Yeonderella (TXT YeonBin story)

5 - Yeonjun

Yeonjun was crawling on the ground, taking out another flower from its pot with his small shovel to plant it in the garden. Unfortunately his stepmother was fond of having a nice garden, but obviously the work coming with it was always on Yeonjun's shoulders. Who else's?

He wiped his forehead as he looked around in the garden. It was February, which meant it was still pretty cold, but in the flower pots he could already plant some new flowers using fresh soil. Mainly red and pink ones to match the Valentine's Day vibes.

He was already done with most of his work that he received as a punishment for putting the spider in Wooyoung's drink - not to mention that the spider was dead and it wasn't him who put it in the mug. Why would he want a punishment on purpose? He just had enough problems in his life, and he got extra work either way, so he hasn't stopped for a second since he got home after school - and of course after tutoring the 8 year-old twins in their street, Jay and Jake.

He looked up from gardening once he heard the gate open and saw Beomgyu welcome himself inside the garden.

'Gyu, what are you doing here?' asked Yeonjun with a sigh. He was already tired enough, he didn't feel like dealing with the chaotic mess his best friend was right now.

'I'm playing Cupid' announced Beomgyu skipping towards Yeonjun who was still kneeling between the flowers with dusty hands. 'Here. Or not' he held a paper out for Yeonjun but drew it back immediately when he saw how dirty his friend's hands were. 'Maybe I'll just read it out for you.'

'What is it?' asked Yeonjun, now slightly curious.

'It's the poster of the masquerade party' sang Beomgyu. 'I got one from Jungwon because they were just hanging them up when my last class finished. Anyways' he raised the paper in front of his face and began to read out the words. 'Invitation to this year's Valentine's Day masquerade party. All years are welcome! Dress code: black tie (elegant). Don't forget your mask and your smile! Whether you arrive with your partner or on your own, the important thing is to enjoy the party - and who knows, maybe you'll also find true love.'

'Incredible' sighed Yeonjun, his heart already shattering knowing that he won't be able to go.

'Hyung, we have to be there!' said Beomgyu.

'I can't! The bitch never lets me go to any parties, remember?' sighed Yeonjun.

'Well, you are going this time! And if she doesn't let you, I'm going to sneak you out! This will be the best party of our college life, I know it! I won't let you just skip like that!' said Beomgyu.

'I really hope you have something in mind to get me out of here' said Yeonjun and continued gardening. Then he heard the front gate open and gasped. 'Oh shit, it's her!'

Beomgyu turned around, seeing Yeonjun's stepmom enter the garden and swiftly shoved the poster in the pocket of his jacket. He only met her a few times and the woman didn't even try to act nice to him. It's not like she had to act in front of Beomgyu as the boy always knew about everything she did.

She spotted Beomgyu standing next to Yeonjun and narrowed her eyes, walking up to the boys.

'Why is the sudden visit, Beomjun?' she asked suspiciously without greeting.

What the fuck is a Beomjun, thought Yeonjun to himself. Beomgyu showed off his brightest and most polite smile.

'I'm Beomgyu. Nice to see you again, Mrs Choi' he grinned. Yeonjun's stepmom looked over at Yeonjun, but he acted like he was busy tending the garden.

'Yeonjun, your friend here is being awfully polite today, what's the occasion?' she asked. Yeonjun looked up and was about to come up with and excuse, but Mrs Choi's eyes were already scanning the garden. She hummed. 'Nice, nice... but don't forget to clean up this mess' she said gesturing around at all the soil and leaves everywhere. She just glared at Beomgyu before turning around and going inside the house.

'See?' whispered Yeonjun. 'How am I supposed to ask for leave when she doesn't even let me talk?' he sighed.

Beomgyu just shook his head and tapped his chin with his fingers while watching Yeonjun starting to clean up the mess he made in the garden. He has to help Yeonjun. He wanted to see him smile again. And if it's about him going to that party (which no matter how much Yeonjun denied, Beomgyu knew he is dying to be there), then he is going to do whatever it takes to help Yeonjun sneak out.

.

Yeonjun sat down next to the dinner table defeatedly. He was exhausted to say the least, and he was in a really bad mood after his long day. He did okay at school, then tutored the reckless twins, cleaned the whole house, gave San's fucking black cat Nero a bath (which resulted in now both his arms having scratches all over them), tended the garden and even made dinner, only not to receive a single thank you as usual.

The only thing that made things slightly less horrible was that Mrs Choi was invited over for dinner to one of her friends' place (even though Yeonjun was kind of suspicious about that, I mean how could that woman have friends??), so it was just him, San and Wooyoung having dinner with him sitting at one end of the table eating quietly, while the other two were at the other end, opposite from each other, talking loudly as if Yeonjun wasn't even present.

'Yeosang won't be my partner for the dance' sighed San, pushing around the food on his plate. Wooyoung snorted.

'Obviously, dumbass. He is gonna say yes to me.'

'No, he said he is going with Seonghwa hyung' said San, watching Wooyoung's smile drop with an amused grin. Man, Yeonjun didn't know Yeosang, but he had no idea why is he even hanging out with his idiot of stepbrothers. Especially since both of them had a small crush on him. But again, the duo kept competing in everything in their life whether it was about beating each other in video games, eating their ramen faster, or getting into someone's pants. Whenever one of them took a liking in someone, the other was always quick to start courting the same person. Yeonjun never understood what's going on in their heads.

'Then I'll just continue to court Soobin' announced San, making Wooyoung and even Yeonjun look at him.

'Choi Soobin is never gonna say yes to you out of all people' chuckled Wooyoung. 'He is too hot for you, my chances are better.'

'Hey, you only say that because it was my idea to ask him! You can't steal my man!' yelled San. Here we go again, thought Yeonjun.

'And? How do you know he is not secretly into me?' grinned Wooyoung slyly.

'He is definitely not' said San. 'He would date anyone before you. He would even rather pick Yeonjun than you' he added.

Yeonjun stopped in the movement of shoveling food in his mouth. They never really said his name unless they wanted something. But it looks like the other two didn't even notice, they were too busy bickering.

Yeonjun hated himself for it, but once again he found himself thinking about Soobin again. What would it be like to go to the dance with him? It must be wonderful...

But then again, Soobin was one of the most popular boys at school. He probably had a million people asking him out every day. Yeonjun suspected that he already had a partner for the dance. He was handsome as hell, smart, kind, popular, member of the student council and the basketball team... He was way out of Yeonjun's league.

He doubted Choi Soobin would ever lay his eyes on someone like him.

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A/N: I hope you liked the chapter! It's finally autumn break for me, so I'll try to catch up a bit with the draft of this book because I don't have much time to write these days. My other book will be updated a bit more frequently in the next two weeks, but this book is really going slowly, so unfortunately I can't bring more frequent updates... so I'll see you next Sunday!