Chapter 4 – Good together

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Sulli clutched Minho's hand tightly as they made their way from the car towards the park. He didn't seem to notice though as he tried to keep Sangchu under control but the dog was far too excited and becoming distracted by everything that was happening around him.

Minho yanked on the dog's leash but Sangchu seemed to hardly take notice of his owner.

Sulli couldn't help but smile despite her nervousness. They were to meet her friends in the park and it was the first official meeting between all of them. To help Minho be more at ease, Sulli had also invited Taemin, though he assured her that her friends did not scare him as much as they clearly scared her.

"Tell me about them again. Quick." Said Minho as they neared the meeting spot they had all agreed on for their afternoon spent together.

Sulli squeezed his hand and smiled faintly. They stopped walking and faced one another which didn't suit Sangchu at all and the dog began pulling on his leash insistently. Minho ignored him and concentrated on what she told him.

"Sehun is the key." Said Sulli. "I've known him since we were in elementary school and we've done everything together. He hated Dohan more than anything but he'll still observe your every move. He's like another brother and very protective of me."

"Wonderful." Muttered Minho.

Sulli smiled. "If Sehun likes you, Kai will follow. The two of them has been so close because they were roommates in our freshmen year of college and Kai is been around ever since."

Minho nodded. "And then, there's Krystal." He said with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

Sulli nodded with encouragement. "She's like my sister. I tell her everything and she'll be hard to win over as well but don't worry. She's already convinced that she hates you."

Minho frowned. "Any particular reason?"

"Just that you've been keeping me occupied for the past few nights and I haven't been able to go out with her." Said Sulli with a smile. She lifted her hands to his upper arms, his muscles twitching slightly underneath her fingertips. "You'll do just perfect."

"Yeah, I hope so." Said Minho, still unsure as he glanced in the direction they were to be heading in.

Sulli lifted herself up a little and kissed him. "We can have Taemin distract them all if you like. He seems to constantly demand the attention of those around him. Remember Ms. stalker of yours?!"

"So you think that Taemin should fight my battles for me?" Asked Minho, still frowning.

Sulli couldn't help but laugh. "Come on."

She slipped her arm around his waist and pulled on him, leaving Minho no choice but to drop his arm around her shoulders and walk with her.

When they reached the two picnic tables of their meeting spot, Sulli had a frown that matched Minho's upon seeing the scene playing out in front of them both.

Krystal and Taemin were standing toe-to-toe with one another, both with furious rages burning in their eyes.

"You're nothing but an arrogant, pig-headed brute!" Krystal screeched.

"Well, you're a frigid, self-righteous ice queen !" Taemin bellowed back at her.

As the two continued shouting insults back and forth to one another, Sulli spotted Kai and Sehun sitting at one of the picnic tables, already eating the lunch Krystal had brought with her for all of them to enjoy that afternoon. Both of them seemed unfazed with the heated words being said.

Tugging on Minho, Sulli stalked over to the table, stopping in front of her male friends with her arms crossed over her chest and the sternest look she could muster splayed over her face.

Sehun stared at her, pleasantly chewing on a fried chicken drumstick. "Don't look at us. They were like that when we got here."

Kai nodded in agreement, too busy shoveling food into his mouth. He simply shrugged. "We really didn't want to get in the middle of it."

"Who would?" Asked Minho, watching his best friend and Sulli's best friend. He was thankful that neither seemed to be armed with any type of weapon at the moment. "That would be a death wish to intervene."

"Shouldn't we do something?" Asked Sulli to no one in particular. She noticed people that passed turn their eyes to the screaming match. She wished Krystal and Taemin would stop.

"Do something like what?" Kai challenged.

"Well, let them tire themselves out and eventually, they'll run out of air and come eat as if nothing happened." Said Sehun as if it was the simplest thing in the world to do.

Sulli shot Minho a desperate look but he only shrugged and kneeled down on the ground to unhook Sangchu's leash and command the dog to stay close.

"If you so much as breathe the same air as me, so help me God!" Exclaimed Sulli.

