...

Did she hear correctly?

...She did.

Natalie Kang internally sighed, remaining where she was and letting her assigned partner for the final project of the year come to her.

“Hi there! I'm Kim Yesung~!” her partner said cheerfully—and needlessly. It wasn't as if she didn't know, with him parading down the halls and singing at the top of his lungs—not that his singing was bad, because it definitely wasn't.

Natalie nodded, taking out some notebook paper and a pen to jot down some ideas for the project.

“Well aren't you going to tell me your name?” Yesung asked, blinking at her. Natalie stared at him, pondering on whether to actually answer him or not. The teacher had just called out her name after his, so what was the point?

It was when she got tired of his repetitive blinking at her that she quietly muttered out of her name.

She found out after class that the reason everyone else go to pick their partners (while she was assigned) was because, in her teacher's words, she was “bright” and “brilliant” while Yesung was failing—miserably. It was up to Natalie to save the day.

Yay.

It seemed that every date Natalie tried to set for them to work on the aforementioned project, Yesung would be busy. He would either be too busy with choir, or too busy performing at some club with his friends, or too busy just hanging out with his friends. Exasperated, she finally asked him which day he would actually be free.

His reply was a silly grin and, “Hm...another week from tomorrow!”

Two days before the project was due.

A week and a day later, Natalie and Yesung sat at their table, waiting as the teacher looked their creation (which spawned from her brains and his money) up and down, inspecting every corner and crevice. With a smile, she dramatically waved her little red pen upon the paper on the clip board before removing the sheet and handing them their grade. As Natalie expected, there was a big, curly, red “A” written at the top. And she could be wrong about this, but it must've been Yesung's first “A” in that class. Again, she could be wrong, but, judging by the way the boy jumped up and down and spun around and then picked her up and spun her around, Natalie didn't think she was.

A light pink tint appeared on her cheeks, and, try as she might, Natalie couldn't hide it from Yesung's eyes—and it resulted in his teasing of her and her huffing out the classroom with a frown pasted on her face.

The rest of the year consisted of Yesung greeting her in the hallway, sometimes even jogging to catch up to her side to make conversation. Anyone would see that she was weirded out and self-conscious, and it was either Yesung was just being kind and ignoring it—or he was blissfully ignorant and oblivious.

Anyone who knew Yesung knew it was the latter.

School ended and summer came. With the coming of the ending school year, Natalie thought that she was finally “Yesung-less” and planned to enjoy the summer at home while her parents went to visit Grandmother Kang in the far countryside.

Natalie smiled at the prospect of being home alone, and she fingered the small set of art pencils fondly. The store she was currently in always sold art supplies for a cheap price, and for that she was thankful. Maybe should would buy—

“Hey, there, Nat! I can call you that, right?” a cheerful voice exclaimed behind her, causing her to jump and drop the pencil set. “You're so clumsy!” laughed Yesung as he bent down to pick it up for her.

Natalie frowned at him and grabbed the case, turning her face away so that she didn't have to look at his irritating face.

“No! I didn't mean that in a bad away!” Yesung said quickly, waving his arms around to prove his point. “I think it's cute!”

...

Natalie dropped her basket of groceries and ran out of the store, and if you had super-uber good eyes that could follow her speed, her flushed, red cheeks were visible.

For the remainder of the summer, the two did not bump into each other again. It could be because Natalie had abruptly decided to visit the countryside with her parents (who were absolutely baffled and received no answer when they questioned her).

The first day of the next school year passed by without much thought from Natalie, though she did notice that Yesung wasn't in any of her classes. At first, she didn't know whether to celebrate or bang her head against her locker in an emo fit, but when she realized that she actually felt like doing the latter, she wanted to bang er head against the locker for wanting to bang her head against the locker (and all because she didn't have any classes with a guy?!)!

It seemed that the air-headed Yesung had forgotten about her, too, seeing as he no longer greeted her in the hallways after fourth period. Their short, unexciting time together didn't stand a chance against the three month absence from each other, Natalie supposed.

She supposed it was that and the fact that Yesung was always too busy ogling his new girlfriend, Dana.

And so, the school year passed by uneventfully, Yesung popping into her mind every now and then where wasn't busy.

Uneventful as usual, Natalie mused as she studied for her end-of-year chemistry exam.

“Natalie, there's a student who needs tutoring...if you agree to it, then I'll give you some extra credit points,” her (new) science teacher said formally, appearing out of nowhere.

