I wasn’t going to call Kris, I had decided ever since the moment I found out he didn’t even bother to tell me about the upcoming showcase. But at least my heart and rage wasn’t after him anymore. I braced myself as I marched over to the dorm filled with the twelve awkward boys from last year. I could picture it, the same as ever, underwear lying all over the floor.

And that was exactly what I came to. The one named Minseok opened the door. He seemed different, seemed…skinnier.

“Oh, hi,” he said, eyes widening. “Erika, right? You’re Yifan hyung’s—”

“I’M HERE TO SEE OH SEHUN.” My demons flowed out as I sputtered the name.

The hair stood on the back of the guy’s neck. “Oh, r-right. Okay. C-Come on in.”

And I was right. The place didn’t change a single bit. I had to avoid stepping on a T-shirt and a pair of boxers to get myself to the center of the living room.

“Maybe we should stretch him a little bit more,” I heard someone say, and I recognized that it was Kai.

“THAT’S ENOUGH! GUYS! PLEASE!” said Joonmyeon. I still remembered him. He was on the floor, his legs stretched up by Kai and…Luhan? I think it was Luhan.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to be an action movie star?” said Luhan. He and Kai pulled Joonmyeon’s legs even more, and the guy could only screech from the floor. The rest of the guys were there, too, acting as if none of it was even happening.

I saw someone munching on potato chips on the couch with Kyungsoo while watching television. Jongdae, probably. I could tell by the body movements. Chanyeol was there, too, along with…Baekhyun? Byun Baekhyun? At least, I think it was Baekhyun. WHY DO THEY ALL LOOK SO DIFFERENT. GAH.

“Erika?” I managed to recognize Luhan at last when he spoke. I’d know that smooth voice anywhere. “Is that you?”

Everybody in the room stopped what they were doing to stare my way. I felt the feeling the relics at the museum feels like when they’re being watched by visitors.

Luhan dropped Joonmyeon’s leg, and the guy sighed in relief.

“It is you,” said Luhan when he got closer, and he was smiling now. “What’re you doing here?” he asked as he moved over to give me a one-armed hug. “Wow,” he said after a moment. “You look different.”

“Hair,” I said, pointing with a finger.

“Curls,” he said. “It suits you.”

“Well, you’re not exactly how I remembered, either,” I said with a small laugh.

“Hair.” He shrugged, then beamed. His hair was no more black, but a light shade of brown, and was shorter.

It took me a moment to realize that somebody was hanging on my back. I flinched and threw a look of disgust.

“Get off of me, Byun Baekhyun,” I said, shoving him off my back. He fell to the floor, but was still grinning.

“So you still me remember me,” he said. “Missed you, babe.”

I groaned, and didn’t bother to hide it.

“By the way,” said Luhan, “Kris is out.”

I groaned for the second time. “Why does everybody think I’m here for the giant?”

“Probably because you’re his girlfriend?” one of them said, and it was Lay.  

My lips were pursed tight. “I’m not anyone’s girlfriend—” I shot my glare over to Baekhyun. “—and I am nobody’s ’babe’.”

“Heh,” Jongdae snorted, turning away from the television, “that’s not what we heard.”

I frowned at him, threw away the topic, then headed straight to the point.

“Where’s Sehun?” I asked with much venom on my tongue. I looked around the room. He was nowhere. Come to think of it, Kris wasn’t anywhere, too. And Tao. “And where’re Tao and Kris, anyway?” I asked.

“Basketball,” one of them shrugged. I realized it was Chanyeol. Even he was different. His hair was longer, wavy, and practically orange. “He shouldn’t have gone out if you were coming.”

“He doesn’t even know I was coming,” I told him.

“What kind of guy doesn’t even know that he’s girlfriend’s in town?” Kyungsoo wondered.

“I didn’t— He just doesn’t know, okay? I mean, even my sisters just found out I’m here,” I told them. “And I’m not anyone’s girlfriend!”

“So what kind of boyfriend doesn’t know?” said Joonmyeon from the floor. I shot him a look. “What? I didn’t say you were his girlfriend. I just said he was your boyfriend.”

I mentally slapped my forehead.

“Just tell me where is Sehun and I would happily be out of your way,” I said to them.

Fingers pointed down the hall.

“He’s in his room,” said Kai. “Come on, follow me.”

I followed Kai straight down the hall, eyes on my back.

“He’s been in his room since yesterday,” said Kai.

“Huh? Yesterday? What’s with him?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Nervous breakdown? Our showcase’s tonight.”

“I heard.”

We got to the door, and Kai knocked twice.

“Yah, Sehun-ah,” he called. “Open up.”

Unlike Krystal, he didn’t ignore us, and it wasn’t hard to get him to open the door. Heck, it wasn’t even locked. Did anybody in the dorm even bothered to check that?

The door opened wide, and a disheveled Sehun crawled out of the hole. He was different, too, besides the awful look he had on. Gosh, what on Earth had SM done to these boys? His hair was a little brighter. And did he…grow?

He was wiping his eyes, and he wiped it again and stared. “Rika noona?”

Suddenly I felt like hugging him instead of throwing him a punch. He looked so tired, so worn out.

“Hi,” I said drily.

“When did you get here?” he asked. His tired eyes were wide open now.

I looked behind me and noticed that Kai was already gone.

“Well,” I said, crossing my arms, “I was supposed to come here and kick your , but you made me feel like throwing you a bone to wipe off that awful face. What’s up?”

“Wait, you wanted to what?”

I sighed, closing my eyes while trying to figure out just how to deal with the situation. It wasn’t like how I had planned inside my head moments before I arrived in front of his room.

He pulled the door wide enough for me to slide in. “Come on in.”

He stepped back inside his room, leaving me to follow. I’d sound lame if I said that it was the first time I’ve ever been in a guy’s room. Well, except for Kyuhyun. But this room was different. It wasn’t messy. It was kind of roomy, actually.

Sehun sat down on his bed. I assumed he was already sitting there before I came. He reminded more and more of Krystal now, except he wasn’t buried under his blankets, and there weren’t any ice cream buckets piled on his bedside table. But there were energy bars and dri