Minyoung and Lay walked into his restaurant and she wondered if she would be able to slip away without him noticing. She just wanted to go home and get changed so she could meet up with Soora later. When she sat down at a large table by herself, she was shocked when the door burst open and standing there was Suho, Minseok and Kyungsoo all panting as if they just finished doing a marathon. They cleared their throats and awkwardly walked over to the table and sat across from Minyoung.

 

"Why are you guys so out of breath?" She asked and they all looked around at each other.

 

"Well Lay texted us that he was taking you here and we all happened to be leaving the school around the same time so we wanted to make sure you didn't sit here alone for too long." Suho looked at the others and they nodded in agreement.

 

"Plus we didn't want Lay to say anything weird to you." Minseok chimed in just in time for Lay to walk up behind him and hit the back of his head. Minyoung lowered her face to hide the fact that she was giggling. She liked watching the brothers interact with each other. She had always wished she had a sibling; someone that would have suffered the same pain as her. Someone that she could rely on to understand the loneliness in her heart. The door opened and in walked Sehun, Chanyeol and Baekhyun all in some casual athletic wear.

 

"What were you guys doing?" Suho crossed his arms as he saw Sehun and Chanyeol sit on either side of Minyoung casually and she didn't seem to mind so much. A waitress came up and started laying out the side dishes that all had Minyoungs mouth watering. It was then that she thought that maybe she should text Soora to join them. She never really had a friend before so it was little things like this that slipped her mind. A little nervous, she pulled out her phone and tried to think about what to send to her.

 

To: Soora

Did you know that Minseok's brother has a restaurant?

 

To: Minyoung

Yeah. Not far from the school right?

 

To: Soora

Yeah. The foods not bad. Want to join us?

 

To Minyoung

Us?

 

To: Soora

Me and some of the guys. Chanyeol is here.

 

To: Minyoung

I'll be there in ten minutes~

 

"We were practicing with Baekhyun. Showing him how to really play soccer." Chanyeol confidentially smirked and the guys all rolled their eyes.

"So cocky." Sehun muttered under his breath and Minyoung tried to hide her smile.

 

"You don't seem like the athletic type." Minyoung spoke up to Sehun and he just stared her down while Kyungsoo lowered his head to hide his laughter but his shoulders were shaking violently.

 

"I dont need to work out to look this good." Sehun sarcastically said back and the guys around the table groaned in annoyance. Minyoung scoffed at his answer but like that he seemed to be a bit more relaxed around her as he leaned back in his chair with a smile pulling at his lips.

 

"Where's Jongin, did anyone text him?" Kyungsoo asked as he looked around and all of their eyes landed on Baekhyun who had seen him last.

 

"I was supposed to help him get ready for his dancing tonight but I wanted to play soccer instead. We separated at the school so I'm sure he got the text." Baekhyun shrugged and Minyoung felt a little bad that he was the only one not here but she would make it up to him tonight when they would go watch him. Maybe she would buy him a snack of something.

 

"Hey, are you wearing Kyungsoo's gym clothes?" Suho pointed out and all of them looked between the two of them. Kyungsoo's face burned bright red as he tried to explain the situation.

 

"I spilled some milk on my uniform so Kyungsoo was nice enough to lend it to me. Thank you, I will return it to you tomorrow." Minyoung bowed her head and he told he that it wasn't a big deal and to return it whenever she could. Food started being brought out to the table that they didn't order and she looked around to figure out what it was being brought.

 

"Lay has a habit of just giving us whatever he feels like making." Minseok said and apologized if there was anything that she didn't like. She shook her head and just looked around at amazement at the food that was being brought out. The door opened and Soora came over quickly got to the table and took the only seat that was open, beside Chanyeol. She said hello to everyone and then shyly gave Chanyeol a little bow which he returned kindly. Having everyone sit around, chatting casually and digging into the food made a small heat crawl up Minyoung's neck. She's never hung out with this many people. It felt like she was apart of something. A group. Friends. If she thought about it any harder she would have to fight back that tears that were threatening to bubble to the surface. Is this what it was like to be included? To be acknowledged as a person?

 

"Eat." Sehun nudged Minyoung and she snapped out of her little daze. She apologized and grabbed the first thing in front of her which was some fried chicken covered in a sweet and sticky sauce. As soon as it hit her tongue her eyes lit up an she looked around at all of them. The guys burst out in laughter at her expression.