The only thought that traveled through her mind was, Was it Yesung?.

“HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!” the young, burly man banged his fist on the wooden table in his home, laughing almost violently at his own joke.

...Natalie sighed and rearranged the papers on the table, wondering if extra credit was worth going through this every day.

“Don't mind him,” a girl, probably younger than she, smiled as she walked into the living room. “I'm Taeyeon, Kangin's sister,” she said, smiling again.

Well, it looked like there was at least one sane person that could save her from losing too many brain cells, Natalie mused, smiling in return. Too many, at least, she thought again as Taeyeon began to laugh with her brother.

“She's amazing!” Kangin exclaimed in awe, flailing his arms dramatically in front of his big group of friends. “I got an A in chemistry! An A! Natalie Kang is, like, the mostest smartestest person in the WORLD!”

Yesung blinked as the guys around him chuckled in amusement, suddenly remembering the shy, petite girl from last year. “Oh her! She's a genius! The reason I passed science last year ^-^ ” he said almost proudly, nodding in agreement with himself.

“If she's really that good, then maybe we should ask her to tutor all of us!” Sungmin chimed in cheerfully, catching the attention of all the second years in their group of friends.

Without any word or other form of communication, Kangin and Yesung looked at each other, mischievous smiles playing on their lips.

Oh my god ohmygod OH MYGOD!

Natalie leaned against the door of Kangin's bathroom, breathing heavily and trying to calm her nerves. Kangin only said that he and a few friends needed help in science...and like the idiot she was, she agreed to help—only to find a room-full of good-looking guys!

OhmygodOHMYGO—

“Ahh!” Natalie squeaked, the door suddenly disappearing behind her, and she fell backwards into someone's strong arms.

“So clumsy~” teased a familiar voice, a voice she immediately recognized. Natalie scrambled back onto her feet and nervously tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear.

“Alright! Let's get this over with!” muttered Natalie, brushing past Yesung and ignoring his confused, bewildered look.

Needless to say, the tutoring sessions—and the several ones that followed throughout the rest of the year—were filled with crazy random, laughter, and blushes (on Natalie's part).

Bust most importantly, these tutoring sessions gave birth to many new friendships, and for the first time in many years, Natalie had more than just one or two people to truly talk to.

Another school year ended, but this time, it was to Natalie's dismay. The end of the school year meant the end of the tutoring sessions. She thought that it meant the end of hanging out with her new friends. And, of course, like any other cliché story, she thought wrong.

“Natalie-unni! Stop moving your head and let me finish!” Taeyeon scolded, straightener in one hand while the other hand held strands Natalie's wavy, black hair.

“I don't see why we have to go through all this trouble,” Natalie mumbled, obeying the younger girl's command and allowing her to straighten the last few strands of her hair. “It's just Kibum's birthday.”

And indeed, it was August 21st, the summer almost ending and the school year almost arriving.

“But a girl should always look good~” said Taeyeon, spritzing Natalie's hair with some hair spray product before announcing that she was finished. “And anyway, don't you want to look your best in front of Yesung-oppa? Don't think I don't notice how you look at him!” the younger teased, winking.

...Natalie didn't like how Taeyeon was so observant. She really didn't...but then again, she wasn't the most conspicuous person in the world, either.

“Unni~ Don't frown at me! I think oppa likes you, too! After he and Dana-unni broke up, he hasn't really talked to any girl but you! He's always so nice to you~” Taeyeon said happily. Most likely starting to daydream about Donghae, Natalie speculated.

Well, there was really no reason to stay up here anymore, seeing as the both of them were done, and the two girls walked downstairs where the party had already begun. Like usual, Kangin entertained everyone with his jokes and silly humor, Yesung piping up every few seconds and making everyone laugh even harder with his confusing nonsense.

Smiling slightly, Natalie made her way to the kitchen, her stomach growling a little from hunger. As she filled her plate with chips and chocopies and other treats, she felt someone “sneak” up behind her. She did nothing, though, quite used to this “sneaking up” upon her Donghae and Eunhyuk like to do, and she finished filling up her plate. “Is there something you want~?” Natalie spoke informally, turning around in her spot and expecting one of the younger friends...and seeing Yesung standing there, smiling at her. And once again, not unlike all the other times Yesung got close to her, Natalie's heart started to beat just a little[/] bit faster, her cheeks starting to get a [i]little[/] more pink.

