The young men had dared one another to ask their beautiful goddess, as they had nicknamed her already, to dinner. A series of rock, paper, scissors and shameful teasing had taken place the past few days. However, none actually managed to utter the invitation. Their manager had long reluctantly approved, as long as she did not stay too late. Yet, they all oddly kept their distance from her. At times she'd sneak in a sniff of her hair and clothes to make sure she wasn't chasing them off with body odor. Every time she came to the realization she wasn't pungent, so what was going on with the group members?

            She sighed as she picked up her bag and silently headed home without a word for the fifth night in a row. She bowed at the group of men, “Goodnight.”

            Jongin bit his lip, his heart racing as he looked after her retreating form. He took a quick look around and noted that no one was going to say anything, he took in a deep breath. “Wait,” he shouted. She jumped slightly, turning to meet the handsome young man's gaze. “Would you like to join us for dinner?”

            A grin played on her lips, only waiting a few seconds to reply. “I'd love to, if you're sure I'm not imposing.”

            "No we'd love it if you'd join us,” Tao added, finally gaining the confidence he had been searching for. “We've been meaning to ask you--”

            "But were too nervous to,” Honest Yixing admitted.

            Baekhyun lightly nudged Yixing in the ribs. “We'd be honored if you ate the meal we prepare tonight and try not spit it out,” he continued.

            "If so, just use a napkin,” Chanyeol aggregated.

            She chuckled with every single one of their blundered statements. "Yes, I will be very discreet,” she teased.

            Baekhyun led the way. “Oh yes, stray cats will be pleased with your generosity.” She tried not to cackle. Baekhyun cleared his throat upon noting Kyungsoo's glare. “However, Kyungsoo is an amazing chef so that probably won't be necessary.”

            She met Kyungsoo's gaze. He'd been one of the first members she'd been curious about. He was dark and mysterious, all that was missing was the stature, but he only seemed short because of the oddity of height that occurred in this group. Chanyeol and Tao towered over her five foot four figure. Still he released a gentle smile some distance above her. That smile said he was kind and gentle, yet the members seemed to cringe when around him. Jesus, there was that angelic voice as well. "You cook?" she managed.

            He grinned shyly and nodded. "I like to cook, but I would not say that I am superior in any way."

            Chanyeol cracked up as he placed his arm around Kyungsoo. "He's trying to be humble, likely to impress you," he teased. Another scrutinizing gaze from Kyungsoo sent Chanyeol about a foot away. "He truly is an amazing cook," he aggregated.

            "At least better than these lost causes," Kyungsoo jabbed in a whisper.

            Jae instantly caught onto his mumble and began to giggle, covering . She beamed brightly, in relief and joy to have finally infiltrated their borders. They were hardworking, funny, and kind guys. Her heart swelled as she sat at the dinner table, a clear shot into the chaos of the kitchen. Kyungsoo as the head chef and Chanyeol as his side man, and decent yet clumsy Suho, Jongdae, and Xiumin aided in preparing the meal.

            She ripped her eyes away from the circus to pay attention to the other half of picture-perfect men staring at her at the table. She awkwardly smiled, unsure of what to say. "You know, I'm actually a pretty good cook." They all looked at her expectantly, happy to hear her speak first. "A part of me initially wanted to offer my help, but watching them is a lot more fun."

            The men quickly dissolved into laughter, gaining looks from the cooks and chipping away at the nervousness. "Oh this is nothing, there was a fire once," Yixing confessed. It caused initial panicked stares from the members, but made Jae laugh even harder. Another round of laughter exploded around the dinner table. This gained more intrigued glances from the cooking members, all wanting to listen to the humor.

            "You are not cooking hard enough, if a fire isn't started."

            "So have you started any fires," Baekhyun added in amusement, raising an eyebrow.

            She gave him a mischievous grin. "Why do you think I had to run away to South Korea?" The members watched her in shock, but chuckled when a wide grin spread across her face.

            "Why did you come to Korea? Did you always want to be an idol?" Tao aggregated, gaining more confidence with every passing minute with her.

            She sighed. "Actually no. I didn't even know what an idol was." They watched her carefully, the members of the kitchen quieting down to listen themselves. "I came to Korea for an architecture internship. I studied really hard and graduated after several sleepless nights." Brows rose in interest. "Dancing...” She sighed and rubbed her neck. The men had quickly noted that it was one of her nervous ticks.  “Was just always a part of my life. I started dancing ballet when I was six."

