~~~~~

 

"...or she might stuff your underpants,"

The boisterous laughter from the room is infectious. I just love it whenever I manage to crack the boys. Doing so proves two things: I'm funny and they think I'm funny.

"Ah Baekhyun-hyung, that was a good one!" remarked Kai, who was rubbing Sehun's back. Our maknae couldn't stop laughing and had to be subdued.

"At least we know one thing," said Suho, our EXO mama, "You can't leave Baekhyun with your grandmother. With any old lady, that is."

I shook my head, laughing at the idea of me being alone with some hormone-crazed grannies. I scanned the room to see five EXO members still laughing...and of course, her.

Her eyes twinkled admirably. She said nothing but her small laugh revealed her appreciation of my tiny joke. Her fingers tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she gazed at me, still laughing. I suppresed giggling like an idiot, resolving to just winking at her.

"You even made the Girl laugh," commented Chen, "Ahh the Girl's sense of humor is on EXO level."

The other boys nicknamed her "The Girl" but in my opinion, the name fell short. She wasn't just any girl after all. With her pretty blushing face, she wasn't the Girl. I had another nickname for her.

"Sunshine's all for corny granny jokes," I said.

"Sunshine" smiled and I had to sort of catch my breath. She fidgeted with her water bottle and shook her head at the rest of us.

"Okay boys, the others will be here," said Suho, "Let's go to the practice room and wait."

"Man, I hope Chanyeol brought some chicken," said Kai, grabbing his bag, "I'm starving."

"Yeah, me too," said Sehun, "Are you coming with us?" he flashed Sunshine an inviting grin. I wasn't sure if the maknae was subtly flirting with her. But the idea sort of irked me. Sehun was cute and all, but if he was--

"Didn't you hear Sehun?" I say, grabbing my bottle, "She's replacing you."

Sehun laughed and patted Sunshine on the head. "You can replace me anytime, darling," he said before entering the room. Kai winked at her and was followed by Suho and Chen. Before they left, she playfully poked them with her delicate fingers.

It was no secret: our link with this special girl. Months ago, we'd never thought we'd find a common girl friend we all liked. Then, Sunshine waltzed into our lives and the rest was history.

We all liked her; I think anyone who meets her would automatically be fascinated by her. Apart from being pretty, she was awfully nice. In the beginning, she was starstrucked by our presence. Now, she looks after us and sees not Kpop superstars, but rowdy boys to care for. Sometimes, her motherly affections beat Suho.

Everyone knew about our unified admiration of this girl. No one, however, knew much about how I felt about her.

"Are you okay, Baekhyun?"

Her soft voice broke my reverie. I stared at her, leaning on the wall with hands on her arms.

"Yeah, I'm just...spacing out, I guess," I answered. I noticed that she was sort of shivering. Her hands were wrapped tightly around herself and her face was flushed from the wind. She looked so pretty, it honestly hurt.

"You always space out, silly," she said, bopping my head. I grab her hand to stop her.

"You're always bopping my head," I complained, "I might get a head injury and not dance. Then EXO will blame you for a missing member."

"I'll probably get arrested,"

I looked at her. Seeing someone like her in jail was surely a sight to remember. Her petite frame, her big eyes and her rosy cheeks. Nope, not jail material.

"Oh! Don't move!" she squealed all of a sudden.

I froze. "Wait, why?"

Her eyes widened fearfully, staring at the top of my hair, "There's a huge spider on your hair," she said, "Like HUGE."

I hate spiders. I really do. What's a guy to do when the girl you like says there's a spider on your hair? My brain considered two options: be manly and grab it or squeal like a girl to get rid of it. Once she alarmed me of the spider, I could feel its legs tingling on my hair. Option 1 seemed like the best thing to do, but Option 2...

"GYAAAA!"

I screamed, wildly thrashing my hands in an attempt it off. Sunshine, on the other hand, tried to help. I felt her hands swishing as I ran like a girl.

"Ah, it's off Baekhyunnie," she said, "It's gone."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she ruffled my hair, "See?"

Her dimples showed and I had to catch my breath. One part of me felt so embarrassed with how I reacted. That was so un-manly, not exactly the image I wanted. She must've thought I was an idiot.

My Sunshine giggled while she looked at me.

"Ah I feel less than manly now," I admitted, which was true.

"Baekhyunnie, it's all right," she said, "It was kinda cute, watching you flail around."

No, you're cuter. In fact, you're not just cute. You're this beautiful girl, inside and out.

The hyungs might have wondered why we didn't go in yet. They might've thought that Sunshine was just enjoying the fresh air while waiting for the others. They'll never know that I did so to spend more time with that special girl.

"You look sort of distracted," she said, "You must be tired from all the practices."

"Yeah, but I do it for the fans,"

She smiled again--the type of smile you wished you could bottle forever. "You're sweet, Baeks," she said, "But you need some rest. Want me to make you some tea later?"

"Sure,"

Sunshine touched my arm. "I'll make it extra warm to comfort you,"

I gazed at her. It sounds silly and weird but I never felt that way with any girl. The boys will say thay I'm probably the last person to fall head over heels. But they were wrong--Sunshine proved them wrong.

I nicknamed her so because that's who she was--my sunshine. They never asked why and I never answered. It was my special secret: she was the little sun that warmed me to the bones.

I loved her. I wanted her to know.

"Ah! There you are!"

The arrival of the other members startled us. I turned around and saw them coming.

"It's the Girl!" said Umin Hyung.

"Of course she's here," chimed Lay, "We all know why. Don't we Baeks?"

I watched her. She flushed. My heart, so eager five minutes ago faltered. Her smile widened but not at me.

An arm enveloped her tiny shoulders and a pair of heart shaped lips pecked her cheek. She giggled silently, clueless to the sudden shift of emotions inside of me. The owner of the arms and lips spoke.

"I missed you."

She replied: "Missed you too, Kyungsoo."

I realized that she will never look at me like how she looked at him. While she was my sunshine, I was never hers. Kyungsoo was.

"Hey hey hey, no PDAs in front of me," I teased.

"Sorry Baeks," apologized D.O, "We'll keep it to a minimum." He gave her a small hug and lead her inside the house.

"Let's go, Baekhyunnie," she said, before going in.

"You guys go ahead,"

Kyungsoo and my Sunshine went inside, arms around each other.

 

I loved her, loved with all my heart. I wanted to be hers but as I stared at her retreating back, I knew it was a pipe dream. She was someone else's. She was happy and he was lucky.

I loved her but she will never know.