers into knots.
"Liar." She starts, almost able to hear a smirk in his voice. "You've got that weird voice on. What've you been up to?"
"What weird voice? I've been up to nothing!" Ara shrugs at her wall.
"The voice you have when you lie and I'll bet you just shrugged when you denied it." Ara sits up, staring wide eyed at the receiver, then glaring at it. "And now you're glaring at the cell."
"Kyungsoo!" Kyungsoo's sleep heavy laugh fills her ears. Both of them settle into silence as Ara chews on her lips, not really wanting to end the call.
"Let's go eat at Emilio's on Sunday, after all this is over. I'd ask Jongdae and Baek but they don't like Italian." Ara nods at the ceiling.
"Yeah, we haven't hung out in ages... we could go out with them after college on Monday?" She asks because she feels a little guilty.
"Hmm," and then she hears Kyungsoo yawn. Even though she hates to, she says,
"Go sleep Kyung..." Another stifled yawn later, she hears the rustle of sheets.
"Yeah, I should... see you tomorrow, then?"
"Yup, goodnight Kyungsoo."
"Good night Drama Queen."
"Kyung!" Ara hears his soft laugh as the line disconnects. She sits in bed with the phone still in her hand, slowly smiling at it. The smile lasts as she draws her covers around her and settles into bed. Her phone pings.

@do_Kyung: be early tomorrow. I know you haven't made plans, so we'll do that. Don't stay up reading!

The smile doesn't erase itself as she types back a "yes boss" and snuggles into her duvet. In fact, it almost hurts her cheeks now.

Next morning Ara spots Kyungsoo waiting on stage for her. He jumps down as he sees her and Ara takes the opportunity to give him a quick hug before breaking apart, heart beating erratically. There's no need for it to, she hugs Kyungsoo all the time, but defying all logic, it does.
"Are you even listening to me?" Kyungsoo waves his hands in front of her face. Ara jerks out of her though, ignoring her racing heart and puts on ,what she hopes is, an impassive face.
"Yes, your president-ness, should we start?"
There's a lot of drawing, and labeling and cursing involved as Ara and Kyungsoo plan out the two horror rooms, the would-be star attraction of the raiser.
"So finally, Chanyeol will be in this room, as Frankenstein's monster, jumping out at anyone who wants to leave. We'll put one of the mannequins from the props department as a dismembered body under one of the sheets. Minseok oppa will chase people down this line, in the second room. Kris ge and Tao will jump out at people before they exit. Also, Amber and Victoria jie will throw rubber snakes at people from here. Got it?" Kyungsoo peers over her shoulders and Ara gulps, feeling his hair brush against her cheeks. "A- and we'll play white noise and a constant dripping sound."
"What about lights? Filtered green for the first and pitch black for the second?" Ara nods, focusing solely on the sketch before her. "Great then, we'll build it after college tomorrow." Kyungsoo draws back and Ara turns to face his heart smile, the funny feeling in her stomach awakening again. She returns it with one of her own. They don't stop smiling at each other until the doors slam open and Baekhyun marches in with a,
"Yo peeps!" Jongdae follows shortly shaking his head at his best friend. Ara waves at both from the stage. In the little while that is left before class, the four trade notes and plans and Ara assigns Baekhyun, club Secretary, the job of informing everyone of their duties. Jongdae barely pays attention to anything for reasons that don't become clear until lunch.
At lunch, Ara is the last to join the table of three, finding Kyungsoo pouring over notes, while Baekhyun ruthlessly decimates Jongdae.
"Ara, grab a seat," he says. "Tell him he's hopelessly in love!" Jongdae's ears turn a furious red as he protests amidst a mouthful of food. "He's been staring at Kim Haneul ever since she walked in."
"I have not!!" He protests, stuffing his mouth with salad.
"He has," Kyungsoo says, without lifting his eyes from his notes. Ara stifles a giggle.
"She's cute," she says to Jongdae.
"You should have seen him yesterday! Shaking like a massage chair while handing her a bottle. So embarrassing!"
Once Haneul moves out of his line of sight, Jongdae glares at his friends.
"Can we please change topics? By the way Byun Baek, I won the bet."
"What bet?" Ara hears Baekhyun say as she returns to her bills and counterfoil arranging. She zones out of the conversation as the numbers add up and she begins worrying about the turnouts from each stall. Worse still, if the two main attractions didn't work out, they'd be at a huge loss considering that they were the most expensive ones. Ara sighs and looks up with a pout. Jongdae wraps an arm around her shoulders. "Don't make that face here, some people will have a heart attack." Baekhyun cracks up while Kyungsoo shakes his head, muttering under his breath. Ara looks at him and sighs mentally again. Jongdae takes the opportunity to poke her cheeks meaningfully.
"I should get going, you guys look busy..."
Ara looks up surprised. She hasn't realized when Kim Haneul has joined them at the table, standing nervously behind Jongdae, who looks surprisingly calm.
"Kinda," she says, detaching herself from Jongdae. "We're going over bills for Saturday's fundraiser for the drama club." Haneul nods. Then, on an impulse Ara says, "hey, you should come if you're free." She smiles brightly at Haneul, hoping she'd agree for Jongdae's sake.
"You should," Jongdae adds. Ara grins mentally at his excitement. "We'll all be there." He almost reminds her of a puppy now.
"Bring your friends," Kyungsoo says, looking up for the first time. Ara clicks her tongue and laughs at him for being so Kyungsoo amidst the blossoming love.
"Stop trying to make money!" She kicks him under the table.
"It's a fundraiser for a reason," he smiles at her lazily, nudging her foot back. Baekhyun rolls his eyes at them.
"So?" Jongdae asks again. When Haneul nods, Ara can see the honest smile that Jongdae flashes at her. It seems so much brighter.  "Great! See you Saturday evening."
As Haneul walks away, Ara whispers,
"Jongdae and Haneul sitting on a tree~ K—" Jongdae doesn't give her chance to say any more as he pulls her into a half-hug, half-headlock and cover her mouth with a,
"Yah!!" While Baekhyun laughs. "So juvenile," he says, letting her go. Kyungsoo clears his stuff off the table, and as he passes by Jongdae, he finishes the song.
".....I-S-S-I-N-G," with a devilish grin and Ara hears him hum the rest of the song as he walks away leaving a fuming and pink Jongdae.