 

"It's so good!" Minyoung shyly said back as her shoulders shrunk in embarrassment.

 

"Glad someone likes my cooking." Lay came out of the kitchen, his face covered in a light misting of sweat and he threw a dirty cloth over his shoulder. "This enough for you hooligans?" He asked and everyone thanked him for the delicious food. "Yeah, yeah. Just eat up and don't cause too much trouble." He rubbed the back of his neck before disappearing back into the kitchen.

 

"I thought your brother just owned the place, I didn't think he could cook as well." Soora said to Minseok and he just sort of shrugged.

 

"He originally went to school to just be a chef. He jumped around from Korea to China, France and the United States. Lay can't settle down with just one thing so while he owns the place he also cooks, cleans and sometimes even take orders." Minseok seemed proud of his brother. Everyone started talking more casually amongst each other and it filled Minyoung with pride that maybe one day she could call of them her close friends. Kyungsoo kept loading Minyoung's plate up with different food for her to try while Suho rattled on about how Chanyeol needed to try harder at studying but he didn't seem interested in it. At the end of the meal they all placed some money on the table to cover the meal and they all thanked Lay for the meal.

 

"Don't come home too late." He called out to Minseok from the back who just yelled back his acknowledgement. They wandered onto the street when Bakehyun got a phone call. Minyoung heard Jongin's voice and tried to lean in closer to hear what he was saying.

 

"Yeah we just finished.....sure....no problem..." Baekhyun hung up and looked around at the guys. "Jongin wants help setting up his banner and stuff cause Taemin is gonna be late." They all agreed but Minyoung looked down at her clothes and felt a bit embarrassed cause even Soora was in her casual clothes and she looked so cute.

 

"My place isn't too far from the park. I'm just going to head home and meet up with guys there." Minyoung waved them off and turned away before they could say anything else. She was only a feet away before she heard one of the guys call out her name and saw Suho and Minseok run up beside her. "What's wrong?" She asked and looked back at the rest of the group that was walking off towards the park.

 

"We couldn't just let you walk home alone, it's starting to get dark out." Suho gave her a little nudge and chuckled as if that were common knowledge. She looked over to Minseok who gave a little nod as well. Minyoung looked back at Soora who caught her gaze and she gave a little gesture to Chanyeol walking beside her and gave an excited thumbs up. Even though Minyoung would be more comfortable walking home with Soora, she wasn't going to ruin her friends chance at spending quality time with her crush. Friend. That was the first time Minyoung had casually called Soora her friend. It was exciting and scary at the same time and she couldn't figure out why. The two guys casually talked about school while they headed to her apartment.

 

Even though she was able to talk to them one on one, it was a little hard when these two seemed to have been friends for a long time, so she just listened to them talk and took it all in. Plus, she found it hard to look either of them in the eyes since they were both handsome, something that seemed to be common knowledge as women all stopped to stare at them as they walked by.

 

"Ah, here's my place." Minyoung had almost walked past the building. The three of them went into her apartment and the guys called out loud to thank her parents for letting them in. "There's no one here. Don't worry." She strolled into her room and closed the door behind her. Minseok and Suho looked around the apartment and they could feel how cold and empty it was.

 

"No pictures." Suho pointed out quietly and Minseok grunted in agreement. Minyoung came out a few minutes later wearing ripped black jeans, a white shirt with a baggy brown button up sweater. The two boys were staring at her and then caught each other before clearing their throats and heading back to the door.

 

"You guys just moved in right? Is that why there isn't any family photos?" Minseok asked as they put their shoes back on.

 

"Yeah we just moved in, but we don't have any family photos." Minyoung said it so casually that she was a bit confused as to why the two boys looked so shocked. She just tried to laugh it off but she realized that not having photos together was odd. Her mother had a few photos of her as a child stuffed in a box in her parents closet but their family packed light in case they have to move at a moments notice. Family photos were just a waste. Thinking about it too much made Minyoung sad but as they stood in the elevator she felt a gentle squeeze on her arm and saw Suho looking at her with a sweet smile. They weren't going to judge her which brought some relief but that didn't stop the loneliness in her heart from creeping back up.