[Fanfic] The Sweet Taste by Smitten

Some of you suggested in our last suggestion post that fan fics were something you wanted to see here, well, every few weeks, I will be posting some great Taeyang-centric fan fics that I have personally enjoyed! If you have a nack for writing and want to share some of your fan fics, please email them to me (sweetsorrow18@hotmail.com) and if you’ve never read a YB fan fic, try it out~

Our first fan fic is by Smitten called The Sweet Taste (thanks smitten for letting me post up this hilarious fic!)
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“You are stupid.”

You look up from your giant hardcover textbook (Wicked Plants: A Book of Botanical Atrocities) and towards your best friend … who apparently had decided to visit the corner ajuhmma hairdresser judging from his new hairstyle.

“What did you do?” You ask in complete shock, as you slowly get up from your seat, never taking your eyes off of the thing sitting on Jiyong’s head.

“What?” He shrugs as if it is perfectly normal to have left the apartment with perfect hair (you grudgingly admit that he does have really nice hair) and then come back 2 hours later with a head filled with giant curls.

You remain silent as you walk even closer to your friend. You’re slightly fascinated by it, so you reach out a hand and tentatively pat your best friend’s head. Only three times because you’re a little bit paranoid that it’ll come alive and bite you. “It’s like … an animal.”

Your reaction to his hair clearly offends Jiyong because he swats your hand away and glares at you. “Excuse me? What do you know? Your regular outfit is a white T-shirt, jeans and a cap that’s three sizes too small.” He huffs and goes to look in the mirror beside your desk and you hear him murmur, “Tch. Fucking amazing hair I have.”

You roll your eyes at Jiyong’s behaviour and he doesn’t miss it.

“My hair is beautiful!” he shouts out at you with both hands buried in the perm, no doubt trying to give it even more (unnecessary) volume.

You laugh at his response and do a quick spin in your chair before replying. “Right, what about that bun thing?”

Jiyong has reached over and grabbed your comb and begins teasing his new perm before answering, “Innovative and practical.”

“Uh huh, and the bowl cut?”

“Fashionably chic and trend worthy.”

“The crimped hair?”

“The 80s were making a comeback.”

“The—“

“Be quiet!” Jiyong yells out after he’s satisfied with the amount of oomph and volume in his hair. He sets the comb down beside you and resumes his normal position before the whole debacle of his sheep hair had come up. “Stop trying to change the subject. Now, where were we?” Jiyong stops for a second and taps his temple as if the single action will return his memory. “Right! Yeah, Dong Youngbae, you are so incredibly stupid.”

You roll your eyes, all too used to this. So you turn back around to your textbook and continue reading about the weed that killed Abraham Lincoln’s mother. “Oh, please tell me why I’m stupid, Jiyong,” you ask him in a monotone voice, not even bothering to look up at him.

Just as you’re about to find out how long Lincoln’s mother was bedridden, the textbook is pulled out of your hands and thrown onto the ground.

“Hey!” you suddenly exclaim, now looking at Jiyong straight in the eye (or hair—it was very distracting). “What are you doing? That’s an expensive textbook! Do you know how long I had to work at the candy shop to buy it?”

Jiyong nods eagerly, as if you’ve finally touched on something brilliant. “Exactly! This is exactly why you are stupid.”

You narrow your eyes at his insult but don’t say anything.

He takes it upon himself to fill the silence. “Dong Youngbae, you work in a candy shop. You’re 21 years old, single and you work at a candy shop!”

You still don’t see what the point of Jiyong’s impromptu and nonsensical (well, then again, most of his talk IS nonsensical) talk is. So you sigh out loud and get up to pick up your 10 hours worth of ringing in candies textbook sitting on the ground. “Okay, just because I work at a candy shop does not mean I am stupid. Plus, you of all people should appreciate my working at a candy shop,” you say in a rational tone, hoping to instil some sense in Jiyong’s thick (filled with curls) head. Jiyong had a sweet tooth that was beyond ridiculous. It boggles your mind as to how he has only had 1 cavity in the 21 years he has lived. “And, I would appreciate it if you did not just randomly throw around my Botany books.”

Jiyong makes a sound that’s reminiscent of both a high pitched shriek and a frustrated growl, before quickly making his way to your side and scooping up the book before you can.

“Youngbae,” he says slowly, still holding the textbook close to his chest. “You are majoring in plants, or,” he looks down at the title on the book, “or whatever the hell—“

“It’s not plants. It’s Botany,” you correct him in a sharp tone. It’s a touchy subject for you when people mistake your major.

Jiyong scrunches his nose when he hears the proper wording. “Ew, whatever. That sounds even worse,” he says, slightly disgusted. “Anyways, you’re majoring in Botany—who are you? Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter?”

You give him a surprised expression when he says Neville Longbottom, and he clearly sees it.

“What?”

It takes a moment for you to answer. “You just made a Harry Potter reference.”

Jiyong starts to nervously shift around and stutters out random words before standing up tall and unashamed. “Yeah, so what? What is wrong with a 21 year old male liking Harry Potter? It’s a fucking phenomenon and not to mention, freaking brilliant. And it is something that should be enjoyed by people of all ages, thank you.”

You half expect Jiyong to take a bow after his tiny speech. Instead, he stands there looking proud.

“Oh,” you say with a slight shrug. “I’m just surprised you know how to read.”