On Friday, the day before the fundraiser, Ara spends most of the morning tallying her expenditure list with the other three lists, while listen to Jongdae freak out over his not-really-a-date-but-I-wish-it-was date with Haneul.
"What if I say something stupid?! What I say something funny but she doesn't get it and thinks I'm dumb?! What if I look funny?! What if—"
So when Kyungsoo walks into the auditorium after his classes, Ara waves at him energetically from the stage, yelling,
"My savior!! Get me away from this moping troll!" Kyungsoo laughs a little, walking on stage and sitting down next to Jongdae. "He's having a panic attack," Ara jerks her head towards Jongdae. "Tell him he's not stupid and that she'll like him anyway." Kyungsoo raises his brows at Jongdae.
"Seriously?" Jongdae lowers his head like a kicked pup.
"She might hate it..." He whines in a small voice. Kyungsoo thumps his back hard a few times.
"Idiot, if she doesn't like you she'll be the stupid one." Jongdae grumbles a bit more and Kyungsoo smacks him sharply on the back of his head. "Get to work," he says gruffly, and then smiles at Jongdae, "I think she already likes you, so stop worrying." Ara nods in confirmation.
"Really?" Two simultaneous nods. "Thanks... I'll go help Baek, see you guys around." Jongdae dusts his jeans and Ara sees the small smile playing on his lips as he walks away, reminded of her own smile a few nights back.
"How do you know...?" She whispers in wonder to herself.
"What?" Kyungsoo looks at her, getting up himself. She shakes her head, taking his proffered hand and pulls herself up.
"Nothing," she smiles, hooking her arm through his as they walk off the stage.
The first language class room doesn't need much decoration, so Ara and Kyungsoo deal with it alone, leaving the other one, with the maze to Chanyeol, Minseok, Kris and Tao. It takes about half an hour to create little piles of furniture, stuffing a dismembered mannequin under one of them with an arm sticking out, and then draping them with white sheets taken from the infirmary. Chanyeol's hideout takes a while longer, considering the fact that they need to make it comfortable for him.
"How should we do the light?" Ara asks as they finally add a drape over Chanyeol's spot. Kyungsoo purses his lips and looks up at the lights.
"I've got green nightlights.... If we used them, maybe about three, we'd get just enough light?" Kyungsoo plugs in one of the lights to the switchboard, and then climbs up on a chair to replace one of the CFLs. Ara does the same to one near the door, except she doesn't realize that her chair is a little rickety until she's done and ready to climb down.
"Ara, you done?" Kyungsoo calls, jumping nimbly off his own chair. Ara lifts a foot and the chair moves so violently that she freezes.
"Uhh... Kyung?"
"What? What?" Within moments Kyungsoo comes running from the other end of the classroom, eyes wide and worried.
"This chair is a bit wonky..." Ara grins guiltily. Kyungsoo lets out an exasperated sigh and hits her lightly on the knee.
"You idiot! I though you got hurt or electrocuted... Wonky! I have half a mind to leave you up there," he says, making a move to walk away. Ara screws her eyes shut as she tries to remain unmoving on the chair.
"Kyu~ng! Please!!" Kyungsoo looks up at her with fake-bored eyes. Ara musters the best helpless-puppy look that she can, using all her acting experience to make her eyes watery and big. Kyungsoo breaks into a smirk and rolls his eyes.
"Alright cool it drama queen." He stands in front of her chair, placing his hands on her waist. That weird feeling rises in her stomach again. Was this the metaphorical butterflies? She places her hands on his shoulders gingerly banishing all thoughts of butterflies from her mind. "Ready? One, two..." The chair wobbles violently as Ara steps off it, but she's already safe in Kyungsoo's hold, as he gently lets her down on the floor. Ara swallows a little and smiles nervously at him. Kyungsoo frowns down at her, not yet letting her loose.
"Who asked you to climb a broken chair?"
"I didn't notice..." She mumbles, embarrassed for more reasons than one. Kyungsoo shakes his head.
"I forbid you from climbing chair ever again."
"Yes your president-ness, now can we go take a look at the others?" Ara let's out a tiny breath as Kyungsoo relinquishes his hold and walks towards the door. Her chest thuds as she watches his back and she chooses to ignore it, following after him.
The next room seems almost finished with large sheets partitioning the room into a maze of sorts with enough place for the club members to hide and jump out at people. Kyungsoo grins deviously as Tao shows him how they'd grab ankles as people pass by.
"We should bring Baekhyun here as the last person. He might leave destruction in his screaming wake, but it'll be worth it," and Ara can't help but exchange a laughing high-five with him.
As the last bits of sunlight fade out, Kyungsoo reminds Ara that they still have to see if their ambient light works. It does. Bathing everything white with a depressingly green glow, the night lights work beautifully in giving just enough light so one could see vague shapes without seeing everything.
"This will be mildly disturbing with the background music, don't you think....?"
"Either that or we'll have ripped people off, but in any case we'll make money." Kyungsoo's heart-shaped grin looks slightly creepy in the green glow. Then again it's also probably his dark eyes which seem to be glowing faint green. It probably wouldn't be wrong to say she forgets herself and blatantly stares at his side-profile.
"Guys," comes a deep whisper behind them. Ara squeaks and latches onto Kyungsoo's arm while Kyungsoo utters a low yelp and latches onto hers. Park Chanyeol gives them a guilty smile.
"What the hell Yeol?!" Ara hisses at the giant, whose flashing teeth look ghastly in the dim light. Kyungsoo glares at him, still keeping an arm on Ara's shoulder. Chanyeol rubs the back of his head.
"Sorry... Just wanted to tell you guys that we're ready to head out." Ara just about strangles him, but she doesn't really mind the excuse to be this close to Kyungsoo.
While walking home, Kyungsoo notices Ara chewing her bottom lip and slings an arm over her shoulders.
"It'll work out," he says, giving her the best smile he can. Somehow it makes her believe that it really will.