            Sehun elbowed Jongin. "Just like Kai." Despite what looked like Jongin's warning expression, Sehun continued, "He is a Jazz and ballet prodigy."

            Sehun released a yelp as Jongin stepped on his foot. Jae looked at the handsome man respectfully. "That's incredible Sunbaenim, no wonder your movements are notably fluid and controlled." His cheeks slightly burned, the others looking in surprise. Kai couldn’t help realizing that she had been watching him. "We should dance some ballet for fun some time," she offered, her own cheeks filling with color, unsure whether it was an appropriate offer.

            "I'd really enjoy that," Jongin beamed.

            Tao cleared his throat, not enjoying Kai's ability to charm everyone, especialy women. "Do you miss your family," he redirected.

            Her smile slowly disappeared. Jae cleared and uncomfortably shifted in her seat. The boys quickly realized that Tao had brought up a sensitive subject. Sehun bared his teeth at his brother. Tao’s eyes widened and he shrugged subtlety. “My mom is the only one waiting for me back in the States.” She made eye contact with Suho momentarily and in that fraction of a second, he knew she was in distress. Suho grabbed a bowl straight out of Kyungsoo’s hands that he had barely finished pouring rice into. His legs rushed to her rescue. He placed the plate before her with a grin.

            Abruptly, several dishes appeared. Her eyes widened at the amount of food. "Wow this looks incredible. Thank you so much." She bowed as she stared at the delicious food.

            "Don't thank us just yet, try it first," Xiumin offered with a smile.

            "If it's good it was all thanks to me, if not, I had nothing to do with it," Chanyeol mentioned.

            "Yah! We really hope you enjoy it," Jongdae interjected with his breath taking smile.

            "Yes, we put love and hard work in the dishes," Suho announced with pride.

            Kyungsoo bit his plump bottom lip and nodded. Her eyes lingered on his flawless face. Despite saying nothing, plenty of her attention. Her eyes also lingering on the bright Chanyeol and nurturing Junmyeon. They watched as her eyes widened with surprise. "Delicious! I might never leave your house with this cooking," she joked. They all laughed and nodded, agreeing with the taste and her mere comment of sticking around. As they continued to get to know her and the chortling echoed in the dorm, her not staying was becoming unacceptable.

*     *     *

             Junmyeon switched through the titles, his eyes looking over the cover image and taking some time to look at the synopsis. Despite his face wrinkling with displeasure, he’d give s and Jae an open expression afterwards. It made Jae smile, she found it entirely endearing the way he was willing to sit through something he wasn’t particularly a fan for their sake. However, making any choice was proving to be impossible. With so many men and so many different tastes, came many different opinions. Jae couldn’t help chucking as Chan and Baek argued over what film had the better cast.

            Tao gave Jae a bowl of popcorn and a warm smile. She thanked him and returned her perfect grin. “This is going to take a while,” he sighed next to her. She laughed, her eyes glued on the grown men kicking one another. “Hey, I’m sorry about the other day,” he added. He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the way her face changed when he brought up her family. Not to mention, the members hadn’t stopped giving him since then. “I didn’t mean to like cross a professional line, or make you uncomfortable.”

            She slightly laughed internally. What professional line? As she could see now, sitting sandwiched between Tao and Suho, that line was definitely blurred. “No, don’t worry about it Sunbaenim. No harm done, I’m just awkward.” She rubbed her neck, causing him to beam. He loved it when she did that.

            “Yah, this always takes forever,” Chen groaned. He met Jae’s eyes. “Perhaps Jae-ah should choose the movie.” The boys clapped in agreement. “So what’s it going to be?”
            Suho gave her a gentle smile beside her. “Whatever you want to watch, we’ll enjoy. Take your time.” His eyes narrowed as his grin consumed his face. She’d never grown up with a brother, she’d envied her friends growing up who had one. There were several times in her life when she’d needed a protective older brother. Nonetheless, as she met his warm gaze, she imagined the way he made her feel was the way one would.

            “A romantic comedy,” Tao suggested.

