Of Playing Cupid and Endless Teasing
Of Playing Cupid and Endless Teasing
ft: yunho/boa, minor!zhoumi/victoria, sehun/krystal/kai, minor!siwon/sooyoung
pg-13 (slight implication at the ending); 6.4k words; fluff!!!
written for smtheficathon
~ Set in Shinhwa High, a fictitious high school where matchmaking, gossiping and
Krystal being the overprotective younger sister of Yunho are seen every day!
(Ding…dong…deng…)
Good morning, teachers and students of Shinhwa High! This hour’s song dedication will begin with a special dedication to Mr. Jung Yunho and Miss Kwon Boa from two students who wish to remain anonymous. The message that came with this dedication is as follows; “dear teachers, congratulations! We hope you will always be happy together.”.
Well, will you look at that? Congratulations, Mr. Jung and Miss Kwon! Please enjoy this song dedicated to the both of you; this is Kim Soohyun’s You, the Only Person.
(Ding…dong…deng…)
Everyone in the faculty lounge stops what they are doing, turning immediately like a domino effect to look at the certain female teacher seated in the middle of the staff room.
Boa drops the pen she was holding, eyes widening in surprise as she slowly digests the announcement that was just made. Shocked, she quickly turns around and, much to her chagrin, finds the gazes of her co-workers on her as the music starts to play in the speakers.
“T-there’s a misunderstanding!” Boa shakes her hands a few times, looking from one teacher to another. She pretends to laugh it off, but finds herself gulping nervously instead. “Yunho and I are not together!”
One of her closest friends in the faculty, Victoria, stifles a giggle. “Are you sure about that, Boa-sshi? None of us are buying it, though.”
Indeed, when Boa looks around the staff room again, she notes that everyone is either smiling, or smirking (there’s no in between). She heaves a sigh.
“I can assure you that nothing-“ Boa is interrupted midsentence by the sudden ring from her mobile phone. She glances at the caller ID and breathes a sigh of relief. “-See, Yunho is calling in, I’m sure he’s just as confused as-” Her fellow teachers’ smiles seem to grow wider, much to her dismay as she regrets revealing the identity of the caller immediately. She turns away to answer the call.
“Yunho,” Boa whispers, covering her now reddened face with her hair as she looks down on the paper she had been marking. “You have to come back to the faculty lounge as soon as possible and explain to them that we aren’t dating!”
“Uh, Boa? I was just going to ask you what happened.” Yunho answers from the other line, a hint of both amusement and embarrassment in his tone. “I was packing my stuffs and heading out from the classroom when that announcement was made and all the students in my class started to-“
Boa grimaces when she hears a sudden loud wolf-whistling from the other line, followed by a ‘Mr. Jung, you’re the man!’
Slightly distracted by the singing voice of Kim Soohyun over the speakers, Boa quickly whispers; “Get back here as soon as you can! Bye!”
Cheeks burning hot, the brunette tucks the loose strands of her hair behind her ears and clears her throat loudly. “It’s a misunderstanding, really. Yunho and I are just best friends.”
“Best friends make the best lovers, you know.” Another teacher, Henry Lau, speaks from his desk, a huge grin on his face.
“I agree with Henry.” Boa is mortified when another fellow teacher, Sunny, turns to give Henry a high-five. “And you do know that even the students have been wondering for a long time if you two are together, right?”
Boa groans, covering her face with one hand. “I honestly don’t know how that happened.”
“Boa-sshi, you are aware of the many times you two were spotted together in and out of the school, right?” Boa jumps in her heels at the voice of the deputy headmaster, Ahn Kangta. He is giving her a look which tells that he is more amused than annoyed at the personal discussion going about in the faculty lounge. She could feel herself turning redder, knowing that the deputy headmaster has probably heard the announcement made earlier. “There’s bound to be rumors, you know.”
“B-but,” Flustered, Boa looks from Kangta to Henry to Sunny to Victoria. “We’re best friends! Of course we would hang out together from time to time!”
Kangta chuckles, dismissing her explanation with a wave of his hand. “That’s a very cute explanation, Boa-sshi, but anyway, I came to remind all of you of the staff meeting later in the afternoon. Don’t be late, the headmaster has something important to discuss.”
Kangta turns around to leave, but not before giving a wink at the still stunned teacher by her desk. “Well, congratulations.”