On Fund Raiser D-day, Ara stuffs her mouth with toast and then races over to Kyungsoo's house with her things. Dumping her bag in the living room, she runs upstairs when she hears Kyungsoo is still in bed.
"Kyungsoo! Kyungsoo! Kyungsoo!" She pounces upon the empty space in his bed, shaking him by the shoulders, leaning over him. Kyungsoo starts awake and stares at up her grinning face, wide eyed for a few seconds.
"Wha—?!" He mumbles, blinking up at her.
"Wake up! It's fundraiser day!!" Kyungsoo's wide-eyed blinking soon turns into a sleepy glare.
"That's what you're waking me up for?" He mutters, voice gravelly with sleep. Ara cocks her head to a side.
"What else would I be...?" Kyungsoo turns over, grumbling and buries his head into his pillow.
"Go away, come pester me some other time." With all her strength Ara manages to flip Kyungsoo back into facing her.
"No! Wake up! We've got funds to raise!"
After minutes of bickering, blanket pulling and shaking, Kyungsoo sits up in bed, rubbing his eyes and glaring at Ara.
"You know I hate you for this."
"I can live with that. Well I can't— but I'll live with it for now," she grins. "Hurry up now!" Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow.
"You're sitting here."
"Yeah... so...?"
"Would you like me to take my shirt of about now?" Grins Kyungsoo, raising his hand to his collar. Ara smacks him squarely in the chest with a pillow.
"Perv!"
Kyungsoo laughs, pushing her shoulders gently. Glares at the stairs once she's out but is assaulted mid way by Kyungsoo's wide eyes and half-parted lips which had stared up at her. Her breath stops for a moment at that thought. No, today is fundraiser day, no weird thoughts, she thinks, shaking her head furiously while walking downstairs.
In twenty minutes, Kyungsoo is downstairs in all black as usual, just like her. Ara finds herself heaped with praise by Kyungsoo's mother, whom she hasn't seen in a while, as she makes Kyungsoo toast.
"Look at this child, you're growing up so well," Mrs Do says, from the kitchen as Ara places the toast before Kyungsoo.
"Thanks, did you have breakfast?" He asks. Ara nods and smiles at him, before replying,
"Don't worry eomonim, umma thinks Kyungsoo would make a great son-in-law. She can't stop gushing over him." She shakes her head at Mrs Do, who emerges from the kitchen.
"Well, in your defense," Mrs Do places an omelette in front of her older son. "You'd make an excellent daughter-in-law too." Suddenly the room is full of choking sounds as Kyungsoo splutters over his coffee, with tears in his eyes. His older brother thumps his back while snickering. When the coughing subsides, Kyungsoo wipes his lips and grabs his toast.
"I'll take this to go umma, it's dangerous to sit in this house any more," he says, pecking her cheeks, "see you hyung."
Ara waves silently as she grabs her things and follows Kyungsoo out the door.
"Still nervous?" Kyungsoo asks between mouthfuls of his toast. She nods, taking a bite out of the toast he holds out.
"A bit," she slips her hand through his elbow. "But it'll be fine."

Ara doesn't see Kyungsoo much after getting to college, having to rush to different places, until she feels like she needs to be everywhere at once. At three in the afternoon, she finally catches a breath, helping her senior, Yixing, set up his stall. She can't help the giggles as she ties the scarf around his head and dangles beads and such from it.
"This has got to be the most terrible yet brilliant of ideas that you've ever come up with!" Yixing nods seriously at her.
"It is."
Ara breaks out into another fit of giggles as the beads jangle when he bobs his head up and down.
"Girls will line up just to hear you speak!" Then she remembers what she'd originally come to find him for. She fishes out a small piece of paper from her pocket and hands it to Yixing before returning to fixing his scarf-turban.
"What's this?"
"Well... you remember Kim Haneul, from engineering?" Yixing nods with a loud jangle.
"The one Jongdae is swooning over? What about her?"
"Think you'd recognize her if you saw her?" More loud jangling. "That's the fortune you're to tell her if she comes."
"You're in love," he reads, "and you're wondering if he likes you too. I'll tell you what he feels, but for a small amount— what is this?!" Yixing breaks out into laughter. "Did Kyungsoo add that last line?" Ara nods, rolling her eyes at the memory.
"Yeah, almost blackmailed me into it," she finishes ties the scarf tightly and adds a pin for safety. "Okay I'm done. Promise to do that for me?" More jangling as Yixing nods.
"Sure, no big deal." Ara gives him a quick hug, and picks up the sign, ready to fasten it to the stall. "Oh, though I have a fortune for you." Ara raises her eyes at him.
"You're trying to pull that off on me?" 
"Play along, you'll be my first customer."
"I'm not paying you," she says crossing her arms in front of her chest. Yixing shrugs.
"Okay, since you're my meimei, I'll do it for free." Ara narrows her eyes in question. Yixing clears his throat and lowers his voice. "There is a man... there is a man who will come calling and you won't be able to say no. That man, he will be The One."
"The One? Seriously?" Ara stares at him. "That was so cheesy gege!!"
"ARA!" Ara doesn't have to look to see who's calling out to her, but she turns to see Kyungsoo at the steps of the west building, beckoning to her. She turns back to Yixing with large eyes, while he gives her a meaningful grin.
"This means nothing gege!" She says, thrusting the sign into his arms and racing over to the building while shaking her head. Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows at her flustered face.
"It's nothing, I just think we should NOT have let gege put up that stall. He'll mess with people's minds all evening." Kyungsoo grins.
"As long as he gets them to empty their wallets."