You move just in time when Jiyong throws the textbook in your direction.

“Fuck you,” Jiyong says before settling himself in a spot on your bed. “Anyways …, you, Youngbae, are just beyond stupid.” He says it so casually, as if he didn’t try to give you a concussion.

All you can do is roll your eyes, pick up your book and go back to your desk.

“Seriously, you need a girlfriend. A good girlfriend.” Jiyong swings his legs up on your bed and lies back on your neatly made bed and ends up staring at the ceiling. “Yeah, not a hot one, but a cute one. I mean, you’re not a horrible catch—okay, so what if you’re majoring in Botany—and you’ve been working out. Sometimes, you’re kind of awkward but I guess some girls find it endearing. She should be funny, cute but have some boldness to her. Can’t have you going out with a total lamb because you’re a lamb. And two lambs together rarely works out because a wolf always comes and snatches her away, hah, if you know what I mean? But yeah, I think—“

“Jiyong, do we look like a pair of 13 year old girls at a slumber party discussing what our future mates are going to look like?” You interrupt him before he has a chance to describe what your future kids with this non-existent perfect girl would look like.

Jiyong does stop talking, and he suddenly sits up to stare at you. “Who the hell says mate? This is exactly why you are stupid and still single, Youngbae.”

You take a deep breath and pinch the bridge of your nose. You try not to say that you’re the one in university and he’s the one DJ-ing whatever gigs he can get his hands on, but you remember that you are nice and you don’t exactly want to be suffocated in your sleep. “Right, okay, you need to get out.”

Surprisingly, Jiyong doesn’t argue and stands up. “Yeah, okay whatever. I have a date, anyways. You do remember what those things are, right? It’s when a guy and a girl—you know, the opposite of a male—go out and have a meal or—WHAT THE HELL? DID YOU JUST THROW YOUR PLANT BOOK AT ME?”

To hell with being nice.

–

It’s a slow day at the candy shop. Wednesdays usually are. It’s Mondays and Saturdays that are the busiest for Sweet Tooth Candy Shop. Saturdays because people want to start the weekend off with a burst of energy and a sugar rush. Mondays because people don’t want to admit that real life starts once the weekends are over and candies seem to be a good distraction.

“Hyung, can you please let me leave early? There’s only an hour left and I’m pretty sure a sudden crowd of people won’t be showing up at the doorway for Starbursts,” Lee Seungri, your younger co-worker, whines from the backroom’s doorway. His apron is tied clumsily on and his panda eyes seem darker.

You grin at the 18 year old before throwing a bag of pink jellybeans at him. “Yeah, go ahead. Just put these in the backroom.”

Seungri smiles gratefully at you before turning around with the pink candies in his arms.

You go back to the list of inventory your manager Taebin has left for you to go over. You wonder why Taebin even decided to open up a candy shop, considering he is never around. You can count the number of times he’s been in the shop on one hand for the past 5 months. You still think that he originally established Sweet Tooth for the girls, but since he’s nearing 30, the girls that come into the candy shop mostly screamed ‘jailbait’.

As you circle how many bags of candy hearts are in supply, you hear the slightly annoying ring of the bell that signalled a customer entering in.

“Can I help—“

And, it’s like your heart stopped. The second you look up from your inventory list, you see her. This girl (you really don’t want to call her anything corny like angel or beauty) walks into the candy shop and … well, beat, heart, beat.

Damn, you finally realize what all the fuss about ‘love at first sight’ in those chick flicks that you—no, Jiyong watches them, you swear—watch mean. Or maybe, she’s just really cute and you finally find a girl that’s actually shorter than you. Or, maybe she’s wearing red and you quite like the colour red. Or, maybe—

“Hey.”

And suddenly she’s in front of you and all your thoughts leave your head and you think she’s really, really cute, and—damn, don’t you know any other adjectives to describe a girl?

“H-hey,” you end up stuttering. You slightly want to hit yourself because you’re 21, not 12. Reverse those digits, please.

She smiles and wow, you feel like a fool because you feel yourself slightly melting. And damn, you feel corny as hell for even thinking that.

“So, this is going to sound very strange,” she slowly begins, her eyes slightly crinkling, “but, if you were mint flavoured ice cream, what type of candy would you like to be on top of you?”

You blink and stay silent for a second. If Jiyong was here, he would’ve said a very rude and inappropriate joke. And, well, why are you thinking of Jiyong right now?

“Ummm,” you say, sounding exactly like a damn 12 year old. And honestly, why is she even asking you what candies to pick—oh, right, you work at a candy store which is why she is asking for your professional advice on the topic of candy toppings on ice-cream.

She’s still looking at you expectantly with that really perfect smile and damn, you start to think that Seungri must’ve played around with the thermometer in the back because you already feel the sweat sliding down your neck.

“Uh.” You figure random sounds coming out of your mouth would be better than silence, but then again, you’re starting to sound like a 2 year old now because at least 12 year old can get words out of their mouths, no matter how nonsensical they may be.

“I’d probably go with a … candy,” you begin and you see that her eyebrows slightly furrow, and then you suddenly realize what you said and try to correct yourself. “I mean, I mean! Candy! No, candies! Plural. Um, no, I think I’d go with … uh, a type of candy … that is … sweet.”

She looks like she’s about to burst out laughing because obviously candies are sweet. What kind of professional candy seller are you?