Boa groans.
--
“So you’re telling us that the request is signed as anonymous?”
The next morning, Yunho and Boa decided to inquire the school DJ about the mysterious song dedication that has occurred. The school DJ, Kim Kibum who also goes by the name Diva Key, merely shrugs as he shows the two teachers the request form. “When I came to the room, this was already placed beside the microphone.”
Kibum smirks. “But seriously though, aren’t you two together yet?”
“Yet?” Boa could feel herself blushing again. “No, we’re not, Kibum-sshi.”
Not convinced, Kibum raises an eyebrow at the male teacher’s direction. “Really, Mr. Jung?”
“Yes, that’s true.” Yunho nods, though a smile is fixed on his face. “We’re really not…together.”
Kibum’s face falls in a split second. “What, why not?!”
“Well…” Yunho tries to explain, but finds no words in his mouth. He turns to look at his best friend for help, but she too has nothing to say. “It’s just that we’ve known each other since middle school and…”
“All the more reason to get together, isn’t that not?!” Kibum demands, forgetting that both individuals standing in front of him are his teachers. “Everyone’s rooting for you two!”
“Everyone’s rooting for-oh my god,” Boa looks away from the student, suddenly fanning herself with her hand. “So hot, the weather is so hot.”
Yunho scratches his head, feeling himself blushing as well at the remark made by the student. “Anyway, thanks, Kibum. If you ever find out who the two requesters are, please do inform us. We really need to clarify this…“
“Alright, Mr. Jung.” Despite nodding his head, Kibum is mentally shaking his head vigorously. God bless the two anonymous requesters, someone needs to clearly knock some senses into-oh, damn, Kibum, they’re your teachers, what are you even thinking???
--
Back in the staff lounge, Henry and Sunny are busy discussing about the respective class projects they are planning to assign to their students. With them are Victoria and Zhou Mi, both equally as busy and seemingly in a heated argument.
“What are you four doing?” Yunho asks as he walks nearer, noticing that the four teachers seem to be busier than usual.
“Oh, Yunho! Come here,” Henry gestures the man frantically. “In terms of compatibility, do you think Kim Jongin is more suited with Kang Seulgi as partners, or with your sister, Jung Soojung?”
“What-” Yunho deadpans. “-on earth?”
Victoria laughs. “We think it would be more interesting if we are to pair our students up for their class projects.”
“Pairing up students for projects is a normal thing to do, isn’t it?” Boa joins in the conversation, eyebrow raised. “Why are you four so busy?”
“We’re busy arguing,” Sunny explains patiently, in which Yunho and Boa exchange a worried glance. “What? Why?”
“Henry wants to pair his student, Jongin, with Soojung, but I personally think-“ Sunny throws a glare at the teacher beside her. Henry rolls his eyes. “-that Jongin and Seulgi are a better match!”
Baffled, Yunho and Boa merely stare at them.
“And Zhou Mi refuses to listen to me when I say that Kim Joonmyun works well with Bae Joohyun!” Victoria adds, and Zhou Mi groans. “I just think student Joohyun would match better with Oh Sehun!”
“Oh Sehun is not even in the same class as Joohyun!” Victoria retorts.
Zhou Mi frowns. “Didn’t I tell you that this assignment is an interclass project?”
“But who would work well with someone from a different class?”
“I’m confident that they would!”
“Seulgi works better with Jongin, trust me.”
“No, you’re wrong, Jongin and Soojung have been best friends since forever-”
“Zhou Mi, you really need to listen to me.”
“No, you should listen to me, Song Qian.”
“Don’t you Song Qian me!”
Jaws now slightly ajar, Yunho and Boa are completely speechless with the scene happening in front of them. Realizing that the four teachers have gone back to arguing amongst themselves, they turn around slowly.
“You don’t do that, do you?” Boa whispers, still shocked at what she has witnessed.
“Pairing my students together? Er, no.” Yunho replies, shaking his head.
“Gosh, why can’t you just let me pair my own students together?!” Yunho and Boa glance behind their shoulders to see Sunny jabbing a finger into Henry’s chest.
“I can’t bear to see you pairing the wrong pairs together, obviously!” Henry retorts.
Still amused at what’s going on behind them, Yunho and Boa could only laugh to themselves. Boa nudges Yunho to lean closer. “I’ve bought the tickets for the 5.30 show later. You can make it, right?”