Kyungsoo leaves her, at the classroom doing Chanyeol's makeup, in twenty minutes, when Baekhyun drags him off to check on the preparations for the bonfire dance. Ara pauses for a while, brush poised, staring at Kyungsoo's back, when Chanyeol sneezes, snapping her back.
"Sorry," he says sheepishly. "Didn't mean to break your stare-a-thon but the brush was tickling my nose." Ara glares at him and stabs him harder on the cheek with the power brush each time.
At five people begin trickling in slowly, until Ara sees a bigger turnout than the one she's expected. She sees Jongdae with Haneul for a bit, smirking mentally at how smooth Jongdae had become when she sees his jacket over her shoulders. She even manages to casually tell Jongdae to take her around. She can't help mirror his grin when he runs back to her, whispering, "best wing-woman ever!" before walking off (with a hand on Haneul's back, that smooth player!).
The haunted house seems to be a big hit as she hears shrieks and screams from within while sitting in the small classroom next door, where all the sound system equipment is monitored by Krystal. She even notes a few couples stumbling out, clutching onto each other and feels rather proud for aiding in the cause of love.
A little before eight she wanders along the stalls, buying herself some cotton candy and sitting down on the steps of the college building, wondering if she should find out what Kyungsoo was up to.
"Ara!" Jongdae comes racing up the stairs panting for all his life's worth. Ara stares at him a little taken aback.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I forgot to take the dance passes!" Ara remembers the tiny slips of paper sitting in her wallet. She hands them to Jongdae, and pats him on the back. "I want to ask her out..." He sighs, "what if I'm being to fast?"
"I think you'll know when the time is right... Do what the moment calls for, okay? Don't over-think it." Jongdae pulls her into a hug before running off.
For a few minutes Ara sits silently finishing her cotton candy when she hears someone call out from behind her.
"Lulu ge!!" She jumps up, beaming at the petite man who was an ex-member of the drama club— now a TA in Economics. "You came?!" Luhan smiles, ruffling her hair.
"I heard you guys pulled this stint off, I had to come. Also had to introduce my boyfriend to you." Ara looks carefully at the tall man emerging from the building. He seems incredibly familiar.
"Oh Sehun?! You're dating Oh Sehun?!" When Sehun looks mildly offended at her outburst, she glares at him. "Haneul-ssi said you had plans? Lulu ge was your 'plan', I presume?"  At least he has the humility to look guilty— for a second only.
"We were going to get coffee," Luhan steps in, "it was my idea to come see you." Ara doesn't stop glaring at Sehun.
"She's going to the Last Dance so I'd go the other way," she huffs. Sehun nods.
"Thanks," he mutters.
"You'd better tell her!" Ara yells after him. Sehun raises his hand to his head in a mock salute as he wraps an arm around Luhan's shoulders. "Bye gege!!"
Ara breaks put into a tiny grin wondering how bright Luhan ge had managed to date impassive Oh Sehun. Most people make their way towards the dance and Ara wonders if she should head back to the Haunted Rooms and tell everyone to head out, for the lack of anything else. Her phone buzzes.

@do_Kyung: dance with me?

The soccer field is packed when Ara walks in. The Last Dance is a bigger hit than any of them had hoped for. Ara spots a familiar figure in the audience stands and climbs up.
"I thought we were dancing," she grins at him. Kyungsoo holds out a stick of cotton candy.
"I lied?" Ara shakes her head and sits down, a little disappointed but the cotton candy makes up for it a little.
The bonfire slowly comes to life and Baekhyun starts playing track after track of waltz music. Sitting with shoulders pressed against Kyungsoo's, Ara can't help but grin at the couples dancing before her and the gentle humming beside her.
"Looks like this is a big hit," Ara whispers softly. Kyungsoo nods, tearing off some of the pink candy.
"Yeah I think we made the most money here." Ara laughs, shaking her head.
"I was talking about the love, Shylock!"
"I have my money, speak not against my money."
"Oh my—" Ara can't help the giggles that break through. "Did you just paraphrase Shylock?!" Kyungsoo grins impishly at her. Ara bumps her shoulders against his, shaking her head, and catches Jongdae and Haneul headed towards the exit, holding hands. She waves at them, receiving shy smiles from both.
"The sight of lovers feedeth those in love," Ara mutters.
"Love is merely a madness and, I tell you, deserves as 
as well a dark house and a whip, as madmen do and the 
reason why they are not so punished and cured, is, that 
the lunacy is so ordinary, that the whippers are in love too." Kyungsoo's voice is low in her ears and his eyes have a strange look in them, intense and caring all at once so that Ara gulps.
"Are we going to have a Shakespeare spouting contest now?" She asks, laughing nervously. Kyungsoo offers a lazy smile and takes a sip from his coke before passing it back to Ara.
A little after nine people begin to leave in ones and twos as Baekhyun announces the end of the dance and thanks everyone on behalf of the club. Ara finds herself mesmerized by the dying fire in the empty field, watching the glowing firewood unblinkingly, contemplating if they should be leaving to find the groundskeeper and get him to douse the flames.
"Dance with me?"
Ara jerks her head up, finding Kyungsoo standing and extending a hand.
"Now? With no music?" She asks impassively, pursing her lips. Kyungsoo gives her a small smile.
"Humor me." Ara gives in, slipping her fingers through his as he leads her down the stairs to the field.
What is probably supposed to be a silent slow dance, ends up as a hug, as Kyungsoo wraps his arms around Ara's waist and she puts hers around his neck, placing her head on his shoulders, while they move to the soft crackle of the dying fire and Kyungsoo softly humming an old song she can't quite remember. The metaphorical butterflies rise swiftly in the pit of her stomach.
"I can't believe Jongdae asked her out," Ara says softly after a while.
"You asked her out first, to be fair."
"What?"
"Yeah, 'hey, you should come if you're free!' and you sounded very excited too." Even though she can't see his face, Ara knows he's smirking. She smacks his back.
"Very funny."
"Hmm... shame, I was waiting for you to ask me out that excitedly."
"Hey, you should come, if you're free!" Ara says into his shoulder. "Happy?"
"Where to?"
"Home... tonight...?"
"That's mighty forward of you," Kyungsoo laughs and Ara pulls back, wide-eyed and hits him on the chest.
"For dinner! Geez! Get your mind— aargh!" She looks sideways, flustered and hot in the ears. They stop moving, standing still in the soft glow of the fire. Ara's hands slip down Kyungsoo's arms and he intertwines their fingers.
"I got curious and visited Yixing hyung's stall..." Says Kyungsoo guiltily, biting his bottom lip. Ara narrows her eyes.
"And...?"
"And he told me it'd be good if I asked someone special to dance."
"Did you?" Ara can't believe the calm in her own voice.
"Yeah..." Kyungsoo gulps visibly. "But I chickened out and then this happened."
"This is nice..." Ara murmurs as Kyungsoo looks down at her.
"Hey umm... If you uhh... if... hit me if..." Ara sees the painful confusion in his eyes as he lowers her head towards hers, understanding every bit of the heavy "if"s and  realizing how horribly wrong it could all go. "Hit me later but let me do this...." Kyungsoo's voice is now down to a cracked whisper. As she remembers her own advice to Jongdae that evening Ara tilts her head up.
The gentle crackle of the dying embers and the warm glow it casts on Kyungsoo's hesitant face is all that she sees before she closes her eyes.
"I think you'll know when the time is right... Do what the moment calls for, okay? Don't over-think it."
Kyungsoo's lips feel soft, pressed lightly against hers; his hands warm in hers. The butterflies are unharnessed now, making her curl her toes and tighten her fingers around his. Kyungsoo smiles against her lips and she doesn't want it to end when he pulls back.
Ara opens her eyes to a nervous smile and warm eyes.
"I should have done that ages ago..." Kyungsoo gulps again. It's comforting to Ara that he's just as nervous as she is.
"Yes," she chews her lower lip as Kyungsoo places his forehead against hers. "You should have....."
"Is it a little too early to say I love you...?" Kyungsoo runs little circles with his thumb on Ara's hand.
"No..."
"Then I love you."
"I love you too."
Maybe it's the firelight but their smiles seem a little brighter.