“Okay, okay,” she says with an amused (thank Mary, Jesus and god) smile “a candy that is sweet. Alright. What else do you recommend?”

And, you’re slightly surprised that she didn’t just roll her eyes at you and ask for Seungri to help. So, you take this as a good sign and a bit of the common sense that you’re known for comes back. You move away from the counter and somehow find your way beside her (and you do this all without tripping over a nonexistent obstacle on the tiled floors) and then towards the chocolate section.

“Um, well, ice cream is … sweet.” Yes, it is sweet. You should really tell her something that she doesn’t already know. “And, mint gives up a really … uh, different—no, unique … uh, flavour?” You chance a quick look at her and she seems to be paying attention and not snickering at your stupidity so you continue on. “So, I think … maybe a chocolate will be good. Probably a semi-sweet or dark chocolate.” You point towards the row of chocolates in front of you and give her one of those smiles that Jiyong says girls go goo-goo-ga-ga (his exact words) over.

But, she seems slightly immune to it because all she does is nod and grab a plastic bag to scoop the chunks of chocolate into. “Hm, well, I have a bit of a sweet tooth,” she pauses and grins to the point where her eyes slightly disappear, “okay, a huge sweet tooth, so I think semi-sweet will work.”

Your smile stays in tact and you wish you could say something witty (THINK, BRAIN, THINK, is what you’re yelling at your mind) but apparently your brain has decided to hate you today and cease working when a pretty girl is present.

She finishes scooping up the chocolate (she ends up picking the rainbow coloured semi-sweet chocolate chips) and then turns to you with a grateful look and your smile is still in tact (you feel slightly creepy because who the hell smiles for 1 minute and 23 seconds straight?).

“Okay, I guess that’s all,” she says with a slight shrug and makes her way towards the cash register with chocolate in hand.

And, your heart slightly slumps because she’s about to leave and you don’t think you’ve ever had a reaction like this to any girl (even Hyori never made you act like this), so it’s really sad that—wait, you’re the cashier. You finally realize that you’ve been just standing there awkwardly looking at her wistfully, when … you need to ring through her purchase and possibly figure out her name.

“Is that all?” you ask in one breath. You practically ran to the cashier at lightening speed and then proceeded to continue to smile at her. Really now, you’re beginning to think that Jiyong lied to you when he said your smile was goo-goo-ga-ga-worthy.

She nods and then looks down to get the wallet out of her purse. And you realize that her shirt is red (red) and has the words Chill, Baby on them. It’s not like you were looking at her chest or anything, no! You are not a pervert like Jiyong, but hey, the colour red is very bright and striking, so obviously you would notice her shirt.

“Do you work at the ice-cream shop down the street?” you try to ask without having your voice crack. Chill, Baby was a brand new ice-cream shop that had opened up and was garnering a lot of attention for its new and innovative flavours like Wiggle Your Flan and Twist N Shake Your Melons.

The girl looks up, slightly confused and then looks down at her shirt before smiling and nodding. “Oh, yeah. I just started the other day. I’m on my break right now, and management refuses to give us any of the newer flavours so we’re stuck with boring ones like mint and vanilla. So, we always need to add things to it.” She makes a disgusted face when she says the traditional flavours and you don’t dare tell her that vanilla is probably your favourites.

“Ah,” you give her a slight nod. “Um, that’ll be 3012 WON. Hey, do you know Daesung?”

“Um,” she trails off as she continues to search for her wallet in her bag. “Yeah. I’ve worked with him once. He’s really happy all the ti— shit.” She suddenly looks up and gives you a very guilty look. “I think I left my wallet in the employee room back at the shop.” She looks mournfully at the bag of chocolates on the countertop. “I guess I can’t get—“

“Oh, no, no, no!” You say quickly and loudly in a tone you never even thought you were capable of. You sound slightly needy and desperate, so you clear your throat and try to speak in a low and smooth voice. “I mean, don’t worry about it! We’re neighbours, right? Thou shall not covet—“ You stop yourself when you’re about to quote the 10 Commandments of all things.

She raises an eyebrow at your sudden break in sentence, but then she gives you a thankful smile. “Oh, really? Are you sure? I mean—crap!” Her eyes widen at something behind you, so you turn around and see that her line of vision is focused on the ugly, lollipop shaped clock ticking. “My break ends in exactly 20 seconds and my manager is a bit of an ass. Damn, okay, um, thanks for the chocolates, but I really need to go now!” And before you can even say another word, she grabs the chocolates and makes her way towards the exit at a quick pace.

And, it’s as if some external force has taken over your body because once she reaches the door, you yell out, “Um, what’s your name?”

She turns her heard slightly to look over her shoulder and damn, there goes your heart again. “Oh, it’s Chaerin!” she manages to say before disappearing out the door with the bag of semi-sweet chocolate in her hands.

Chaerin, you repeat to yourself. Chaerin, Chaerin, Chaerin.

“Hey, hyung, who was that?” Seungri suddenly appears outside the door and effectively gets you out of the daze her mere name has you in.

The future love of my life is what you were going to say but that sounds damn creepy and you are not creepy and crazy. So you settle for, “Oh, just a girl.”

Seungri accepts your answer before giving you a brief wave and heading out the door.