“Of course! I’ll meet you at the usual café at 4.30.” He nods before standing upright again. Then, slowly, he begins to chuckle.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I finally see why so many people misunderstands our relationship.” Yunho explains, shrugging. “We really do hang out a lot, come to think about it.”
“Those people do not see the beauty of a friendship between two different genders. I’d say it’s their loss.” Boa blurts out, a little flustered.
Yunho keeps mum, though he is nodding in agreement. “Oh, by the way,” Boa suddenly remembers why she had joined in the conversation in the first place-she wanted to ask Yunho something. “Is your sister doing fine, lately?” She asks, somewhat worried as she hands an exam paper belonging to Jung Soojung to Yunho. “I don’t understand how she can fail the test this time, when she’s all along been the best in my class.”
Alarmed, Yunho takes the paper from Boa’s hands. He frowns at the single red digit on the upper right side of the paper. “She seems alright at home, though. I’ll ask her about this later.”
Boa nods. “Please do. I tried talking to her,” She pauses, “but I don’t think Soojung is comfortable talking to me.”
“What? But you two know each other since we were in middle school!” Yunho’s frown deepens. His sister’s thoughts lately has indeed been hard to read, to be honest. “I’ll talk to her soon.”
--
“I bet ten thousand won that Lee Taemin will ask Choi Jinri out for prom this year.”
During their break time, the teachers find themselves gossiping once again. Especially given that Prom Season is nearing, it is difficult not to find a teacher who isn’t curious on the high school romances going about in their school. Leading the much heated discussion on who’s going to ask who for prom is Choi Siwon, the Physical Education teacher.
“Oh, isn’t Taemin going to ask Soojung?” Biology teacher, Choi Sooyoung, asks. She frowns to herself when Siwon shakes his head twice confidently. “No, Soojung is going to be asked by Kim Jongin or Oh Sehun, probably. But please don’t let Yunho hear this, he might go into overprotective brother mode.”
Henry laughs. “I agree with Siwon. I think Jongin will be asking Soojung to prom. And no-” He darts a quick glance at the female teacher beside Sooyoung. “-Jongin isn’t going to ask Seulgi.”
Sunny rolls her eyes and waves her hand in the air. “I have this feeling Jongin isn’t going to ask anybody, because that guy’s really clueless when it comes to girls.”
Just then, Yunho walks into the lounge with Boa behind him, both so deeply engrossed in a conversation that they miss the group huddled at the side.
“You know who’s clueless as well?” Siwon whispers, and the group huddles closer together. He nods at the two beings who had just entered the lounge. “Them. They are the most clueless pair of human beings I have ever seen in my life.”
Sooyoung muffles a laugh while nodding her head. “You know, I saw them two days ago in Velvet Café, and they were sharing a bowl of ice-cream.”
Henry pretends to gasp, adding in a low whisper; “Seriously, what’s new though? It’s like they’re a couple but they don’t even realize it. They’re that comfortable with each other.”
“I overheard Soojung telling Jinri the other day,” Sunny begins softly, “that during high school, they actually went to prom together.”
“Not surprising.” Siwon shrugs.
“But Soojung insisted that there’s nothing going on between them. They went to prom as best friends, and even attended the same college and university together afterwards.”
The four teachers look at the direction of Yunho and Boa, now seated at their respective seats. They are not talking to each other anymore, but the four teachers could see that occasionally, they would exchange a glance or a frown at one another.
“I think their friendship is really beautiful, though.” Sooyoung swoons in admiration. “I wish I had a best guy friend, to be honest.”
Siwon clears his throat a few times. “Excuse me, Sooyoung? Don’t I know you since college?”
“You barely even talked to me back then.” Sooyoung returns blandly.
Siwon flashes his dimpled grin at her direction; “Well, I do, now!”
Just then, Victoria walks past them, stopping in her tracks to look at the four teachers still huddled by the side. “What are you four gossiping about?”
“We were talking about who’s going to ask who to prom at first,” Henry explains briskly, “but then the conversation somehow sidetracked to that of our two lovely but oblivious teachers.” He nods his head at the direction of Yunho and Boa.
