Author's POV

Just sitting together was awkward—mostly for Hyejung. She was sitting so close to Mrs Seo that there was barely a gap betwen them. Although it's not anything new or unusual for EXO to be eating in Mrs Seo's apartment, it was definitely an unexpected situation for Hyejung.

Mrs Seo have always been like a caring mother to the guys and she always made sure to feed them well when she had the chance because she was aware of the hard work they put on every single day. It was tough for them and she could see it. She's seen them struggle with her own eyes and she's even witnessed their arguments. Despite that, they never complained.

Mrs Seo loved that quality about them. And that's why she wants to give them the care the deserve to have at their age. But of course, being away from their family didn't allow that to happen regularly. She would always invite them over for a meal once a month and if not, she would at least make them something to eat on the go. She cared so much about them like they were her own babies that she didn't mind waking up early for them.

Through her generosity, Mrs Seo and EXO became close. She might not have children, but she knows what her boys need. A little love and care.

"Dig in, sweethearts!" Mrs Seo exclaimed cheerfully. There was not a moment where she wasn't happy whenever there were guests over.

Jalmugetsumnida!" EXO chorused in delight. Hyejung didn't move an inch. She just stared at them gobble down the food, adding more meat and perfectly sliced vegetables on top of their bowl of rice.

"Hyejung-ssi, why are you not eating?" Chen asked, causing the rest of them to shift their attention to her.

Mrs Seo stifled a laugh seeing Hyejung's flustered face. "This is all too overwhelming for her." She faked a whisper to the guys just to tease the girl.

"Umma!" Hyejung shot her a glare and bit the insides of her lips in embarrassment. She picked up her chopsticks and took a small bite of rice, all eyes still on her.

"Sorry for making you uncomfortable Hyejung-ssi. But i promise, we're all nice people!" Chanyeol reassured.

Hyejung mentally scoffed. I knew that Park Chanyeol-ssi.

"Yeah, we're all friends, aren't we?" Baekhyun said before taking a large bite of his wrapped meat. Hyejung took a glance at him and then shifted her gaze to Jongin. She didn't know why she did but her eyes naturally moved to him. Maybe because she wanted to get reassurance from him that they were friends.

Jongin stared back at her with a smile and nodded his head slightly. Her heart started racing.

"A-ah, neh.." she nodded her head halfway when Sehun said, "Then let's drop the formalities! That would be more comfortable for all of us."

"Ok.. S-sure.."

"What year were you born in." Sehun asked.

"1996." Mrs Seo answered before Hyejung could. "She's younger than all of you so i expect you to take good care of her alright?"

"Of course!" They all answered quickly, making Hyejung red at their unhesitant respond. She was embarrassed but it made her feel a lot better.

"Oh, that reminds me. Hyejung-ah, have your parents called?" Mrs Seo asked as she caressed Hyejung's back.

She looked at Mrs Seo with a hint of hesitance in her face. Like she wanted to tell her but she didn't know if she should, especially when she was in front of the global stars. Her eyes moved back to her bowl that was halfway done and poked into the rice. Even with the fake smile she had on, they saw how her face fell and that she was trying to hide it from the rest of them. They all saw how much the question had affected her.

Jongin placed his utensils down and stared at her with concern and curiosity. Not looking up to look at any of them, she shook her head slowly and sighed. Do they even care?

Mrs Seo rubbed the girls back with her palms comfortingly and smiled sadly at the guys that were still watching her. "They'll call. I know they will." Mrs Seo tried to convince her but she didn't believe her words. She knew Hyejung's parents personally and they were a busy and hardworking couple that's hard to reach out to.

"I'm sure they will!" Hyejung lied, but her tone was too cheery that EXO knew she was trying so hard to hide her sadness from them. She didn't want to make the situation more awkward than it already has from the beginning.

Jongin noticed the lost of life in her face and he felt horrible for her. He hasn't seen his family in forever but at least they lived around the area. If he missed them that much, he could just clear out his schedule for a day and visit them effortlessly. And besides, they weren't too busy not to call him once a week, to say the least.

He decided to lighten up the mood by bringin up the festival that was happening in 2 days. "So, KBS Music Festival. I heard you're going.."

And almost instantly, Hyejung tilted her head up, her eyes sparkling like stars and her lips tugged into a broad smile. She clasped her hands together and said, "Hell yeah i am! I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Taken aback from her sudden outburst of enthusiasm, EXO laughed. Mrs Seo shook her head.

"She's way too in love with all of you.." she rolled her eyes and brought her bowl into the kitchen, leaving the younger ones together.

"Umma~" Hyejung whined.

"God, she's so cute." Jongin heard Chanyeol say under his breath. He sent him a secretive glare before returning his attention to Hyejung.

"Don't be." Baekhyun waved his hands. "It's actually really cool.." he confessed. The cool thing was that they were actually having a friendly conversation with their own fan without all the screaming or 'OPPA, WILL YOU MARRY ME'. It's such a rare occurance for them.

"I hope you don't think of me weirdly.." she said and they listened closely. Why would they? I'm not the type of fan whose gonna stalk you for 24/7 and find out everything you're doing." she shook her head and waved her fingers in front of them.

"I'm totally normal.." She smiled proudly like it was some kind of prideful thing to say.

"So normal that she watches you on the screen of her phone everyday!" Mrs Seo shouted from the kitchen while washing the dishes.

"It's not my fault they're so talented!!" Hyejung reasoned out for defense. She smiled sheepishly and scratched her head when she heard the guys laughing.

"Thank you." EXO said in no particular sequence.

"Well, since we're friends.." D.O started. "We hope you'll see us as that and not the celebrities you see on the media. We're totally normal." he mimicked his last sentence like the way she said it before.

The apartment was surrounded with laughters in no time and that marked the beginning of their friendship. It still felt weird to Hyejung, being friends with EXO and living beside them. It couldn't be helped. Nobody expected her to be more than just a fan to her favorite idols of all time.

It's insane. But she was honoured and excited to spent more moments with them. She will definitely treasure every single second with them. It was like a once in a lifetime thing, reoccuring several times and every moment better than the last.

Subscribe and comment lovelies! It was a short chapter but i might do another update later! ^^