As they walk home, swinging their clasped between them, Ara remembers something from the morning.
"Why were so mad at me waking you up this morning?"
"Hmm?"
You know.... you looked like you were expecting me to say something else..."
"Well..." Kyungsoo licks his lips and rubs the back of his neck. "When a man is woken up by a pretty woman early in the morning, he doesn't expect to be carted off to a fund raiser..." Ara furrows her brows at him.
"So.... what? You were expecting me to Sleeping Beauty you?"
"Not really... but that doesn't sound too bad," he grins. Ara rolls her eyes.
"I'll wake you up tomorrow morning and fulfill all your Disney Princess dreams, okay?" Kyungsoo laughs as they reach Ara's porch.
"Hey, I—"
His words are cut short by Ara's mother opening the door with a big smile.
"I thought I saw you kids coming down the street! Was it a hit?" Then as her eyes trail over her frozen daughter, a rather nervous Kyungsoo and their failed attempt at discreetly letting go of each other's hands, her grin turns positively impish. "Well something was a hit alright," she says, as she makes a move to close the door. "I'll leave you kids to your goodbyes. Remember that the whole street can see you, though." With that Mrs. Cho shuts the door.
"Umma!!" Ara yells, flushing a bright shade of red. Kyungsoo laughs and pulls her to face him.
"See you tomorrow?"
Ara nods and Kyungsoo leans in and presses his lips against hers again. This kiss is deeper and lasts longer. Kyungsoo holds her close, wrapping his arms around her waist and Ara raises herself on her toes, weaving her fingers through his hair. Kyungsoo's lips are a little cold from the night air, but tastes sweet from all the cotton candy they've devoured all evening.
"I could get used to that," he grins, as he breaks away. Ara can't help but return it with a giddy smile.
She keeps that smile on as she enters her house, ignoring the curious looks her mother gives her. She almost skips to her room, giddy, dizzy and light headed from everything that night, falling into her bed with no intention of doing anything but dreaming about her firelight kiss with him. Her phone buzzes. She contemplates letting it be but then decides to check it in case it's important.

@do_Kyung: don't you dare skip dinner. See you tomorrow. 하트. 하트.

Ara grins and sends him a quick reply before racing downstairs, and then remembers Yixing's "predictions" about The One from the afternoon. She sighs. He was much too gifted in the art of messing with people's heads.
•

Part III

Kyungsoo barely notices Ara on the first day of middle school. With all the new faces and the teachers expecting them all to be suddenly "grown up", Kyungsoo doesn't see the girl in the glasses, with a short bob, hidden behind her book, sitting alone at the back of the class. One week later, he does start to notice her but she's so quiet and wrapped up in her own world that Kyungsoo doesn't know how to break into it. Not that he wants to of course, but she makes him curious nonetheless.