There is no need to explain further, as Victoria’s eyes begin to sparkle with mischief and excitement. “Say, maybe we should match make them or something, or maybe we could-“
“-maybe you could all go back to work now instead of gossiping around like you have nothing to do.” A sudden voice interrupts Victoria midsentence, and all five teachers jump in their places. Whipping their heads to the direction of the voice, a bemused looking Ahn Kangta is staring back at them. “Well?”
Siwon, Sooyoung, Henry, Sunny and Victoria scramble back towards their seats, faces flushed with embarrassment.
Kangta fights back the smirk that is slowly appearing on his face. He turns to look at the subjects of his teachers’ conversation, an idea popping in his mind as he made his way towards them.
“Yunho, Boa,” He calls out, knowing that behind him, the five teachers have already latch their eyes on his every movement. Kangta puts on a smile as both the aforementioned teachers turn to look at him. “Have you heard about the theme for Mr. Lee’s retirement party this weekend?”
Boa shakes her head slowly, exchanging a curious glance at her best friend, who shrugs as well. “No, sir, we haven’t.”
Kangta leans closer and whispers, “Mr. Lee wants all teachers attending the party to be wearing blue. He says blue reminds him of his youthful self.”
“Oh,” Yunho nods in understanding immediately, “Alright. We’ll wear blue to his party, then.”
Smiling, Kangta takes a step back. He gestures for the two teachers to resume what they were doing before he interrupted them. And then, slowly, Kangta turns around and silently beckons Henry (who he knows had been eavesdropping) to follow him out from the staff lounge.
Eyebrows raised, Henry obediently tails the Deputy Headmaster. When they are a few steps away from the staff lounge, both of them halt their movements. “Sir, I may have forgotten to check the memo but what color theme did you mean earlier?”
To Henry’s surprise, Kangta shrugs nonchalantly. “What color theme are you talking about, Henry?”
“But earlier you mentioned to Yunho and Boa about-” Henry’s eyes widen. A sudden smirk slowly finds its way across his face as he shakes his head in disbelief. “Sir, you’re brilliant.”
“Well,” Kangta pats Henry’s shoulder a few times, still smiling as he continues, “Make sure no one else wears blue, alright?”
Henry’s face splits into a grin. “Of course, sir.”
--
“Hey, young lady. Mind explaining to me what this is?”
Soojung stops abruptly, halfway across the living room when she hears the voice belonging to her older brother. Turning to look at him, Jung Soojung finds herself crossing her arms when she sees the piece of paper her brother is waving in the air. “And a very good evening to you too, my dear brother!” She blanches, rolling her eyes. “I failed a test, so what?”
Yunho frowns, arms crossed as well. “Soojung, you failed English.”
“I…” Soojung tries to find an explanation which would satisfy her brother, but finds none. Instead, she blurts out; “You know I’m never good in prepositions!”
“Okay. I understand,” Yunho nods and Soojung breathes a sigh of relief. “Except that this test had been on idioms, not prepositions.”
Shit, Soojung mentally slaps herself as she cringes and bit her bottom lip. Wasn’t that test on prepositions?
“Soojung, what happened?”
“Er,” I can’t possibly tell you that I failed the test on purpose, right? “I…I was sick.”
Yunho raises an eyebrow, but relaxes.
“I was sick on the day of the test so I really couldn’t concentrate and I really wasn’t thinking at all when I answered those, and I was so tired I could barely even understand what was on the paper!” Mumbling at the speed of a bullet train, Soojung throws a sweet smile at her brother’s direction while taking a step backward. “Oh, wow, will you look at the time? I still have homework to do and it’s already so late! I should really head back to my room. Bye!” In a split second, Soojung has retreated from the living room.
Shaking his head, Yunho could only sigh. “What do I do with that kid?”
--
Kim Jongin watches his two friends, Jung Soojung and Oh Sehun, argue in much amusement.
“I can’t believe she told my brother about my test paper! It’s just a stupid test, anyway. Seriously, she’s so petty-”
“She isn’t petty, Soojung.” Sehun interrupts, rolling his eyes. “She’s being a responsible teacher. You’re so weird, seriously.”
Soojung crosses her arms together with a huff of annoyance. “Well, he’s spending lesser time with me because of her and I don’t think that’s-“
“Seriously, you should get a life! No sisters in this world are as obsessive as you towards their older brother!” Sehun snaps a reply, and in a split second, Soojung begins to smack him repeatedly on his head, his shoulder and his arms. “Ow! Stop hitting me, woman!”
