"You can tell how much of a daddy he is by the way he walks." Jongdae groans to himself, biting the bottom of his thin lip anxiously. 
He's watching Xiumin strut confidently across the mall in the middle of the polished marble floor, and Jongdae dies a little inside every time he sees Xiumin the bottom of his soft lips. Unsurprisingly, it results in multiple heads turning in Xiumin's direction, eyes landing on him from the groups of girls walking past... and the boys in the corner. Jongdae wants to growl in frustration. 
And jealousy but no one has to know about that. 
Despite the continuous string of heads turning to look at him (Jongdae swears Xiumin is a magnet) Xiumin never seems to pay attention to any of them. Even the handsome boys ogling him from a coffee shop window. He ignores them all.
Jongdae starts to speculate. Does Xiumin have a girlfriend already? Or maybe even a boyfriend? Maybe he's just oblivious as . Jongdae hopes it's that one, because whether he denies it or not (which fyi, he is, he's 100% denying it), he's got a pretty big crush on his new friend. 
He won't admit it though. Not even if you tickle him. Nope. No one is finding out about this.
Speaking of Xiumin, he turns and looks at Jongdae, tilting his head cutely. "Are you coming?" he smiles sweetly and runs a hand through his hair. "Or are you just gonna stand there?" he smirks, raising an eyebrow challengingly. Jongdae blinks, realising he'd been stood in his daydreams, looking like an idiot. 
Jongdae sighs. "Oh lord, give me strength." Jongdae mutters to himself, blushing as he speed walks towards the waiting Xiumin, feeling rather insecure since the girls and guys that were and are still looking at the athlete are, in Jongdae's opinion, better looking than him, a simple brown haired photography enthusiast.
Or at least he thinks they are.
If he knew what Xiumin was thinking as he watched Jongdae skip towards him, Jongdae might be having second thoughts. 
(Not because Xiumin thinks Jongdae is hot, or anything).

On the other side of the mall, the rest of the group are still where Xiumin and Jongdae left them. They huddle round a table in the cafe - at least they were, until sighing waiters decided to let them push another table together with the one in the booth. 
Because they're in too deep with the conversations, none of the rest of them had noticed the absence of a purple dumpling and his brown haired friend. Fast words are flying through the air, laughter is being exchanged, ears are perking up to attentively listen to each other. Each one is heavily involved in a conversation with one of their new found friends, and they're learning about and opening up to each other. Or that's what it looks like, at least.
"Honestly! Look!" Tao exclaims, pointing at the sides of his sunglasses. "It looks expensive, right?" Tao glances at Junmyeon worriedly. "Right?!"
Junmyeon chuckles, "All that glitter is not gold." He says dismissively, waving a hand in front of the panda's face. Honestly, he couldn't care less whether it was real or not - he just spouted the first thing he thought of in order to reassure the very material Tao.
"The Merchant of Venice." Lay remembers, clicking his fingers as he points at Junmyeon, smiling. Junmyeon's eyes crinkle as he smiles widely. 
Lay remembered.
Junmyeon wants to cry. Or blush. Or squeal. Someone is actually taking an interest in his favourite playwright?
Then Junmyeon frowns. But what if Lay is just humouring him?
Luhan gasps as he dramatically slams his cup on the table. "What have you done to our Xingxing?" He fake cries, sending glares in Junmyeon's direction, pulling nervous laughter from the man supposedly at fault. Kai flinches at the sudden cry, and shoots a disgruntled looking to Luhan before returning to admiring his new subject of attention, Kyungsoo.
'Xingxing' grins. "Shakespeare, right?" He asks for confirmation, an eyebrow raised as he crosses his arms and leans back confidently.
"Of course it is," Kyungsoo sighs irritably. "What else would Junmyeon quote?!" 
Lay shrugs. It's true, he supposes.
Kai sits up, straightening the fabric of his shirt whilst tilting his head to the left. He spotted an opportunity to make conversation with Kyungsoo there, and who was he to not take it up. Kyungsoo watches Kai sit up out of the corner of his eye, and is already sighing because the cocky look on Kai's face explains everything he's about to say.
Kai, with a confident smile on his face, turns to face the oh-so-sassy musician, leaning towards him only a little bit to avoid being scolded about accidentally going in Kyungsoo's personal bubble.
"You know," Kai murmurs. "I won an award for that." 
"For literature?" Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow in disbelief, earning a chuckle from the pink haired boy. Kyungsoo in an exasperated breath.
Kai nods proudly, showing off that heart-aching smirk as he raises his chin smugly. He knew he'd get Kyungsoo's attention with that. 
Technically, he only got second place in the literature competition, but who's Kyungsoo to know that?
Kyungsoo laughs, and it's harsh on Kai's ears. "Which teacher did you to get that then?" Kyungsoo deadpans. He glares daggers into Kai, clearly tired of his .
Kai pouts. "Why do you doubt my intelligence, Soo hyung?" He whines.
Kyungsoo snorts. "I don't. I just enjoy winding you up. And don't call me Soo."
Kai sits back in his chair, defeated. He pouts as he stares glumly at the cartoon diner style pictures hung on the wall opposite him. Why can't he call him Soo? What's wrong with an nickname? Can Kyungsoo not handle affection? 
Kai huffs again, and a small hand pats him awkwardly on the shoulder. He looks to see Kyungsoo's uneasy face, and Kai smiles reassuringly: it's okay. Kyungsoo nods in satisfaction, and the hand falls away. There's a warm and tingly feeling left by the imprint of his smooth hand, and Kai wants the feel of Kyungsoo's small hand back on his shoulder. It was comforting, you know? Not that he's bothered about it or anything though. 
"So," Kris starts loudly, shifting everyone's attention from their own conversations onto him. His eyes focus on a certain black haired musician, and he wants to know one thing. Something that's been bugging him ever since his conversation with Tao. "How come you moved here so suddenly?" He bluntly asks, resting his elbows on the dark wooden table and staring at the newcomers accusingly. 
The five boys exchange glances anxiously. They shrug at each other, pretending there's no real reason, but the other four have already caught sight of Chanyeol. He's slumping further and further in his chair until he's almost sat on the ground just to avoid answering the artist's question. Kyungsoo sighs, not wanting to be reminded of the accident his made friend had that ruined his life, while Baekhyun pulls Chanyeol off the ground and back onto the seat.
"I didn't mean to, I swear!" The puppy protests, putting his hands up defensively. 
Kyungsoo facepalms loudly. He expected this - whenever all the attention is on Chanyeol (which it usually is but this time he feels pressured), Chanyeol tends to babble. And in this circumstance, admit to something the others wanted to keep quiet. Despite being annoyed, Kyungsoo has to smile fondly at Chanyeol's habits. His best friend was adorably awkward sometimes, but that's just one of his charms, Kyungsoo supposes. That's why they're friends after all. 
Sehun rolls his eyes from behind his manga, and Tao sighs. "Are you ing kidding me?" he mutters, and Jongdae responds with: "What did you expect though?" and Junmyeon laughs. "You're such an idiot, Chanyeol." 
Chanyeol grunts and flicks at the paper menu in front of him out of annoyance. 
"Thanks, guys, I really feel the support." He says as he turns to look at t