Byun Baekhyun, day thirty nine 18:03

I have returned to the cafeteria. More trays have been added. Numbers 61 and 94. Even better, the owners are currently sitting at a table, immersed in their own conversation.
I walked from the door to retrieve my tray, causing the two men to abruptly stop talking and turn their heads towards me. I felt their eyes boring into my back and subconsciously picked up the pace so that I could turn around quicker. Unfortunately, that resulted in me hitting my hip on the corner of a table and letting out a string of the most colorful curse words I could manage while rubbing the sore flesh. I heard a snort and a small giggle so I turned around to find that the pair was amused by my misfortune. I lowered my head in embarrassment and got my tray.
When I --finally-- turned around, their snickering had come to an end.
“Hey.” One of them called out in a deep voice. I looked up to see a wide grin plastered on one of their faces. I assumed he was the owner of the voice. He beckoned me over with his hand. I followed his instructions and sat down next to the other one. I realized that they were both considerably taller than me but other than that, they were virtual opposites.
The one who had called me over had a round face complete with a wide mouth and protruding ears.
The other had a relatively small face. His head was shaped almost like a rectangle and his lips seemed impossibly small.
“What’s your name?” Asked the round faced one. “I’m  Chanyeol and this is Sehun.” He added as he gestured to himself and the one I currently recognized as Sehun.
“I’m Baekhyun.” I introduced myself. Chanyeol’s smile grew, if that was even physically possible, while a polite smile appeared on Sehun’s face.
“How long have you been here?” Chanyeol inquired further. Before I had time to answer, I was bombarded by a string of questions originating from Chanyeol. “Do you have any powers? What are your powers? Have you met any of the other ones? What’s your number? Are you number ten? How--” His flood of questions was interrupted by Sehun’s low mumble.
“Breathe, Chanyeol.” Chanyeol reluctantly shut his mouth as I tried reviewing the questions in my head so I could answer all of them.
“About thirty seven --no, nine-- days. Yes, light. Yes, five including the two of you.” I took a moment to figure out what other question he had asked. “I’m sorry,” I said when I realized I couldn’t remember the last one, “what was the last question?”
“Are you number ten.” Chanyeol answered with an amused look.
“Oh, yes.” I said with an affirming nod. “What about you guys?”
“What about us?” Chanyeol asked.
“Like, powers, met anyone, numbers, et cetera.”
“Oh,” Chanyeol’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second before it returned, “I control fire!” He said with an exaggerated reenactment of shooting fire balls from his hands. “I’m number sixty one and I’ve met three people, including the two of you.” Both of our heads turned to Sehun, waiting for his answers. A blush settled on his cheeks as he started mumbling his answers.
“I control wind, ninety four and only you two.” As he spoke the blush only deepened.
“Ah, such a cutie!” Chanyeol said, reaching across the table to pinch Sehun’s reddened cheeks. It didn’t seem to help at all in reducing the pigment. Sehun’s head was close to sinking into his chest and I was sure he wouldn’t mind it.
“So,” I started before taking a bite of the bland black-bean noodles --as if this place wasn’t dull enough to begin with-- the cafeteria had to offer, “how long has it been since you two met?” I asked, looking between the two.
“I think,” Chanyeol began, he was obviously the more talkative of the pair, “about twenty minutes before you came in?” He looked at Sehun for confirmation. The latter nodded in half-hearted agreement, neither one of them seemed to have a complete time-stamp.
“And already you’re so close?” I found myself asking in astonishment. Chanyeol gave a small nod while Sehun furrowed his brows and tilted his head to the side like a confused dog.
“I wouldn’t necessarily call it ‘close’, Chanyeol just talks a lot.” Sehun explained, causing Chanyeol to burst out laughing. He nodded his head as if to confirm Sehun’s statement while clapping his hands together like a seal performing tricks at an aquarium. If it wasn’t for his deep voice I’m quite certain he would be screeching. The imagery alone was enough for me to start seeing his resemblance to a monkey. Chanyeol was like a breath of fresh air in this stale place, his bright smile and boisterous laughter was a welcomed change from the usually dead atmosphere surrounding conversations.
The conversation went quiet as we all focused our attention on the still tasteless noodles the cafeteria was serving and suddenly something Chanyeol had said before seemed to register with me.
“Chanyeol?” I asked, he looked up at me with noodles hanging from his mouth. He slurped them up loudly before replying.
“Yeah?”
“You said you’d met someone else, right?” His face contorted into a confused look before lighting up with realization. He nodded his head rapidly and from the corner of my eye I could see Sehun looking at us curiously. “Who?” A part of me hoped he had met either Minseok or Yixing since I had heard nothing from either of them after our first meetings.
“Number twelve, Kyungsoo.” He answered, his smile resting on his face again making it seem like smiling was his natural state. The smile was, however, quickly replaced by an enthusiastic mixed with curious expression. “Why? Have you met him too?” As I shook my head, Chanyeol’s face started falling. He made an attempt at a smile but instead of the bright and comforting one I had already gotten used to, this one managed to make the room feel colder.
“When did you meet him?” Sehun asked Chanyeol.
“Few days ago, lunch.” Came Chanyeol’s short reply. Sehun nodded solemnly and I couldn’t help but feel like the two men sitting at the table shared some sort of mental connection.
Our time was cut short as Haneul’s voice rang out across the room.
“Mr. Park, please return to your room.” Chanyeol got up, leaving us with another attempt at a smile, this one meant to be more assuring than the last, and a hope that the three of us would meet again soon.
Another ten minutes went by in silence as Sehun and I alternated between poking at and actually eating the borderline inedible food, both of us trying our bests to spark another conversation which, as it turns out, was not as easy as it had been with Chanyeol around. The uncomfortable situation came to an end when Haneul’s voice broke the silence like she had done so many times before.
“Mr. Oh, please return to your room.” Like Chanyeol, Sehun got up almost immediately but instead of a smile I got a pat on the shoulder which communicated about the same thing as Chanyeol had said.
When his tall figure disappeared behind automatic doors, I sat and waited for Haneul’s voice to call me back to my room as well.