“I. Am. Not. Obsessive!” Soojung hisses, one smack at each words she stressed.
“I don’t see Sooyeon acting the same way as you!” Sehun retorts, his hands busy slapping Soojung’s hands away.
“Guys, guys,” Jongin separates the two with his hands in fear that they might start pulling each other’s hair-which, to his experience, is something Soojung is very capable of doing. “Stop!”
Bad idea, Jongin thinks to himself immediately when Sehun and Soojung decide to cast their steely gazes at him instead. Oh no, Jongin gulps.
“Jongin, why are you friends with this dumbass?”
“Jongin, why are you friends with this bimbo?”
“Uh,” Jongin begins to sweat. He takes a step back from the table. “Well…”
“Jongin, remember who baked you egg tarts when you had your first heartbreak?” Soojung says with a sweet smile, though Jongin knows that behind anything sweet is poisonous when it comes to Jung Soojung.
Jongin whispers to himself quietly, “You mean the burnt egg tarts,”
“Jongin, don’t forget who saved your ass from getting kicked during football.” Sehun retorts as well, narrowing his eyes as Jongin gulps nervously.
“I never asked for your help, though.” He mumbles under his breath.
Soojung cocks her hands on her hips. “Kim Jongin, are you going to take my side or not?!”
Sehun rolls his eyes. “Oh, please. Jongin is obviously on my side. Bros before hoes, right?”
“Oh Sehun, did you just call me a hoe?”
“You called me a dumbass!”
Jongin struggles to even swallow his saliva now.
“Well excuse me for interrupting your deluded mind, but Jongin has been my best friend since elementary school.” Soojung is staring daggers into Sehun’s eyes. “And excuse my memory, but you only became his friend two years ago, right?”
Sehun crosses his arms. “So what? Time is not a measurement for true friendship. We probably share more secrets with each other than you and him!”
As they begin another round of verbal war, Jongin decides to quickly slip away. “Please remind me to avoid both of them this whole week,”
He barely made it to the cafeteria door when he hears a sudden loud screech from the other end; “Where did that Kim Jongin go?!”
Jongin leaves quickly without looking behind.
--
(Ding…dong…deng…)
Good morning, teachers and students of Shinhwa High! I hope you’ve enjoyed the song played earlier as requested by Byun Baekhyun, that is, Baek Jiyoung’s That Woman. This hour’s song dedication will continue with a special dedication once again to our lovely teachers Jung Yunho and Kwon Boa-
“Oh no,” Boa immediately covers her face with one hand. “Not again.”
“Our students seem to really love us, huh?” Boa feels a nudge on her left arm. She looks up, unsurprised to find Yunho with two cups of coffee in his hands. He sets one cup down on her desk and continues to hear the announcement from the speakers.
“Hmm,” Smiling and sipping his coffee, Yunho nods to the music that has begun to fill the lounge. “4MEN. I like them.”
Boa takes the cup Yunho has placed on her desk slowly, stalling time as she wills herself not to look too nervous because of the music playing in the background. “Thanks for the coffee.”
Yunho shrugs. “So, are you following me to the mall later to get a blue collared shirt for Mr Lee’s party tonight?”
Upon hearing that, Boa looks up in surprise. “Are you telling me you haven’t bought an outfit yet?” Seeing him look at her as well, Boa quickly looks away instinctively. She doesn’t even know why.
“Well, I haven’t had the time to. I’ll just quickly grab something from any store later. Do you want to follow?”
“Er,” Boa hesitates-wait, why am I hesitating, anyway? “Sure.”
Yunho grins, just as Boa pretends to be busy sipping the drink in her hands. “I’ll wait for you after school, then.”
--
“Wait, what’s going on?”
Yunho’s eyes widen in pure surprise as he steps into the restaurant Mr. Lee had booked for his party that night. Expecting to see everyone in blue, his jaw drops open slightly when he sees the swarm of people in various colors except the color he is wearing. He stops so suddenly in his tracks that Boa walks directly into his back without any warning. “Yunho!”
Mr. Lee appears out of nowhere, a huge smile on his face as he ushers the two teachers into the restaurant. “Yunho, Boa, welcome, welcome. Why are you two so stunned? This is an informal party so don’t worry about wanting to behave properly!” Laughing, Mr. Lee gestures at one of the groups in the restaurant who seemed busier attending to their beers and soju than the actual subject of the party. “If you want to get drunk, go ahead, no one is stopping you tonight!”
