You marveled at the plump tomatoes on the rack. You've never seen tomatoes so...

“Red,” you mumble, reaching out to take one. You stop mid-way, remembering why you were at the mini-mart in the first place. You shake your head. “No, you idiot. You don’t have enough money for these,” you tell yourself, looking at the price tag; it almost drove you to grab the nearest signage and smash all the tomatoes.

“How can produce cost so much?” you ask no one in particular.

“They’re much cheaper in China.” Lay takes his place next to you, and also stares at the tomatoes.

“Oh, hey, Yixing,” you greeted him, but your eyes were still focused on the tomatoes.

Lay thought it was odd to see you in the grocery, alone; between you and Lu Han, you were the one who could not cook. “Don’t tell me you’re going to cook tonight’s dinner, Noona,” he says, and you could hear that tiny tinge of fear in his voice.

“No, kid,” you reply, and roll your eyes, “Do you want me to poison you all? I’m here because I ran out of chili powder.”

“So you are going to cook. Ah, but, a bit of a warning: Lu Han-gege doesn’t like it too spicy, so take it easy, all right, Noona? We know how aggressive you can be~” Lay says, ending his words with a mischievous puckering of lips and exposure of his famous dimple. 

He was usually the quiet one when you were all outside in public, but when it’s just you and the twelve, Lay was the joker, the humorous one.

The one with many innuendos, too.

You stare incredulously at Lay. You're deciding between kicking the out of this disrespectful kid or strangling all the oxygen out of him. He clicks his tongue in amusement and then gives you a cheeky smile, alongside the wiggling his eyebrows. “Now, I know you’re on a tight budget, but I also suggest you put in tomatoes in the dish. Lu Han-gege likes them big.” You remain silent, and Yixing walks off, chuckling to himself. The kid thinks he's finally won over you; he thinks that he's finally outwitted and outplayed his Noona. But he was beyond wrong.

Because the minute you finally get a hold of yourself, you take a juicy tomato and, with your sharp, eagle-eyes focused on Lay’s nest of brown hair, and go into a lunge position, extending your right hand back. You gather enough power, and launch the tomato in one swift motion. You weren't a huge baseball fan, but your mother's passion for the sport led you to watch numerous games and videos. And if there was one thing you learned about baseball, it was how to pitch. And it was how pitch good.

“Take that, Yixing!” you shout as the tomato makes contact with his head with a very audible splat!

He turns to you, horrified. He touches the back of his head, and sees the red juice of the tomato. “Noona, I can’t believe you!” He briskly strides to you, and shows you his hand.

You snicker devillishly at him, “I'm sorry, Yixing, but that's what you get when you mess with Noona.” You take a pack of tissue from your bag, and give it to him, “But I do feel guilty for doing that to you, so here.” He quickly grabs it from you, and tries to wipe off the goo stuck in between his tresses.

“Excuse me,” the produce clerk interrupts the two of you, “but that tomato you just threw is considered sold.”

...

...

...

You gawk at the clerk, you gawk at Yixing, but most of all, you gawk at yourself.

Ah, crap, now I wouldn’t have enough money for chili powder.

Author's Note:

Hello again, everyone!

Oh good heavens, I just want to thank all of you for continuously supporting this series. I've finally reached a thousand views! >V<

I'm gonna crey crey now 

T.T 

Tears of joy, yo :))

Anyway, a naughty Lay finally makes his story debut in this chapter! 

I'm sorry for making you look bad, Lay, but the tomato scene was just essential for characterization! 

Once again, I want to thank all the readers, subscribers, and those who commented! Thank you so much for giving this series a try!

Next chapter: You, Tao, Se Hun, and Lu Han himself must face the consequences of foiling stalker Lu Han's plans. This is Tea House Adventure Part 4!