This was not going according to plan. The six of them were to sit down and enjoy a nice afternoon picnic together so they could get to know one another. Threatening one another's lives had not what Sulli had envisioned when they would all get together.

Her attention was suddenly pulled from the showdown though when Sehun spoke.

"We're going to interrogate you now." Sehun said to Minho straightforwardly as he put a halt of eating.

"Okay." Said Minho.

If he was nervous, Sulli thought he was doing an excellent job of hiding it from them. Minho sat down across from Sehun and Kai and comfortably began fixing himself a plate of food. Minho looked at Sulli and she gave him a slight smile before sitting down next to him, grabbing a handful of potatoes fries.

"Ms. Dietitian, are you allowed to eat those?" Minho and Sulli elbowed him playfully in the side and munching away.

"So Sulli tells us that you're a nerd for a living." Said Kai, grabbing another piece of chicken. He was eating as if he hadn't done so in a week.

Minho chuckled, glancing at Sulli. "Pretty much, yeah."

"What was the first book you ever read?" Kai continued, he and Sulli knew that he was saving the more personal, and difficult, questions for Sehun.

Minho thought of it for a moment. "Probably Dracula or something like that. I don't really remember. It was when I was eight."

"I thought you were going to say Harry Potter or something like that." Said Kai.

"No." Minho shook his head. "I saved that for when I was fifteen."

"So, you're a genius." Kai assumed.

"Well, he is." Said Sulli and Minho smiled at that.

"What was your KSAT score?" Kai asked.

"Where did you go to college?" Sehun fired out at the same time.

"1540. And I went to Incheon National University." Minho answered, remaining completely at ease.

Sulli couldn't help herself. She slid an arm around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek sweetly. Minho smiled at her and she pecked him on the lips, not caring that her friends were watching. He was so incredible, being there and dealing with her friends and answering their questions as if it was the inquisition.

"You didn't go to Konkuk University?" Asked Kai, genuinely surprised.

Minho shook his head. "Just because I'm working there, doesn't mean I went to that university. Well, my family and I lived in Incheon then."

And so it went. Question after question and Minho barely broke a sweat. He just answered while eating and Sulli didn't leave his side the entire time.

When Kai was satisfied, he turned his attention to Sangchu and began seeing what kind of tricks the dog could do. Sehun however needed to know everything single detail about him to admit that he wasn't such a bad guy.

"I didn't really picture you like this." Said Sehun. "When Sulli said that you were a literary researcher or whatever the hell it is that you do, this is not how I picture people in that profession."

Minho smirked. "Yeah, I know. But believe it or not, not everyone who reads for a living wears glasses, bowties, and has horrible hair."

Sehun almost laughed. "Yeah, you will be a good example for that reference."

Minho smiled. "I'm more than glad to be one."

"Come on, Minho." Said Sulli, standing up and taking his hand. "Let's go take a walk."

Minho nodded his head then taking another beer from the cooler on the ground, stood up as well. They saw Krystal sitting by the pond, watching a group of children feed the ducks and Taemin sat at the other picnic table, glaring at her from time to time as he ate his lunch.

Sulli shook her head slightly. "That's so strange." She said softly as she and Minho began walking down the path further into the park. "Krystal pretty much gets along with everyone."

Minho shrugged. "I guess Taemin brings something out of her."

"Homicidal tendencies?" Sulli smiled.

Minho chuckled, draping his arm around her shoulders. He took a swig from the beer bottle then offered it to her but she shook her head.

Sulli sighed softly. "Thanks for doing this today."

"I wanted to do this." Said Minho.

"So you keep telling me." Said Sulli with a hint of amusement in her tone. "If it's any consolation, they did the exact same thing to Sehun's wife when we first met her."

"Sehun is married?" Exclaimed Minho in slight shock, not at all having expecting that.

Sulli smiled, nodding her head and understanding his surprise. "Of all people, right?"

"Well...Yeah." Admitted Minho.

Sulli laughed, nodding her head again. "What's even weirder is that they've been married for almost five years now."

"Where is she?" Asked Minho, now very interested in meeting Sehun's mysterious wife.

"Sleeping. Sh