“W-what?” Boa squeaks softly, her eyes scanning the room for anyone else in blue. There are none. “Mr. Lee, isn’t there’s a theme to remember your youthfulness tonight? Blue?” She asks before Mr. Lee could flit away. The latter gives her a look quizzically, eyebrows rise as Mr. Lee breaks into another grin.
“Theme to remember my youthfulness? Boa-sshi, I’m retiring, not dying!” Mr. Lee roars into laughter before patting the two teachers on their shoulders and heading to another group who has walked in.
Yunho and Boa exchange a glance of confusion. Shrugging, they then make their way to the table at the center and find Siwon, Henry, Zhou Mi, Sooyoung, Sunny and Victoria. None of them is wearing blue, as well. “Hey, guys.”
“Hey, look who’s wearing matching outfits!” Siwon says a bit too loudly, and everyone in their diameter turns to look at the still standing duo. To Boa’s horror, some of them cheer and clap while some wolf-whistled instead. “It’s a misunderstanding, we were informed that there’s a theme…” She says rather helplessly, knowing that no one would believe her.
Yunho drags a chair out and gently pushes her into the seat. Bemused, he remains quiet as he takes the seat beside her.
“There are a lot of misunderstandings going on lately with you two, huh?” Henry winks from his seat and receives a high-five from Sunny who is seated beside him. “You know what they say; once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, and thrice is -”
“Did you guys plan this?” Yunho asks suddenly, seemingly connecting the dots in his mind.
Henry’s face falls as he feigns a quick cough. “I was going to say fate, actually.”
“Of course you are.” Yunho says with a laugh before placing a slice of already grilled meat onto Boa’s plate-an action he wasn’t even aware he is doing. “But Henry, you’re wearing yellow like Sunny, I thought you didn’t like yellow?”
Henry nearly chokes on his drink just as Sunny’s eyes widen in realization. This time, it is Yunho who receives a high-five from Boa, both of them cackling at Henry’s flustered face.
Even Siwon, Sooyoung, Zhou Mi and Victoria have diverted their attentions towards Henry and Sunny instead, all of them only just realizing the truth of Yunho’s statement. “Well, what do we have here?” Zhou Mi asks, but not before double checking the color of Victoria’s dress to his shirt.
“Now, now, this is clearly a mis-“ Henry begins but Boa laughs loudly, interrupting his sentence midway.
“Misunderstanding? Yeah, no one is going to buy that.”
Henry heaves a sigh, knowing all too well that Boa has been waiting to say that sentence as revenge to his teasing this whole week. Grumbling to himself, Henry gulps down his glass of soju in one-shot.
--
After more laughter and teasing during the party, Yunho and Boa decide to take a night stroll by the beach-something they’ve always liked to do since Middle School. “It’s been ages since we last came here.” Yunho exclaims, arms spread widely as he inhales the natural breeze of the sea.
Boa laughs. “Yunho, we just came here last week.”
“Well, we usually come here every day back then, remember?”
She shrugs, though Boa does indeed still remember that memory clearly in her mind. Secretly glancing to her side every five seconds, Boa can’t help but to recall the earlier events of the party. It doesn’t take a little Einstein to realize that even Kangta has board the ship to pair her and Yunho together. Somehow though, Boa is more perplexed about her own feelings than she is annoyed at the people of Shinhwa High.
Her train of thoughts gets interrupted when a lady selling flowers approaches them; “Sir, why don’t you buy some flowers for your girlfriend?”
Blushing, Boa tries to deny, but somehow finds her tongue tied. Yunho merely smiles politely and hands the bill to the lady, who then passes the red rose to Yunho.
When the lady walks away, Yunho hands the rose to Boa. The latter’s cheeks seem to grow even redder by now. “T-thanks. Yunho?”
“Yes?”
Boa pauses, before resuming her question; “Why didn’t you tell the lady we aren’t together together?”
Yunho glances at his best friend, and simultaneously, she too, glances at him. “Does that bother you?”
“Well, no, but-” Boa can feel her cheeks burning, though she doesn’t exactly know why. “-with all the misunderstandings lately, I thought you would prefer to clarify things.”