"Alright class, we're going to learn how to make spaghetti today," the Home Ec. teacher announces one day in late autumn. Kyungsoo bolts up excited. Spaghetti is just about his favorite dish and now he can learn how to make it. "Does anyone know how to make it?"
"I know how to make it, teacher."
It's the first time he hears that voice, small and unsure, and turns around to see the girl now raising her hand hesitantly, while looking like she's made the worst mistake of her life. The teacher looks a little impressed, and although he doesn't show it, so does Kyungsoo.
"What's your name child?"
"Cho... Ara..."
Kyungsoo notices her hands trembling on the table. The teacher runs them through basic ingredients and precautions to take, but Kyungsoo keeps looking back to Ara, who diligently writes everything down.
At the end of ninety minutes of class, there's a mixed variety of dishes— some burnt and inedible, while some look alright for their first times. Kyungsoo stares proudly at his own plate but then turns to the excited whispers emerging from the back to the classroom.
Ara's dish looks experienced, he thinks, as he overhears whispers of mingled amazement and jealousy.
"That looks pretty cool," he says, making no attempt to hide his awe. She blinks at him.
"Re-really?"
"Yeah.... mind if I try it...?" Ara passes him a fork and chews on her bottom lip as the others stare at Kyungsoo, awaiting his response.
"It's.... really really good," he says, breaking out into a grin. "Where'd you learn it?!"
"My mum works late so I make it for myself now and then..." Kyungsoo places the fork back on the counter and extends a hand.
"Do Kyungsoo." She looks at the hand, pausing a beat before placing hers in it.
"Cho Ara."
"You have to teach me how to do that!"
By the time three years of middle school end, Kyungsoo and Ara become inseparable. It is also by then that Kyungsoo's spaghetti far surpasses Ara's in taste but he maintains that the best spaghetti he remembers having is in his first year of Middle School, the day he meets Ara.

In High School Kyungsoo realizes his best friend has changed. She's still the same she was through the last three years with him, but the girl lost in her own world rarely emerges in public anymore. He doesn't mind that that girl only shows herself when she's alone with him. He likes being a part of her inaccessible world.
She sits with groups of classmates when not with him, flitting from people to people, suddenly a social butterfly so very unlike the girl he'd first known. She isn't always with him any more, but he can't miss the bright eyes and full smile as she waves from across the class to him. He feels a little upset at not having to feel like protecting her anymore, but he's happy she's grown, in fact he's proud.
In the second year of high school, Kyungsoo asks out his classmate, Lee Eunae.
"Since when?" Ara asks him as they wait for the bus.
"Last week..."
"You didn't tell me you were planning to ask her out..." The hurt is evident, heavily colouring her voice.
"I haven't seen you much, you've been busy with club stuff..." Ara looks away, apologetic and guilty. "No, wait," Kyungsoo shakes his head. "I should have told you... I'm sorry." He doesn't tell her why he hadn't told her, he doesn't know why himself.
"That's okay," she says, smiling, "maybe we could go eat on Sunday. I heard a new Italian place opened up." Kyungsoo takes a seat next to hers and shakes his head.
"Sorry... I told Eunae I'd take her out..."
"That's cool... maybe later..." Kyungsoo doesn't understand the hollow feeling he gets as Ara turns away and rests her head against the window, but he doesn't like it for a moment.
His relationship lasts five months, until they both decide to break it off and Kyungsoo realizes that it's been too clinical, almost as if they'd been playing parts in a play. Ara doesn't date anyone yet, confiding in Kyungsoo that she has discovered her love for the stage and doesn't want to be held down by commitments just yet. For now acting out Shakespearian romances would be enough for her.
Towards the end of their final year it's Choi Minhee who asks him out, rather shyly, after school and Kyungsoo thinks she's cute but he doesn't know what he should tell her.
"I think you should say yes," Ara tells him, as she picks out formals for a conference. "Does this look okay?"
"Black, again?" Ara scoffs at him.
"You're one to talk mister!" Then she softens and tells him, "if you say yes to her, say it because you want to, okay? She's nice." Kyungsoo nods, thinking about the fact that he doesn't really know Minhee really well except that she plays tennis really well and she's... nice. He doesn't notice when Ara emerges from the changing room in a navy dress, tugging nervously at the hem while looking at herself in the mirror. When he does, he can't help the forming grin as he is reminded of the shy girl who said she could make spaghetti one Autumn afternoon.
"You look lovely," he says, tilting his head, keeping the grin. Ara chews on her bottom lip, a nervous tick Kyungsoo finds adorable.
"You think...?" And to Kyungsoo's subsequent nod, she says, "thanks," with a shy smile and Kyungsoo would be lying if he says his heart doesn't beat faster right then.
He says yes to Minhee next morning.
In the month that follows Kyungsoo doesn't see much of Ara, until she comes running into class one day, stopping at his table looking incredibly disheveled and almost in tears.
"Kyung! You have to be my Romeo!" Almost simultaneously, Kyungsoo and Minhee, who is next to him, tense up for altogether different reasons.
"What?"
"Please. Kim Kibum broke his leg, and we don't have an understudy!" Kyungsoo contemplates the scenario. "I know you know your Shakespeare so please! I'm begging here! You have to come in and play Romeo!"
"I don't know the first thing about acting!"
"I didn't know until last year either!! Kyung please..." Kyungsoo can't say no, he's never been able to say no to her and to Minhee's evident annoyance, he gets up and follows Ara out the door.
As it turns out, Kyu loves being on stage as much as Ara and he finally realizes why she spends so much time in rehearsals.
"I love doing this but Romeo and Juliet were a couple of idiotic teens. Who the hell falls in love like that," grumbles Ara, handing Kyungsoo a can of coke after rehearsals one afternoon. Kyungsoo breaks the seal and waits for the angry hiss to die down before taking a swing.
"Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?" He says, licking his lips.
"Is that you or Shakespeare speaking?" Kyungsoo gives her a lazy half smile.
"As You Like It, Act III, Scene v." He takes another long drink. "Me? I think... It's something that grows over time under the surface, until you take the time to look closer and you realize that the person you see everyday— maybe even take for granted— that person is the one you love." Kyungsoo exhales deeply as he finishes, staring at the ground between his feet.
"Cheers to you finding her," Ara says, raising her can. For a while they sit on the stage, silently drinking and lost in their own thoughts, shoulders lightly brushing each other and Kyungsoo knows Ara is about to say something from the way she tilts her head when Minhee walks in through the door, excited smile freezing slowly when she sees the two of them.
"Oh, I'll see you later then Kyungsoo." The chill in the air is pronounced. It's Ara who jumps down from the stage calling after Minhee who doesn't respond, walking away as fast as she can. Kyungsoo sits frozen as Ara turns to look at him with a bewildered look.
"Go after her!" She waves wildly. Kyungsoo doesn't.
They break up a few days later.
Ara avoids Kyungsoo in the days that follow, and he can see the look in her eyes that tells him she's beating herself up over his breakup. At the end of the week, Kyungsoo has had enough, as he corners her in her seat after class, sitting down beside her and preventing her exit until everyone has left, while Ara tries to occupy herself with a Sociology textbook and acts very busy.
When the last student exits, Kyungsoo snatches the book out of Ara's hand.
"It wasn't your fault!" He snaps, a little louder and with more acid than he'd intended to. Ara flinches, but stares back at him impassively.
"Excuse you," she snaps back, grabbing the book and wrenching it out of his hands. Kyungsoo almost slams his fist down upon the table. This wasn't proceeding the way he'd intended it to.
"Ara, please," he says gently. "Ara I'm sorry..."
"You're sorry?!" She slams the book down upon her table. "You don't get to be the big man here Do Kyungsoo! Not to the piece of crap who ruined everything for you!" The brimming eyes and cracking voice make Kyungsoo clench his fists, restraining himself from pulling her into a hug.
"What the hell are you talking about," he says through gritted teeth.
"You looked happy Kyung... I didn't mean to... I don't even know why..."
"I'm not blaming you!"
"I'm blaming me!!"
"It wasn't you! I swear!" Kyungsoo lies, she doesn't need to know, not just yet.