The second the door closes behind Seungri, your shoulders slump and you lean forwards with your elbows on the table and your chin perched neatly on top of your hands. And, damn, you already look like a fool and the only real thing you know about her is her name. Just her first though, not even her full name.

You feel a little bit stupid because your hands are still slightly clammy (what? All you talked about were candies!), your heart’s a bit erratic and you keep thinking about how the conversation could have gone if you weren’t really a 12 year old.

And you suddenly hear a sound. What was that sound? Ah, that was the sound of your heart being captured.

–

“Are you wearing cologne?” Jiyong asks you suspiciously after sniffing the air once you pass by him.

You stop mid-step and avoid Jiyong so you can hide your guilty face. You don’t think you put too much on. “Noooo, why would you say that?” you try to say in the most convincing tone you can muster.

Jiyong throws the comic book aside and quickly stands up and makes his way towards you. Like a dog, he takes a sniff at your neck before jumping back and pointing an accusatory finger at you. “YOU ARE!”

“What are you talking about? Maybe I just naturally smell good. People have told me I have a manly, R&B scent, you know.”

Jiyong raises an eyebrow at you. “Yeah, no,” he says simply before hitting you on the shoulder. “Now tell me why you’re wearing cologne!”

You continue to avoid his eager stare, but apparently your silence is all the answer he needs.

“You like a girl!” Jiyong cries out as if he’s found the cure to some insane scientific question (which may as well be because it’s amazing how you’ve stayed single for so long). Jiyong’s smile suddenly disappears and he starts reaching for the phone. “Oh, wait. Let’s put this miracle on hold. I have to call umma and tell her all the prayers she did have worked.”

You groan and try to look at anything but him and his god awful hair.

“Who is she?!” he shrieks again, not letting you get away with silence.

“Jiyong, you are a 13 year old girl,” you manage to murmur before he pulls on your arm and you find yourself seated on the plushy couch with an overzealous Jiyong beside you.

“Who is it?” he asks eagerly and starts playing 20 questions. “Is she cute? Is she tall? Wait, I hope she isn’t tall because that’d be awkward. But who is she? What’s her name? What’s her sign? Blood type? Does she like dogs or cats? Does she even like animals? How old is she? How—“

“Oh, my god! Jiyong, shut up!” You finally say before his list of questions (that you obviously do not know the answer of except for her first name and she does seem like an animal lover, maybe a dog—okay, you’ve been thinking too much about this) gets even larger.

So, you shake off his surprisingly strong grip on your arm and promptly stand up and announce that you have to go to work.

At the sudden confession, Jiyong’s eyes widen and a slow but sure smile creeps on to his face. “It’s someone from work, isn’t it?” His smile gets even larger as he gets up from the couch and follows you to the door. “Huh, but the only person I’ve seen working there is Seungri, and yeah, sure he’s cute and all, but … unless, do you swing that way or something? … DO YOU SWING—“

“Oh, my god! Jiyong!” you yell out loudly. “I do not swing that way! Nor do I swing … at all? Wait, that came out very wrong. I mean—aish! I’m going to work!”

Before Jiyong could find another way to trap you into staying a few more minutes, you quickly walk out the door but you end up forgetting to close it behind you because you can hear Jiyong talking on the phone with his umma.

“Umma! Guess what? Your prayer beads worked! Youngbae found a girl—yes, of course it’s a real girl! No, not a fake blow up one. Aish, umma, you really don’t give him enough credit…”

The rest of Jiyong’s voice is blocked out because you start hitting your head against the wall. Why are you friends with him again?

–

“Soooo, I heard you like a girl,” Daesung suddenly appear beside you with a singsong voice. He works at Chill, Baby with Chaerin (oh, sigh, smile, sparkle in your eyes, smile; this is the routine you’ve acquired whenever you hear or think of her name), but always seems to spend more time at Sweet Tooth than he does at his own job location.

“Whoa,” Daesung says with his trademark smile, “I can see the stars in your eyes.”

The dopey expression on your face quickly disappears and you try to resume a normal one. “Uh, I don’t have stars in my eyes!” you try to say convincingly. “And, how do you know? How did Jiyong manage to tell you in a span of,” you look down at your watch, “24 minutes?”

“Hey, it’s okay! It’s about time!” Daesung says in an encouraging tone while patting you on the back. “Actually, we were all getting slightly worried that you might be one of those old cat ladies but a man version—“

“Daesung.”

“Oh, right. I mean, who is she?”

You look around the relatively quiet candy shop, as if Chaerin—or even worse, Jiyong—will pop up. You then focus your attention back on Daesung’s extremely curious expression. “Do you promise you won’t tell anyone? Especially Jiyong?”

Daesung nods, and pretends to zip his mouth with his thumb and forefinger. “Promise.”

“Alright.” You take a deep breath and lean in closer (even if the both of you are the only occupants in the shop) and in a quiet voice, whisper, “It’s Chaerin.”

Daesung’s eyes widen (well, at least they attempted to) and that cheesy smile is back on his face. “Omo, omo, omo!” he exclaims and that’s the only thing he says for the next 5 minutes.

“Daesung,” you finally say amidst all of his ‘omos’. “I meant it. You can’t tell anyone!”

Your no-eyed friend suddenly quiets down and nods eagerly. “Of course, hyung! But, Chaerin? The new girl at my ice-cream shop? Wow, hyung. I never thought you’d go for her.”