            Her nose wrinkled as Suho’s had. “Jae-ah looks like she’d like some sort of coming of age story,” Baek announced.

            “Something emotional,” Kyungsoo aggregated.

            “No,” Jae abruptly spoke, leaving the men in slight silence. “I’m just not a fan of emotional movies,” she sighed with a small grin. The truth was, watching emotional movies were the only times in her life when she cried anymore. It was too much for her.

            “An action movie,” Kai announced.

            Jae met the handsome young man’s gaze. “Yes! I’d love an action movie.” The boys cheered at the decision as they always did and Suho one of the best action thrillers South Korea had to offer. Jae became transfixed by the storyline. A man out for blood when his beloved was murdered was proving to be thoroughly engrossing. Chanyeol caught himself looking at her. He liked the way her doe like eyes were fastened to the screen, not batting an eyelash as the main character beat the bad guy to a pulp.

            Jae had barely realized that Suho had gotten up to make more popcorn for her. He silently poured more into her emptying bowl. She gave him such a kiddish smile that he wanted to awe at the cuteness, even ruffle her hair. “Thank you,” she whispered. He nodded. He didn’t know what it was about her, but something made him want to take care of her. She was strong and outspoken, there was no doubt about it, but something about her just seemed so frail to him. Like the wrong word could completely tear her apart. He softly laughed as popcorn fell into her long hair and she simply picked it out and ate it. Her sharp cheek bones moved with her grin, making them all the more pinchable.

            Jae subtly jumped as her phone vibrated. The smile she’d had disappeared. Her eyes moved over her phone screen, her heart racing. It had to be four in the morning back in the States. She abruptly stood up and excused herself. All of the boys’ eyes followed her as she disappeared into the kitchen.

            Xiumin arched a perfect eyebrow at Suho, as the oldest members their responsible traits took over. Kim Junmyeon pulled his sweater and he elegantly stood up to see if she was okay. He’d seen the name on her screen, Mom. He quietly approached the kitchen, her voice filling his ears. He wasn’t particularly great at English, but he managed to understand what she was saying in hushed tones.

            Jae rubbed her temple. “Yeah, I know it’s almost here, mom.” She sighed. How could she ever forget? Her jaw clenched as the thought made her chest tighten. “I wish I were there too, mom.” Jae was all she had. Jae similarly, adored her mother to no end, they both went through hell and managed to have one of the closest mother-daughter relationships she knew.

            “Why didn’t you come back?” she whispered.

            The tears stung Jae’s eyes. “Mom,” she spoke softly back. Her head hung down. She wanted to be there for her mother, but a part of her was glad she wasn’t. Her mother had the ability to make the whole day feel like an eternity every year and she wasn’t exactly the best at handling such an event. She ran her hand through her hair. “You know I love you, mom. You’re everything to me, but I’m doing well here. I have a nice life.” Her mother sniffled. “I promise the holidays are a lot closer than you think.” Jae leaned against the counter and looked at the white ceiling. “Yeah, I promise. Okay, good night.”

            Suho entered the kitchen after a few seconds of silence. She stood up straight when he walked in. “Are you okay?” He noticed her eyes were red.

            She sighed and awkwardly dabbed her eyes. “Yeah I’m fine.” She gave him a weak smile, placing her phone in her jean pocket. “I’m just tired. Long day. I think I’m going to head out. Thank you for tonight sunbae.” She gulped and headed toward the door. “Tell the guys I said I’m sorry and to have a goodnight.”

            Suho gently grabbed her hand as she tried to rush by him. She met his concerned gaze. She bit her tongue, because there it was again. That look of pity she received from people. No matter the good intentions, as soon as they found out, they felt sorry for her. She hated it. “Hey, I know you don’t know me very well, but you know I’m here for you right? You can tell me anything.” He gave her a warm smile, encouraging her to say what was weighing on her. “Speak to me and I will listen.”

            She momentarily forgot her sorrow with his kind words. She squeezed his hand. “Thank you.” Her smile felt slightly stronger, the light finally reaching her eyes. “I’ll keep that in mind. Goodnight.” He silently watched as she grabbed her coat and bag, giving him a slight wave and bow before her figure disappeared behind the door. He sighed, wishing for nothing more than for this sweet girl to just open up a bit. To let someone in.