“Best friend, boyfriend, those are just titles.” Yunho shrugs coolly. “What’s most important is that I know you’re someone very important to me, and it should only be right if I make you happy.” He pauses and looks ahead, hands shoved in his pockets. “If it really does bother you, only then will I clarify. So, does it bother you?”
Yunho stops walking when he realizes that Boa has halted suddenly. Turning behind to look at his best friend, Yunho takes a step forward, now facing the brunette. “Boa?”
“I already told you didn’t I? It doesn’t bother me.” Boa says softly, so that only her friend could hear her. “What bothers me though, is how everyone seems to think we’re perfect for each other.”
“Why does that bother you?” Yunho asks softly in a similar tone.
“Because it makes me confused.” Boa admits sheepishly with her arms crossed. “It makes me…think of…stuff.”
Yunho takes his hands out from his pockets. “Like what?”
Boa is somehow glad that it is nighttime; at least Yunho would not realize that she’s blushing furiously now. “Like if we’re indeed perfect for each other. Stuff like that.” She says as nonchalantly as possible, as if what she has mentioned meant nothing to her flushed face and pounding heart.
Silence engulfs them as Boa shifts her feet uncomfortably. It is embarrassing enough to be thinking about it, but admitting it out loud is so much worse. Maybe she shouldn’t have said that…
Yunho leans down suddenly, his face alarmingly close that Boa suddenly finds it hard to look him in the eyes. Hastily, she turns to look at the side instead. “Do you think we’re perfect for each other, then?”
Boa can feel her heart race beneath her skin, the loud drumming rings in her ears as she opens and closes her mouth, unable to say anything.
“Because, to be honest, I think we could be, if we would just give each other a chance.” Yunho answers his own question, his gaze never leaving his best friend’s face. She’s still looking away, but Yunho could almost hear what she is thinking. After all, years and years of friendship with Kwon Boa has given Yunho the ability to read her like a worn-out book. “And I think, that you’re thinking the same thing too, right?”
When Boa doesn’t answer, Yunho straightens himself and puts his hands into his pockets again. He follows the direction of his friend’s gaze and finds himself staring at a couple walking along the beach. Sort of like what they are doing now, but Yunho could see the difference the second he laid his eyes on them; the couple are holding hands, their bodies pressed side by side firmly.
“I’d like to know what it feels like,” Boa interrupts the silence suddenly and Yunho glances at her again. “To be in love.”
“You’ve never been in love before?” Yunho raises his eyebrow quizzically. “What about Shinwon? Or Jaejoong?”
Boa shakes her head at the mention of those two names. “I don’t think I’ve ever truly loved them, to be honest. It was nice while it lasted, sure.”
Yunho keeps mum, a sign for Boa to continue what has been running through her mind lately.
“That feeling of loving a person so much that you can’t stand the thought of ever being apart from them,” She manages a small smile, “I want to feel that the most. With Shinwon and Jaejoong, that feeling has never occurred in my mind before.”
There’s a pause as Boa shuffles her feet uncomfortably. “I thought I would never be so in love with someone to feel that way, but I only realized this week that all along, I have already felt this way.”
Slowly, Boa tears her eyes away from the couple to meet Yunho’s gaze. “Yunho, there’s a reason why I’ve never thought of anything more with you than just being best friends. In fact, I didn’t even know this reason existed until the events of this week.” She thinks she may have gone mad when she urges herself to finish her sentence, “I am afraid of losing you.”
Chuckling to herself softly, Boa looks down in embarrassment. “There, I’ve said it.”
Barely three seconds passed by when Yunho places one hand under Boa’s chin. Then, he gently lifts her chin up so that she is no longer staring at the sand on her feet, but at him instead. “There are many things in this world which I can’t guarantee,” He begins softly, his eyes lost in hers, “But one thing I can guarantee, is that you will never lose me, no matter what happens.”
Years and years of friendship, yet Yunho has never once felt so nervous staring into her eyes. A week ago, he muses to himself, Yunho had looked at her and simply seen his best friend, Kwon Boa; the same girl who had hit him when he didn’t side with her in an argument. The same girl who had laughed at all his embarrassing moments growing up, the same girl he had allowed to borrow his mathematic homework to copy every single time, and the same girl-and only person-he is willing to share his food with.