You narrow your eyes at what he says. “Why not?”

Daesung shrugs and pops another piece of candy (that he did not pay for) into his mouth. “I don’t know. I thought you’d end up with a nice, quiet, conservative girl. The traditional type, you know?”

You’re still slightly confused. Chaerin (sigh, smile, sparkle in your eye, smile) seemed quite nice and you’re usually on the ball with first impressions. “Well, she seems pretty nice to me.”

Your friend nods quickly and then starts unwrapping another candy. “Yeah, she’s really nice! But, she’s definitely not quiet and conservative, you know? She’s quite … fierce and … unique and … snazzy.”

You try not to burst out laughing at Daesung’s word usage (who says snazzy these days?). “Um, I like different,” you tell him. You never really wanted someone who was the exact replica of you. You see yourself more as low-key, on the shy side and relatively nice. You’re not exactly the daredevil like Jiyong (he did mention he was going to go skydiving next week), nor are you the (noona) killer when it comes to the opposite sex like Seungri is. You’re not mysterious like your hyung Seunghyun. And, you’re definitely not the crazy comedian who manages to put a smile on everyone’s face like Daesung. But you’re glad that you’re not. Life would be quite boring if everyone were to act the same.

Contrary to what Daesung says, you like girls that are the opposite of you. Spontaneous, slightly loud, fun but still nice. And if they were fierce and … snazzy, then all the better.

Daesung gives you another shrug and reaches over for his seventh piece of candy. “I’m just saying.” He looks down at his watch and suddenly throws the candy on to the counter top and jumps off the chair. “Crap! I have … 42 seconds to get back!”

You laugh as you watch Daesung run out. Chill, Baby’s manager, Se7en (or Dongwook), was notorious for being harsh on his employees. Attendance, time management, efficiency and productivity were extremely important to the manager. It was a huge contrast to Sweet Tooth’s Taebin.

“Oh, wait! Remember! You can’t tell anyone!” you yell out after Daesung, just as he’s out the door.

A thumbs up from him is all the answer you get.

–

“Chaerin and Youngbae sitting in a tree, K-I-S—oh, wait, you probably don’t even know how to do that. Maybe we’ll start with handholding or … is there anything tamer than that?!”

And, that is the first thing you hear when you enter your apartment with Daesung just behind you. You start to regret inviting him over for dinner. You end up turning around and glaring at him, and all Daesung does is hold up his hands in mock surrender with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry,” was his small reply. “But, you need all the help you can get with getting a girl, hyung! And I thought … Jiyong-hyung could help.”

You want to tell him that you don’t need any help in the girl apartment but Jiyong ends up interrupting you.

“And she works at the ice-cream shop, too? Damn, that’s so cute. You work at the candy shop and she works at an ice-cream store. It’s like a fanfiction.” Jiyong says this with sparkly eyes and hands on his cheeks as if he’s enamoured by the story of you and Chaerin (sigh, smile—you get the point).

“Oh, my god,” you murmur in response. You roll your eyes at your roommate before making your way to the kitchen.

“No, seriously, Chaerin, what a cute name,” Jiyong says from the couch. “Don’t you think so, Daesung?”

“Of course,” he (as in the traitor) replies whole heartedly and grabs a handful of popcorn out of the bowl sitting in Jiyong’s lap. “You should see her, hyung! She’s really cute and snazzy and—“

“Did you just say snazzy?”

“The word is making a comeback, hyung. It’s making a comeback. Just wait, in 3 more months, everyone will be saying it and you’ll only wish you had started it first,” Daesung says proudly and shoves another handful of popcorn into his mouth.

Jiyong makes a strange face at his dongsaeng before pushing the bowl into Daesung’s arms and getting up off of the couch. “Alright, you know what? I am going to help you get her! I will tell you all you need to know today so that you can ask her out tomorrow!” Jiyong says this as if his advice on girls is the most valuable thing in the world that people would pay millions for and that you should be grateful that he’s giving it away for free.

“… Have you been drinking?” you ask him wearily. “I mean, you’re eating popcorn and you always have that with soju—“

“What? No! What do you think I am? Do you think I just DJ at night and then come home, sleep, get drunk, eat popcorn and then repeat?” Jiyong asks in outrage.

“… Well, yeah … “

“I am offended, Dong Youngbae! OFFENDED! How many years of friendship have we endured? Almost ten! A whole decade! That’s … 52 weeks multiplied by 10! And 365 days times 10! I don’t have a calculator but I know that’s a damn long time! I am very—“

“Hyung, I can’t believe you told EVERYONE but me!”

You look away from Jiyong’s dramatic act and focus on … Seungri? “What are you doing here? I thought you said you were sick and bedridden,” you ask him as you look at the ridiculous outfit that Seungri is donning. “And, what are you wearing?”

Daesung stops eating the popcorn and Jiyong has climbed down from his drama queen act to peer at the magnae’s outfit.

“They’re flesh coloured.”
“And tight.”
“A flesh coloured animal.”
“Really tight.”
“A flesh coloured scaly animal.”
“They look familiar … “
“A flesh coloured scaly alligator.”
“Shit, they’re mine! Magnae! Stop stealing my clothes!”

Seungri ignores the other two while making his way towards you with a slightly forced upset look on his face.