“I just wanted to talk to you!” laughed Yesung, grabbing her plate and setting it on the small table before coaxing her into one of the chairs. “Whenever I want to talk to you, you always leave before we can actually talk for a long time~” he said, sitting in the chair next to her.

Natalie could only nod stiffly, taking small bites out of her chocopie as he began speaking about everything and anything, making no sense at all, really. It was only when she felt him grab her chin with his fingers that she really paid attention. “You're not listening to me,” Yesung said quietly.

“I-i'm....sorry?” Natalie offered meekly, not knowing how to respond. The older boy pouted at her, pushing her plate away and forcing her to focus only on him.

“Do you not like me?” he asked, sounding almost...afraid? Natalie shook her adamantly. It definitely wasn't that! “Then why don't you ever talk to me~? You talk to everyone but me!” he whined.

“I...er...” what could she say? That she was totally in love with him? Natalie didn't think so. “You know I don't talk much,” she said at last, using logic.

“Well...that's true, I guess...but you should talk to me more!” Yesung exclaimed, poking her arm and prompting her to look at him with a look that said, “Why?” and “What the hell was that for?” Yesung stayed quiet for a moment as if to ponder what to say.

...

Natalie blinked at him, nervousness wearing away as she waited for what seemed like hours for him to say something else.

“It's only nice to speak to someone who likes you, whether you like that back or not,” he said finally and in a matter-of-fact matter.

...

Natalie made a move to get up and escape, kind of like last summer in the market where she ran out on him, but this time, Yesung knew better, having “known” her for the past few months, and he grabbed her arm, setting her back down in the seat. “Don't run away!” he chided, though not in anger or irritation.

And Natalie obeyed him. She even obeyed him when he told her to close her eyes and told her not to be scared or run away again. She even obeyed him when he said, “You can tell me to stop if you want.”

Natalie allowed Yesung to press his lips to hers.

Summer ended and school came, bringing piles upon piles, mountains upon mountains of work for Natalie, who now even had a job, to do. Oh no, it wasn't the fact that her classes were extra hard and tedious, though they were, really. It was that there were so many people who came up to her asking for tutoring in science—thanks to the loud mouths of Kangin and his friends (who, actually, were her friends, too, now). Most of them were competent, though, and never gave her much trouble.

However, there was this one troublemaker that she could not control. Always causing her stress when he didn't listen and would rather “play” than study.

But, if you asked Natalie—and if she answered truthfully—you would find out that she didn't mind in the least. In all truth, she loved it—she loved Yesung. So no matter how much trouble he caused, she could never really be angry at him...

Okay, so maybe she could, but it didn't matter either way because Yesung would manage to kiss all her anger away.

She especially loved it when he did that.

School ended and summer came, summer went and school arrived, though this time, a different school. A different level entirely. Mostly everyone remained together, going to the same college and attending at the same times, save for a select few who went his or her own separate ways to pursue their own path.

Natalie smiled, phone against her ear, working on the 9875693476594697 x10^99 page long report that her biology teacher assigned. “You sound beautiful as usual, Yesung~” she complimented once her boyfriend was done giving her preview of the next piece he was doing at a competition. His loud, infectious laughter filled her ears, and she smiled again.

“Is the work over there hard?” Yesung asked her after regaining some oxygen in his system.

“A little...a lot of people are still asking me to tutor them,” Natalie told him in amusement. “And how about you? Is art college difficult for you?”

Natalie stopped her writing to listen to all of what Yesung had to say.

All three hours of the story.

School ended—four years later for some, longer for others. It seemed that not even distance could break all the friendships Natalie had made in high school, and she was sure all of them were glad and proud.

The last few years were tough on all of them, Natalie was sure, and still, the journey wasn't over. Everyone was running this way and that, trying to find their ideal careers and lifestyles. It was overwhelming, to say the least. So overwhelming that it frightened Natalie at times because just change itself was a scary thing.

But, still, it was okay. She had at least one thing that was constant, she knew for sure.

Natalie felt familiar arms encircle her waist, and she beamed, leaning into the embrace and raising her hand out in front of her.

“I take that you really like it,” Yesung said in mirth, nuzzling his head against her neck.

“Mm...” Natalie smiled, continuing to stare, the jewel reflecting light and making her left hand glow. “I love it.”

Nothing ended, really, because at this stage, there could only really be beginnings.

Nothing ended, everything began.

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