Author's Note: Unfortunately, this is not the Amber-MyungSoo matchmaking chapter I promised. That would be the next one, though! This is actually an accompaniment to Melange. Melange means mixture, and so does Hodgepodge. Enjoy! 

She was fond of patterns: from polka dots to houndstooth tessellations; she even had a soft spot for floral prints, something she was very much ashamed of. Her predilection for seamless shapes was evident in our bedsheets, in her laptop sleeve, her Aztec-patterned backpack. She liked the symbolism behind the lines, the straight edges of triangles: she said they signified strength and foundation. Circles, too, were a good choice, because they stood for eternity and unity. She's also mentioned a few times, times when I would listen closely to what she'd have to say, that hexagons were her ultimate favorite: one, because they were made of tiny triangles, and two, because they were our, EXO's, symbol.

Oddly, she hardly wore anything patterned. It was either a plain, basic shirt, or a graphic-heavy one matched with the most unflattering pair of pants a girl, or even a guy, could ever wear.

(But everyone knew that's what I loved about her.)

Naturally, I've asked her about it. And her reply was so obvious, I didn't know why I bothered asking in the first place.

"Because."

She had her quirks, too.

And I hated them.

~

"Here," she said, handing me a small, neatly-wrapped box. She grinned boyishly at me, egging me on to open the little present she had unexpectedly prepared for me.

Despite my suspicion, I smiled in response, and delicately unwound the silk ribbon tied around the rectangular prism. I chuckled at the gift wrapper of her choice: argyle in aquamarine and pink. "You know," I said, peeling the tape off of the sheets of paper, "You should really go easy on the patterns."

"No," she obstinately refused, marking the end of our conversation before it even began.

Kind of like our relationship.

Angst again, Lu Han?

I bit my lip, hunching forward as I brought the box closer to my face.

I realized that there was no special occasion, no reason for her to give me a gift. She didn't like spending, but she just did: on this gift, for me.

For me.

Calm down, I mentally told myself. That's been my mantra ever since I found out I was in love with her. My heart continued to pound painfully, loudly, disobeying my brain's commands to seize its wild, furious rhythm. My shaking fingers clumsily fiddled with the wrapper as various thoughts and would-be scenarios flooded my head. Suddenly, ripping off a bunch of paper was proving to be quite the difficult task.

I wonder if she noticed how anxious I was getting, how it seemed to take me forever to remove one layer of paper. I peeked at her indifferent face as she patiently watched me unwrap her gift. Eagle eyes blinked in anticipation--their sharp, piercing features softened to an innocent gleam. Her lips were pursed in a thin line unreadable as a doctor's handwriting.

Of course.

She wouldn't notice.

My panicked state. My scarlet cheeks. My shaking frame.

She wouldn't notice any of those.

I was wrong, though, because out of the blue, she grabbed the box from my grasp and took it upon herself to unwrap it. She neatly folded the paper into two, then opened the small casket, revealing a brown bowtie accented with lines and tiny flowers. She unpinned it from the foam, and without so much as a warning, pulled me to her. "You were taking too long," she stated as a matter of fact, latching the bowtie to the collar of my white, polka-dotted polo. She stepped back once the deed was done, the warmth of our closeness disappearing in an instant.

I looked down at the eccentric bowtie, frowning. "You said you were going to teach me how to tie one," I mumbled, jutting out my lower lip in disappointment.

That was my only chance of spending time alone with you.

"That could wait. You need this now," she curtly answered, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"But--"

She pat my back, pushing me towards the door. "Hurry, your date's waiting."

~

She had a penchant for patterns. They were predictable, uniform and ordinary.

I honestly could not understand why she loved them, because she was nowhere near like them.

She was, instead, a hodgepodge of random things, of unexpected, wonderful things.

A hodgepodge of things I loved. 

Author's Note:

Long time no see, everyone! Sorry I couldn't deliver the Amber-MyungSoo chapter! Super busy these days that all I could write was something short and sweet. 

And just for fun: this chapter was inspired by Lu Han's cute attire to one of his visits in the SM Art Exhibit! He was wearing a white polka-dotted polo, a blue vest and this very strange bowtie. Such a cutie-pie ;A; 

Anyway, I'm glad AFF has new awesome features! It's easier for us authors to interact with our audience! 

Well, busy days are ahead of me: exams are just a few days away, so please be patient and wait for my updates!

In other news, make sure to read the newest chapter of Countdown! 

Till next time! 

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