“You told everyone but me? Hyung! You liking a girl is HUGE! I am hurt! HURT!” Seungri dramatically clutches at his heart and gets down on his knees as if he was in some overpriced Broadway production. “Do you hear that sound? That’s the sound of my heart breaking into a thousand pieces, hyung!”

You sigh loudly and shake your head. “… What role are you auditioning for?”

He grins and gets up off of the ground. “Impressive, eh? Did you feel my emotions? I have to find a way to sing it out though. I have an audition tomorrow for this musical … something about rain and first loves and there’s a noona involved.”

“Take off your pants!” Jiyong suddenly cries out before hurrying towards Seungri. He starts grabbing at the magnae’s leg and is about to unbuckle the belt when Seungri shrieks out loud.

“Hyung! This is borderline sexual harassment—no, this IS sexual harassment, get off—ow! I need something to wear for the audition! I will give you your pants when I am … aish!”

Daesung seems bored with Jiyong and Seungri’s game because he goes to stand next to you and asks when dinner is.

“I can’t believe you can even ask that!” you cry out at him. “You told Jiyong I liked Chaerin! Of all people! Why didn’t you just tell Seunghyun-hyung as well? Then it’d be a great, big party where—“

And speak of the devil … “What’s this I hear about Youngbae liking—holy shit, what’s on your head?” Choi Seunghyun had walked into the unlocked apartment, only to find Jiyong and Seungri on the floor but he was mostly interested in the thing sitting atop of Jiyong’s head.

You groan out loud and suddenly have the urge to throw yourself out the balcony. You can’t say you’re surprised to see him here though. Choi Seunghyun is your neighbour but he always seems to be spending more time at your apartment than his own. He says he likes your company, but you’re positive he’s here for the free food and illegal satellite (ie. porn) that Jiyong’s friend, Hyuksoo, hooked up for you.

Jiyong gets up from the ground and pushes Seungri back down when he tries to get up. They do, after all, have an abusive yet loving relationship.

“What are you talking about?” Jiyong says with a pout and continues to poof up his hair, making it bigger than it already was.

Seunghyun seems fascinated by it, because he slowly walks towards Jiyong and stares at it. “Can I pull it?”

Jiyong looks appalled at Seunghyun’s question. “No! What are you? Twelve? My hair—ow! What the fuck?” He screeches and pulls away from Seunghyun who had reached out and tugged on one of Jiyong’s curls.

“Wow, it bounces,” Seunghyun replies, eyes filled with interest.

“Ugh,” Jiyong says with a shake of his head which makes the thing move.

“Anyways,” Seungri says from the ground and looking back at Youngbae. “Hyung, I think you should be cute! Girls always love cute guys! Look at me! I don’t have a blank date in my Blackberry.”

“Cute and Youngbae do not go together,” Jiyong says, still trying to get away from Seunghyun.

“Yeah, sex beast and Youngbae go more together,” Seunghyun says, still eyeing the curls on Jiyong’s head.

“What?” you say with widened eyes. You have never seen yourself as a sex beast. Good looking, yes, but not sex beast.

“Yeah, Youngbae doesn’t even know what sex is,” Jiyong says offhandedly. “I think we should give him the bird and the bees talk, reeeeeeeal soon.”

“No, he is a sex beast! Seriously! He’s the second most good looking guy in this room, after me, of course,” Seunghyun says cheekily. “And he’s been working out like mad! Look at those guns! And those abs! Damn, I think I know at least 5 girls who would want to lick chocolate off of thos—“

“Annnnnnnnnnnd, this conversation has just officially turned awkward. Thank you, very much, hyung,” Daesung interrupts while boiling water for his cup of ramen noodles.

“But he is!” Seunghyun persists before shaking his head and continuing. “Okay, fine, you should be mysterious and intense. That always gets the girls.”

“No, that would just scare them— shit! Hyung! Stop touching my god damn beautiful fucking hair!” Jiyong yells out when Seunghyun manages to pull another curl.

Seunghyun just giggles (very uncharacteristically and girlish of him) in response.

“But, your hair is a huge distraction, hyung,” Daesung says from the kitchen, now adding the sauce into his noodles. “I mean, you really do look like my umma.”

Jiyong says a particularly nasty swear word before throwing himself on to the couch and murmuring how no one appreciated his avant garde Euro hair.

Seungri rolls his eyes at his hyung and finally gets up from the floor. “Hyung, I really think you should go with the cute look! It’s working for everyone! And I’m sure this girl is no different! What girl can say no to a face like,” Seungri makes his best aeoygo face at you, “this? That’s right! None!”

You give him a hesitant look because you slightly fail at doing the cutesy thing. “I don’t know, the cute thing is really—“

“Nonsense!” Seungri cries out and starts to tug you towards Jiyong’s room. “I have some other outfits that I was thinking about wearing to my audition. You can try them on.”

“B-but, you’re like 44 sizes smaller than me! How can I fi—“

“It’s okay! You know how boys like girls in tight clothes? Well, that’s the same thing for girls. They like boys in tight clothes. Especially pants!” Seungri tells you optimistically, and you try to stay in your spot but he pulls you along.

You look back and give a ‘help me’ expression on your face, but no one pays attention to it. Daesung is busy with his noodles. Jiyong is still in his anguished, no-one-understands-me state and Seunghyun is trying to pull another curl so that he can see it bounce.

You tell yourself to get new friends tomorrow.

