“Ugh,” Lami groans as she flops facedown onto her bed, “what a long day.”

She hears her roommate Koeun opening up the wardrobe before pausing, “Well, at least we didn’t have to go back to practice today after the concert. That was a lot of fun.”

Lami makes a non-committal sound from where her face is still smushed against the pillows, not really registering what Koeun is saying to her.

“And,” Koeun continues, “You got to interact with Donghyuk in the kitchen. I’m sure you liked that. A lot.”

She bolts up immediately, horrified at the accusation. “I was not!” she sputters, “I was just-! We were- I don’t have a crush on him!”

“I never said you did, what makes you think that?” Lami can practically feel the smugness radiating off Koeun. Crap, she fell right into that one. “So you finally admit to it, huh?”

Lami feels her face turning warm, knows how red her cheeks must look. She could try to stutter out another denial, but from the look on Koeun’s face, it would probably be for naught. She doesn’t know if she wants to dig a hole and hide forever or wipe the smirk off Koeun’s face by pummeling her with pillows. The latter sounds more appealing right now, but she’s not sure SM will appreciate it if they show up short one member for practice tomorrow. She settles for silently glaring at her.

“Don’t be disrespectful, kid, I’m four years older than you.”

“As if I could forget,” Lami mutters, “If you still think of me as a kid, I wonder what he thinks of me.” She lies back down on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

She feels the bed sagging as Koeun sits next to her. “Cheer up, it’s not the end of the world. Besides, if today’s anything to go by, I’m sure he’s not completely oblivious towards you.”

“He banters with everyone, I’m sure it doesn’t really mean anything.”

Koeun pokes her sides, and continues prodding until she sits up unwillingly. “Oh come on, I’ve known him for a while now and this is probably the first time I’ve seen him looking even just the slightest bit reliable. But hey, I’m not the one he’s trying to impress, so what do I know?”

Lami’s mind doesn’t register the implication of Koeun’s statement at first, but when she does her eyes widen. “What? Unnie, what do you mean? Say it again.”

Koeun is faster though, and she’s already at the door when she says, “I think Hina is done using the bathroom, I’m going to take my shower now.” The door closes behind her and Lami huffs in annoyance at the unanswered question.

The door opens again and Koeun peeks her head through the gap, “I mean, how could anyone resist you when you were whining so cutely? Speaking of which, how come you’re never this cute when it’s just us girls?”

Lami really does throw the pillow this time, but it hits the door and slides onto the floor instead. Curse Koeun and her lightning-quick reflexes.

“Shut up, Jeno! Lami was NOT making googly eyes at me.”

“Yes, she was!” Jeno exclaims as he dodges the flying ammunition (toy soldiers) Donghyuk flings at him. “Mark hyung, save me! Donghyuk is trying to kill me!”

Mark rolls his eyes at the commotion. What did he do to deserve this again? He locks the main door before turning around to shout at them, “Both of you stop fooling around and go to bed!”

“Told you so!” Donghyuk childishly sticks his tongue out at Jeno.

Not for the first time (and definitely not the last), Mark wonders why Lami is crushing on Donghyuk. “Jeno, stop making fun of Donghyuk. And Donghyuk, before you start gloating, yes, Lami was looking at you again. It was so obvious, even Jisung Park caught on. I honestly wonder if you’re really that dumb or you just enjoy the attention.”

Mark leaves Donghyuk gaping like a goldfish (a very rare and amusing sight) and hurries to his room before Donghyuk can manage a response. All he hears before closing the door is Donghyuk’s scream of frustration and a promise of revenge.

He locks his door that night (and every subsequent night thereafter) for good measure. 

Note:

First off, thank you all for subscribing and commenting and also for being so patient. I know I haven't updated in what feels like for-ing-ever (even to myself) and that's mainly because I've kind of lost inspiration for these short stories. 

For those readers who have requested for a different pairing to be written, I'll keep that in mind. I may write them (if I ever think up a good enough story) and publish them... eventually or not.

Not so Interesting fun fact: This was actually the first story that I wrote for this series and published on this site, although I did take it down shortly after. 

I've never been able to fully grasp punctuation. If any of you spot any mistakes, feel free to point them out to me.