Tonight though, at this moment, Yunho kind of looks at her and no longer just sees Boa. He sees instead, this really beautiful woman who is suddenly capable of making his heart double in speed.
“I think I love you.” Yunho continues. “Always have and always will.”
He watches how her gaze softens, how she is now smiling at him.
“I think I love you too.” Boa breathes out as well, ignoring the thundering sound of her heart hammering against her chest. “It took the whole faculty and student body of Shinhwa High to make me realize this, but I love you too, Jung Yunho.”
Relieved to hear that, Yunho’s smile becomes wider. Tucking his hand behind her hair, he gently caresses her cheek with his thumb. Then, he leans forward and presses his lips on hers.
--
From a distance, two female students yelp in joy, clasping their hands together and dancing around behind the shrubs they remain hidden in. “Finally! Finally! Finally!”
Park Sooyoung and Kim Yeri frantically cover their mouths when they realize they’ve shouted out loud, afraid to be seen by the two teachers they’ve been following since they left the restaurant.
“Yeri, I told you my plan would succeed!” Sooyoung proudly whispers, eyes gleaming in excitement as she sees her teacher deepening his kiss and snaking an arm around Yeri’s teacher’s waist to pull her closer towards him. “Next time, when my dating agency is established, I’ll ring them up and demand them to write a testimony.”
Yeri laughs, the wide grin on her face doesn’t falter. “From dedicating that Kim Soohyun love song to them, to writing a fake congratulatory message, to dedicating another song, to asking that flower lady to approach them just now-Park Sooyoung, you’re a genius!”
Nose flaring in pride, Sooyoung can feel her heart bursting with joy as she continues to stare at her two teachers; they have pulled apart from each other, but Sooyoung can see Boa laughing as Yunho interlaces his fingers around hers.
She turns momentarily to look at Yeri, still smiling as she says; “I’m glad they finally found their happiness.”
--
( Epilogue )
A month later, Henry walks into the staff lounge early in the morning to store his lunch in the refrigerator.
He stops abruptly, however, when he realizes the presence of the two beings by the counter, seemingly lost in their own world as they continued to talk in low whispers.
Henry grimaces and clears his throat loudly. “It’s barely 8 a.m, can you two not be so lovey-dovey already?
At the sound of his voice, Yunho and Boa turn around at the exact same time. The former raises an eyebrow, gesturing at the cups at their hands. “But we’re just making coffee?”
Henry heaves a sigh. “It’s not what you’re doing, but how.” Then, he takes a few steps nearer to his two fellow colleagues. “The thing with couples is that they don’t realize how they act sometimes because they’re already so accustomed to each other. Both of you, despite not knowing it yourselves, are not even concentrating on making coffee!”
Frowning, Boa exchanges a puzzled glance with Yunho before looking at Henry again. “But we really were making coffee.”
“Tsk,” Henry raises one finger while shaking his head. “You can’t fool me, Boa-sshi. It’s totally understandable, it’s only been a month, of course you won’t be able to keep your hands off each other.”
“B-but we really-“ Yunho begins to protest again while Boa has gone slightly pink in her cheeks. “Since when have you become a love guru, anyway?” Effectively changing the topic, Henry laughs.
“I am born with the skill of relationship intuition.” He says in a somewhat proud tone that Yunho could not bear to disagree although he is very well aware of the non-progression in his friend’s relationship with Sunny.
Henry leans forward to whisper, “Since the coffee is bound to taste horribly, what if you just give yours to-“
Suddenly, Henry’s eyes widen. He darts a glance at both the individuals in front of him back and forth, eyebrows knitted together as he crinkles his nose. “Why,” He begins, much to Yunho and Boa’s amusement, “are you two sharing the same body wash scent?”
The question slips off his tongue and almost immediately, Henry begins to regret asking. As he sees how Boa’s ears have gone red, and how Yunho is looking anywhere but at him, Henry could more or less already guess the answer to his own question. “B-but,” He found his own cheeks reddening at the thought which has invaded his mind. “It’s only been a month!”
Yunho shifts his feet uncomfortably. He offers a small smile at Henry, hands tightly clasped around the mug in his hands. “Well, for the record, we’ve known each other for fifteen years.”
Henry nearly faints at the indirect confession
.
--
(end)
Ps: I really loved writing Joy/Yeri/Krystal this way, it was so much fun.