–

“OH, MY GOD. WHAT DID YOU MAKE HIM WEAR?” Jiyong’s loud shriek is the first thing you hear when Seungri pushes you out of the room.

The reaction really can’t be good because Daesung drops the spoonful of noodles back into the bowl and Seunghyun is in mid-pull with Jiyong’s curl, but he stops when he sees you.

“Oh, my god.”
“What the fuck?”

“Hyungs!” Seungri whines once he realizes everyone’s reactions. “Isn’t this a good look?”

Silence is the only answer.

Jiyong gets up from the couch and does a quick circle around you. And you know you look ridiculous. You feel ridiculous for Christ’s sake.

“It’s cute!” Seungri squeaks out.
“It’s pink,” is Jiyong’s reply.
“It’s cute!”
“Those pants are way too tight.”
“The cute and tight look is in!”
“Youngbae looks constipated.”
“No, that’s just hyung’s aeygo look. We’re still working on it.”
“How is this going to even remotely help Youngbae?”
“Cute is in! Sorry, hyung. The overly emotional and sensitive musician types are no longer ideal amongst girls. They now want the cute, younger boys.”
“What did you do to his hair? What the fuck is … oh, my god. Is that a bow?! ”
“It’s cute! And that came from your closet!”
“OH, MY GOD! YOU NEED TO STOP— “

“Okay!” you yell out, finally having enough. “I am not going out looking like,” you gesture at your body and you realize that the flesh coloured pants are really hideous and ugly, “this. I am going back in to change into regular clothes.”

“HYUUUUUNG!” Seungri whines “The cute look is in! Embrace it!”

You ignore him and shut the door behind you once you’re inside the bedroom.

“Don’t rip my pants! I KNOW YOU’VE GAINED WEIGHT SINCE YOU’VE STARTED WORK AT THE CANDY SHOP, AND LIKING A GIRL CAUSES YOU TO GAIN MORE WEIGHT BUT—“

You open the door slightly, but enough to throw the god damn bow at Jiyong. You hope it hits him in the face, or better yet, it gets caught in the nest on top of his head.

–

“Okay, you cannot be cute and you can’t be an insensitive, mysterious brooding type,” Jiyong tells you once you’re finally back in your normal attire consisting of jeans and a white wife beater. “So, I really think you should go for the highly emotional and sensitive musician.”

Seunghyun snickers. “You mean the emo and depressed musician who uses music to stop him from jumping off the balcony?”

“Okay, shut up,” Jiyong says without even turning around, “just because you’re jealous of my hair, does not mean you need to insult me. Anyways,” he then focuses his attention back on you. “Just write her a song and sing it to her and voila! You got yourself a real, life, living girlfriend.”

“Uh, I don’t think hyung can … write songs,” Daesung says from behind the counter, making another bowl of noodles. You try to remember a time when Daesung isn’t eating.

“Right,” Jiyong nods with a slight shudder, “yeah, I still remember those poems we had to write for Literature class when we were 13.”

You narrow your eyes at Jiyong’s implication. You didn’t think those poems were too horrible. Okay, so you used the overused ‘roses are red …’ format, but you thought it was a good attempt.

“Hm,” Jiyong begins pacing back and forth, hoping for some brilliant idea to enter his mind.

“Why don’t you write the songs for him, hyung?” Seungri suggests, also making his own bowl of noodles.

Jiyong stops mid-step and points to the sky. “Yes! I have an idea! Why don’t I write the songs for you? God, I’m so brilliant.”

“That’s what I just said, hyung!” Seungri cries out from the kitchen counter.

Jiyong waves his hand to dismiss the magnae. “Yeah! I could write the songs for you, you can sing them and then she’ll fall in love with you! Then, when you get married, you can thank me in your vows and tell her that I am the reason you two are in love and will potentially have 325 beautiful babies and—“

“Jiyong, stop being stupid,” Seunghyun says, not able to go through another minute of Jiyong’s ridiculous ideas. “Seriously, you should just be mysterious and brooding like me! I will teach you how to give intense looks and before you know it, girls will be throwing their panties at you. I guarantee it.”

“Urgh, no!” Seungri argues. “The cute look, hyung! The cute look!”

“My ideas are not stupid! They’re fucking brilliant, dammit! Why can’t you just see—“

“Hey, maybe he should just be himself,” Daesung suggests loudly, as he starts to fry an egg to place in his noodles.

The three boys stop their incessant arguing and mull over Daesung’s suggestion, but the silence lasts only 3 seconds before they let out an unanimous, “No.”

“He’s too shy! GIRLS DON’T LIKE SHY BOYS!”
“He needs aeygo! Hyung, I can totally teach you how to make cute faces!”
“He needs to embrace his sexiness! Wear more revealing clothes or something? Work on your eyes—uh, wait, never mind.”

You groan out loud and decide not to even say anything. You really need to get new friends. So, you walk past the three boys arguing about the new identity you should adopt before settling into the seat next to Daesung.

“Hey, Chaerin’s working at the ice cream shop right now,” Daesung says in a voice low enough not to be heard by the other three but loud enough for you to hear.

You raise an eyebrow at his proclamation. “Okay? And?”

Daesung gives you a look of disbelief. “What do you mean ‘and’? Go over there and make your move!”