'Are you in love with her?'
'What?'
'You don't even deny it and you sure look it."
'What on earth—'
'Forget it, I'm sick of playing second fiddle to Cho Ara.'

No, she doesn't need to know... but she already seems to know that as she shakes her head at him.
"Liar," she mutters. "I can see it on your face." Kyungsoo sighs, staring out of the window.
"I've known you for the last six years of my life, and I can't imagine six days without you. There was never a choice to make," he admits. Ara's eyes widen greatly. "You're important to me Ara.."
Ara doesn't seem entirely convinced as Kyungsoo finally pulls her into a hug, letting her bury her head into his shoulders.
"I'm a horrible person..." She mumbles. Kyungsoo pats her back.
"I think I might be worse," and refuses to answer Ara's curious,
"Hmm?"

When the curtains descend on their final performance, Kyungsoo rises from the floor where he meets Ara's ecstatic smile, still dressed in Juliet's bloodied dress. She doesn't wait, wrapping her arms around him while he's still seated.
"Best Romeo ever!" She yells over the roar of the backstage crowd, congratulating and exalting all at once. They finally stand, still grinning brightly at each other, Ara's wig looking wild and unkempt, just like the glee in her eyes and Kyungsoo seizes her up in another bone-crushing embrace, unsure of his own feelings but sure that has happy now. Ara seems surprised for a while until she molds herself into his hold, both of them swaying from side to side, unable to stop the smiles on their faces. Kyungsoo wonders if he couldn't perhaps remain like this forever. Then he decides Shakespeare has messed up his mind into a pile of mush.
"Hey umm.. Ara..?" Ara breaks off gently, smiling politely at the shy boy, who had transformed himself into Tybalt for the stage, rubbing the back of his neck
"Hey, Junho! Great job." He lets out a nervous smile at her words.
"Thanks. You guys too! So umm... Ara, I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me to prom...? Unless you're already going with someone!"
Kyungsoo suddenly feels a punch to the gut, stepping back automatically to avoid hearing Ara's answer, but then he's always known that she can never say no.

Kyungsoo declines every request that comes to him for prom, restraining himself from snapping at anyone and everyone who asks him out.
"You're not going?" Ara asks running her lips between her teeth and peering out at him from under her bangs. Kyungsoo shakes his head, refusing to look up to meet her eyes. He forces her to keep her date, and reminds her that she has to attend, being a part of the prom committee.
So it's Kyungsoo's own fault when on Prom day, he's home alone at six, bouncing a rubber ball off his bedroom walls, blasting R&B at the loudest possible volume and trying not to think of anything that might be going on in school. His phone rings a loud symphony and he knows it's Ara.
"Kyungsoo..." The way she says his name, hesitant on the first syllable, that tells him something is wrong.
"Should I be there?" He asks, running his hand through his tousled hair.
"If you're not busy..."
"Stay there."
It takes Kyungsoo five minutes to drag out a pressed black shirt and slip it on his black jeans and hopes it looks passably formal before grabbing his jacket and dashing out of his house.
He spots her standing close to the entrance, chewing her lip and looking around, occasionally smiling at her classmates with a smile that didn't touch her eyes. She looks beautiful, he thinks, dressed in her black dress, in crepe and a fluffed skirt of tulle, and black heels. They look like couple, he realizes. She looks beautiful but so lonely, with her shoulders dropping in dejection and her eyes flitting all over without really looking.
"Ara," he says, lightly placing a hand on his shoulders. She swivels around, beaming in relief and Kyungsoo draws her into a quick hug. He hears a soft sniffle into his shoulders and knows that if they were alone, she'd have been crying. It lasts only a few seconds and when she pulls back, she has her polite social smile on again. Kyungsoo looks around and raises his eyebrow.
"Where's Junho?" Ara drops her gaze to the floor.
"He got asked out by the girl he's liked for ages and he hoped I'd understand..." She looks up with a smile. "It's not a big deal, I get it..." Kyungsoo clenches his jaw.
"Where is he and how can I hurt him?" Ara let's out a small laugh.
"I didn't call you for that." Kyungsoo looks over her dejected, yet socially smiling face.
"Do you have anything else to do here?" She shakes her head. "Good," he slips his hand into hers and pulls her towards the door, ignoring the stares thrown their way.
"What— where are we going?" Ara hisses.
"Gelato, then movie, then dinner." Kyungsoo replies without looking back.
"I don't have the money for all of that!"
"It's a date then," Kyungsoo grins, heartbeat quickening as they finally walk out of the school grounds and Ara falls into step with him. She looks at him incredulously.
"Very funny Kyung," she huffs. "You don't have to..."
Kyungsoo doesn't reply, but he disagrees. He may not have to, but he wants to.
School ends without much else, but then Kyungsoo makes it into the college of his choice first. He opens the letter before Ara and it's only when she enlists the places she's applied to that he realizes that they may not be in the same college after all. He doesn't seem as happy as he should be with the acceptance letter.
In fact he keeps moping, till a week later, making his hyung call him out on his fears, which he vehemently denies.
"Do Kyungsoo!!" He hears one afternoon, when he's home with his brother, both watching some show or the other. The doorbell rings furiously and Seungsoo answers it only to have Ara tear past him unceremoniously and launch herself on to a startled Kyungsoo, tackling him with a hug into the couch.
"Wha—???"
"I made it in!!" Her eyes look glassy for some reason Kyungsoo can't fathom. "We're going to college together!!" Kyungsoo doesn't need to be told twice, as he hugs her back with equal ferocity, almost toppling off the couch. Seungsoo coughs discreetly.
"So does this mean celebrations are in order." Kyungsoo breaks apart at the sound of his brother's voice very reluctantly. "Dinner's on me kids," he says, ruffling Kyungsoo's hair and walking out of the room. Kyungsoo turns back to Ara, who's already flipping through the television channels and realizes her legs are still entangled with his. He leans back on his end of the couch and keeps his eyes trained on the screen, feeling happier than he has in days. Ara is going to college with him.

