For the sake of the storyline...let's say Geng's family migrated to South Korea when he was very young. Though his hangeul still needs work, he's pretty adept at it by now.

I've decided to make Siwon closer to age with Geng and Chullie but he's still the youngest of the bunch.

WARNING: some Heechul bashing on some parts. I have absolutely nothing against Cinderella. He's utterly adorable. It's all in the name of good, clean fun.
If I mispelled any hangeul words, please feel free to correct me. Again, thank you!

Arrière - French for "back" or "backwards". A step en arrière moves backwards, away from the audience.

CHAPTER TWO

For some reason, someday you invited me to dinner
You called me over to your house, I was looking forward to it
I starved and starved and starved again while anticipating the delicious dinner you'll give me
And imagining your delicious dinner I took a spoonful

~Late January, 1999~

Fact: Kim Heechul was a guy not scared easily.

So why was he literally shaking in his brand new D&G vintage boots now? He paced back and forth in the sunny living room of his uncle's house, contemplating and cursing his fate in life. There was something stuck in his throat that he couldn't quiet shake.

"I need soju. Now." He mumbled under his breath. The simple statement earned him a smooth chuckle from his companion seated on the couch. He stole a suspicious glance at his longtime friend, Choi Siwon.

"For someone who's about to be subjected to a fate worse than a quick death, you sure look relatively calm."

The addressed peep only peered at him for a moment before getting back to the book he was reading. "When you are Christian, you learn to put your fate in God and accept whatever comes your way."

Heechul scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You are so whipped."

All things considered, there were many aspects of Siwon's life that he would absolutely love to have. Generous wealth, good breeding, freshly-faced looks. Well, the money mostly. Heechul was never one for 'appropriate upbringing'; and as for the looks department. . .well, let's just say he wasn't particularly lacking in it.

He studied himself again on the reflection of the living room mirror and practiced a smile. Yep, definitely not lacking in that department. Although, he frowned, the shape of his nose sort of bothered him the slightest. No matter. His fashion sense was flawless. He eyed his boots again. His aegyo points were in no danger of deduction anytime soon.

Realizing that it was his appearance which rendered his 'sunbae' silent, Siwon's turn to move his eyes to high heaven. "About to face death in the eye but still has time to worry about his looks. Ah, Hyung. Vanity has got to be your greatest sin."

The older guy shrugged. Of all the things he disliked about Siwon (and he disliked a lot of things about his friend), it was his being 'all-Holy-I'm-so-positively-Christian-I-should-preach' side that really got to him. Heechul didn't like to be lectured at. Especially not by someone younger than him. Most especially not about religion. Which he didn't care for much. Which he didn't actually have.

Religion was something shoved down your throat by your ancestors to have some semblance of hope to cling unto at times of despair. In his opinion, it was reserved only for people who didn't have confidence, didn't believe in themselves.

And he knew Siwon felt like he, Kim Heechul needed to be saved.

'From what?'

Squeals of delight could suddenly be heard from the hallway leading to the kitchen. That's when he remembered why he was there in the first place. Cold sweat pored out of him. His stomach suddenly felt queasy. He groaned out loud. And he was trying so hard to forget.

One thing was for sure. If, and only IF….If Siwon's God truly did exist…then he should be making his peace at that moment.

"I sooo need soju right now."

What was the popular English saying again? Great minds think alike.

By a long way, the two girls were modest in their dispositions since childhood. But whenever they came up with such brilliant palns of mischief together. . .well, they felt that particular saying befitted them. For the most part. Especially on that day.

'Genius.' Lee Yeo Reom thought to herself as she imagined how Heecul-oppa must be mentally and phsysically fidgeting in the living room a few feet away. She rubbed her twelve-year-old hands in glee. Oh, how she would remember and enjoy this experience for years and years to come.

A girlish giggle escaped from her cohort's lips for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

"And that's what you get for being a nosy bastard, Cinderella." Park Hye Jin muttered wickedly as she put the finishing touches to the dish before stepping back to study the final creation.

"I think our work here is done." She concluded with a dramatic sigh. A hand reached out to tug off the hairnet that she'd been wearing during the cooking process to let the mass of shiny dark curls tumble down her back, reaching almost her waist.

Yeo Reom nodded in approval. "Yep, I quite agree."

The longtime bestfriends shared a knowing look for one moment. Then literally burst into laughter the next. Their merriment earned them another loud groan coming from across the hallway. The sound forced them to muffle their laughter.

"I almost feel sorry for the guy…" Yeo stated, biting her lower lip.

Hye Jin stared at her in horror. "Yeo Reom! Don't you dare. He, that dwae-ji stole my diary! And worse, he had it submitted to our school paper! Total. Public. Humiliation."

"Well, he did put the entry under anonymous."

"Do you remember which entry he published exactly? The one with Lee Donghae's name on it!" Hye Jin hissed, referring to the awfully cute president of the school dance club in their batch that she'd been seriously crushing on since their elementary days.

"Not to mention the fact that it contained a somewhat detailed description of my imagined perfect date with him!" Her cheeks blushed in memory.

Yeo raised her hands defensively. "Okay, okay. I just said, 'almost'. Miyanae."

She surveyed the kitchen counter once more, eyeing the finished products. "Wow. Can't believe we actually did it." She looked at her bestfriend. "You're really good at this, Hye Jin."

The latter shrugged one shoulder delicately as if to disregard the compliment, but there was a speck of a pleased smile on her lips.

"Anyae, I mean it. You've always had a passion for the culinary arts. Your cooking skills just keep improving over time."

"Yeah, well. Han Geng's eomma is a good teacher."

Yeo Reom tilted her head, causing some of her bangs to cover her eyes. "Do you think Heechul's gonna notice the difference?"

The latter shook her head. "Naah. I hid the wasabi cubes carefully. He won't know what hit him."

True. Both sets were practically synonymous. Except for the special secret ingredient added to one.

"Okay!" Hye Jin clapped her hands together. "Remember, all white plates are for Siwon. The red ones are for the babo's."

"Nae!" Yeo Reom chirped with a small salute for emphasis. Within seconds, the duo had cleared the counter, balancing the plates on two trays and making their way to the living room where their overly-anxious victim waited.

END OF CHAPTER TWO

Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave a comment^^