You feel slightly panicked because A) you’ve never made a move on a girl, and B ) this was Chaerin. You know, the girl that gives you the reaction of sighing, smiling, sparkle—you get it, and C) your crush on her has only been alive for 2 days. Isn’t it a bit too soon?

“Oh, my gosh.” Daesung rolls his eyes and lightly taps you with his chopsticks. “Okay, the later you put this off, the more you’re going to have to listen to those three idiots,” he pauses and looks over to the boys still arguing in the centre of the room, “and by then, they’ll be so in your head that you’ll end up screwing everything up and well, good bye possible relationship with Chaerin!”

Daesung has a point, you tell yourself. And, well, it is Chaerin and you would like to do something about the erratic beating of your heart and your clammy palms.

So, you nod at Daesung and say, “Yeah, okay. Yeah!”

A huge smile appears on your friend’s face again but then it disappears when he looks at the three boys. “Yeah, you should probably go now while they’re still deciding whether that bow in your hair was nice or not.”

You give him a grateful look before slipping out of the apartment.

Right, you can do this. So, you’re about to make a move (whatever the hell that means) on a girl you like a lot and you can already feel the perspiration on your neck and you think your heart might die from all this adrenaline pumping through your veins. But … yeah, you can do this.

–

You ended up standing in front of Chill, Baby for a good 4 minutes and 32 seconds before finding the courage to open up the doors and walk in. It’s really not busy but there’s still a few customers here and there. You do see Chaerin, but she’s busy taking an order, so you slink towards a seat at the counter, not too far away from her.

You try to look very interested in the menu of ice cream in front of you because you don’t want to just sit there and look like a total creeper (which you are not, by the way).

You’re starting to regret coming here. It was just too soon! Maybe 2 weeks worth of having a crush would be reasonable, but two days? It was too soon! But then again, you have a feeling that you’d either end up allowing Jiyong to make a song filled with bad English (you used to go to bath with me—what, you never went to bath with anybody) or wearing a bow if you were to wait that long. That, or learning how to make intense facial expressions that would only come off as looking consti—

“Hey! It’s you again! Rainbow semi-sweet chocolate!”

You shake yourself out of your thoughts when you hear Chaerin’s unique and distinctive voice. You manage to laugh in a non-awkward way before saying, “Yeah.”

She places her palms on the countertop and gives you that infectious smile again. “Nice to see you agai—hey, I don’t think I got your name from last time?”

“Oh … oh!” And you feel a little stupid because here you are, completely crazy about this girl and she doesn’t even know your name. “Oh, it’s Youngbae. Dong Youngbae.”

“Well, Dong Youngabe, how are you?” She says with placed emphasis on your name, and you’re slightly glad for it. “Oh yeah. Thanks for the chocolate advice the other day. You definitely know your candy.”

And, her compliment has you soaring because she thinks you know your candy. You!

“Heh, thanks,” you utter out, and uh-oh, your sweaty palms are coming back. Be cool, you tell yourself, be cool. “Yeah, well, rainbow coloured is different. A lot of people usually get … plain coloured.”

Chaerin shrugs with an amused expression. “Yeah, well, I’m not exactly … like other people.”

And you nod because you’re glad she’s different and likes rainbow coloured semi-sweet chocolate. You kinda like it.

“So,” she begins and pushes the menu of ice cream towards you, “can I get you anything? Actually, wait, I owe you for the free chocolate.” She gets up from the seat and makes her way around the counter towards the ice cream. “Um, actually, Dongwook-oppa is a bit anal when it comes to free food. So, I can only offer you the plain and simple flavours. So no Rock n Roll Twist Yo Hips Banana for you, unfortunately,” she says with a bit of disdain.

“No problem,” you tell her, “I like vanilla.”

She raises an eyebrow at your own confession. “Really?” You nod. “Alright, okay, one vanilla coming right up.”

She scoops you up three large scoops of vanilla and places it neatly in front of you. “Oh wait, hold on a second!” she tells you right before she runs out to the back room and comes back with a bag filled with colourful chocolate chips. “Definitely will make it more exciting,” she says before sprinkling a dozen or two chips on top of your ice cream.

“Thanks.” You say and you truly mean it. You like your ice cream plain and you cringe whenever Jiyong tries to squirt absurd amounts of chocolate syrup onto your ice cream, but you don’t think these rainbow chocolate chips look too bad.

You’re about to take a spoonful, when a loud laughter erupts from the entrance and you see a whole horde of people entering the ice cream shop. Chaerin gives you an apologetic smile before making her way to tend to the customers.

You look at the ice cream in front of you. Almost afraid to dig in because it just looks so different and strange. You’re used to your plain ol’vanilla ice cream and this … this is just weird. But you decide to be brave and dig your spoon in and take a whole spoonful into your mouth.

The ice cream has a very sweet taste. Well, obviously, it does. It’s ice cream! And the combination with the rainbow chocolate is strange, and you’re not used to it, but it’s nice. And as you look at Chaerin, you realize that she’s a bit strange and different as well, but like the ice cream, you still like it.

You steal quick glances at her, you realize that everything just seems sweet. It’s not just the taste of the ice cream, but the smile she throws back at you, the words unsaid—it’s just very … sweet.

After she serves about twenty three customers, the shop is less busy and she slides into the seat next to you. “So, how’s the ice cream?” she asks, slightly breathless from the sudden onslaught of customers.

You smile at her. “Sweet.”

— END

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