After the first month of college, Ara catches him one lunch and lays out her plans.
"We need to revive the drama club," she says and he can already see the gears of her brain working much too fast and much too forward. But he goes along with her, pinning up posters and flyers at her request, until they have a handful of people to work with, among whom they single out Zhang Yixing, the third year psychology student, Lu Han the final year economics major, Kim Jongdae and Byun Baekhyun from Journalism as the best. It takes a lot of debating and heated arguments but finally Lady Windermere's Fan emerges the victor as the play of choice.
"I thought I had a crush on Jongdae," Ara muses on a lazy afternoon, lying on her stomach on Kyungsoo's bed, writing an essay, while Kyungsoo sits at his desk and jerks up his head sharply.
"Huh?"
"He's really cute, nice and all but he's not my style," she rolls over to her back and stares at the ceiling. "Nah... I have a crush on Yixing ge," she says firmly.
"Oh really?" He asks, glaring at the writing on his book, trying to keep the ire out of his voice. Ara carries on blissfully unaware.
"Yeah, he's nice and almost like one of those Princes in stories?" She laughs.
The next morning Yixing doesn't understand the sudden tartness with which Kyungsoo treats him.
"So you'll be playing Lord Darlington."
"Great."
"We'll start rehearsals after classes."
"Fine."
"Is there anything you want to clarify."
"No."
So for the next few days Yixing goes to bed wondering if he'll be murdered in his sleep or not. Ara remains blissfully unaware but fortunately for Yixing her crush dies out in a few weeks, and Kyungsoo feels rather idiotic for his behavior, working overtime to cover up for it.
"He's an idiot," he hears Yixing tell Luhan after practice. "You're an idiot," the pair notice him and Kyungsoo finds himself cornered by both seniors grinning at him. "You're so obvious, it's a wonder she doesn't see it yet," Yixing shakes his head. "You don't even need a psychology degree to see that." Kyungsoo mutters incoherent denial under his breath and walks off.
The words come back to haunt him in their third year when Kyungsoo decides to give into Ara's demand for more funds and hold a fund raiser, dragging Ara out of her Sunday reading. Kyungsoo looks at the sleeping face beside him and he finally understands that he's gone long beyond just liking her. He can't imagine a life where he doesn't see her everyday and hear his name in her voice and wonders if it makes him worse than the Shakespearean love stories he loves to criticize. He tucks a strand of hair behind her ears and takes their used cups to the kitchen. He comes to a stop before her, licking his lips nervously, contemplating on her reaction to his future actions— both immediate and long time.
He decides to take a risk anyway, slipping a hand under her neck and the other under her knees, drawing her sleeping forms close to him before standing up. For a moment she shifts, and in that moment Kyungsoo freezes, staring at her with wide eyes wondering if she might hit him. But she only adjusts herself into his arms, sighing softly in her sleep. Kyungsoo breathes again and then softly smiles. She looks so innocent and unlike her vivacious self like this.
As he places her on her bed and pulls the cover over her, Ara snuggles into his arms refusing to relinquish the warmth. Kyungsoo wonders if he couldn't maybe curl up beside her, close his eyes to her face and open them to hers too... He gently pries her off and tucks her in. Then on an impulse, he presses a soft kiss on her cheek, walking out with an insuppressible grin on his face. He spends the rest of his night wondering what she'd look like being kissed if she was awake and not blissfully unaware but something in Kyungsoo doesn't want to know the answer just yet.

"Hyung."
Kyungsoo pushes his way past a crowd of giggling girls and finds Yixing cross-legged on his stool, perched precariously with a look of absolute enlightenment.
"Aah Kyungsoo," he says with a wise tilt of his head, which creates a loud jangle. "Do you want to have your fortune told?" Kyungsoo purses his lips for a second.
"Yeah why not," he muses, "but I'm not paying you."
"Very well, since you are our illustrious president... hmmm.... ask someone special to dance and maybe fortune will smile upon you." Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Don't feign ignorance, Do Kyungsoo," Yixing says with a loud clatter of beads and trinkets. "Ask her."
There are a million and one ways in which everything might go wrong, but as he walks back home, grinning from his kiss, Kyungsoo is happy with the one way everything does go right. And oh, Zhang Yixing's ability to predict things is rather disturbing.