11

Chapter 11

Shortly after they had moved over to sit underneath the towering oak tree, where they were relieved from the sun’s intensive glare. The rest of the group arrived promptly and in a matter of what it seemed like seconds to her, the red and white chequered tablecloth was placed onto the grass, the plastic plates and cups were emptied out of the basket and arranged for the seven of them with the food contents being distributed evenly among them all.

Though, the brunette knew that they had given her far too much food in comparison to their own plates, which looked pretty much bare with the exception of a small portion of noodles.

She frowned in disapproval. “Yah, why are you guys not eating properly? I can’t eat all of these food for myself, I made just enough for all of us to share.”

Suho easily waved off her concerns with his beaming smile. “Please do not worry about us, Jieun-ah. As long as you are adequately fed, that is what matters most.”

In response she narrowed her eyes, as she folded her arms over her chest defiantly. “If that’s your attitude, then I will refuse to eat my food.”

I appreciate his thoughtfulness for me, but that doesn’t mean that they should starve themselves for my sake. Besides, I have to remain weary of them, who knows what they could do to me if I keep letting my guard down?

All she received from the more sensible members of the group were startled looks, accompanied with the gesture of widening their eyes. All of whom included only Suho, Lay and Baekhyun.

“I’ll eat the food if you feed me, kitten~” Luhan cooed, a mischievous glint flashed in his dark irises as charisma practically oozed out of every pore of his body. Though with his naturally youthful appearance, it seemed to be a completely deceitful façade.

“But hyung, I thought you were going to feed me?” The maknae sniffed, his lips curving into a deep pout in evident displeasure.

Almost like a reflex action, the baby faced male instantly turned towards his other half with a genuine apologetic, pleading look plastered all over his face. “Sehunnie~ I’m sorry if it seems like I’m forgetting you, eat up well.”

With that been said, he lifted his chopsticks with noodles wrapped around it expertly and Sehun accepting it with unconcealed joy as he eye smiled.

There’s no denying that the bond between those two is strong, it makes me wish sometimes that I had a younger brother or sister to look after. Jieun watched them with a longing look as a bittersweet feeling infiltrated her system.

“We’ll eat more Jieun-ah, so please do not mad at us.” The gentle voice of the healer flowed welcomingly into her ears, as he moved to pat her affectionately on the head.

However, a blur of black ran towards her lap as it hissed aggressively at the offending hand. Lay blinked owlishly for a moment, taking a few seconds in an attempt to try and comprehend what had just happened.

The girl, on the other hand looked unfazed as she lightly flicked its forehead causing it to meow loudly in protest. “Yah, what did I tell you before? Don’t act so horrible for no good reason.” Craving her forgiveness, the feline her hand before slowly looking up towards her with its large eyes with another meow.

She felt the corner of her lips twitch naturally at its cute response, but refused to back down nonetheless. “I’m not falling for your little act, mister. Now, go and say sorry to Lay.” With a shooing gesture of her hands, she returned her attention back to her food.

It seemed to shake its head in disbelief for a moment, before it treaded carefully towards the healer, who could not help but feel baffled by the situation. The jet black coloured cat glanced at the healer for the span of a few seconds, its yellow eyes narrowing slightly as it looked like it was about to snarl at him. But he simply turned its head away almost snobbishly before sauntering back over to Jieun.

Once again, Lay blinked slowly. Did that cat just snub him?

“You should not have gone through all this effort, Jieun-ah. We could have helped, if you had asked us.” Being the mother hen figure as always, Suho fussed over her with a frown playing on his lips.

The brunette in question shot him a deadpan expression. “Yeah right, if I had asked for help you all wouldn’t have let me cook anything at all!”

Baekhyun, acting as the peacemaker again lifted a hand up. “I think what Suho hyung means to say is that you shouldn’t put all the burden on making food for us on yourself, there’s no harm in asking for help sometimes Jieun-ah.”

“I’ll keep that in mind next time.” Was all she said, the cat reclaimed its seat on her lap as its gaze kept flickering between the small selection of food and Jieun. Having noticed this, she felt guilt gnawing at the pit of her stomach as she reached out with her chopsticks to grab a few strips of grilled fish to feed it.

“Here you go kitty, I hope you like it.”

The mere notion of her feeding the feline caused a sense of jealously to surge through all of the boys’ minds with her sweet smile, though no one dared to voice their opinions in fear of facing the potential wrath of the petite girl. Sehun squinted his eyes at the strange alien-like creature that was perched on the maiden’s lap comfortably. He knew one thing for certain, he did not like that cat one bit.

“Maiden, I want to be fed by you too~” He whined, putting on a similar act to how he easily played Luhan.

She turned towards him with a blank expression, arching an eyebrow in disbelief at the fact that the child-like maknae was paying attention to someone who wasn’t the baby faced devil.

“You’ve got hands, make some use of them.” She rolled her eyes.

But that didn’t put him off as he lifted his fist towards his cheek with a determined look. “Please maiden, buing buing~”

The girl stared at him in agape, speechless for a moment at the unexpected sight. Did he just do what I think he did? As if answering her unasked question, he rubbed his fist into his cheek as he repeated his words with another sprinkle of exaggerated cuteness.

Suddenly, the urge to laugh was too much to bear as a stream of giggles erupted from as she lifted her palm to cover it. Yep, he definitely just did aegyo!

Sehun felt his eyes widen in surprise as he watched the girl laugh merrily, a flurry of warmth wrapped around him and for a moment he could only see her glowing with happiness. She was smiling because of him.

I want to see her happy and smiling all the time, she looks more beautiful that way than how she was earlier.

She wiped her eye dry as a few wisps of chuckles escaped . Aigo, I haven’t laughed like that in a long while. Feeling multiple pairs of eyes staring at her, she slowly lifted her head up to see all of them in a trance-like state.

…What’s wrong with them? She frowned, breaking the spell as she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly while reaching out for a spring roll.

Awkwardly, she met eyes with Chanyeol who sat the furthest away from her; the curly haired male immediately averted his eyes to the ground, the plate in front of him was completely empty as if he refused to eat anything. There was no doubt that his eyes were red and puffy, but instead of remembering about the cold possessed look of his eyes earlier on, she focused on the pain and remorse that lingered there.

He’s not eating; he’s usually the one who finishes everything that I cook. Pushing away the feelings of suspicion and paranoia, she chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully.

“Yah Chanyeol-pabo, don’t just stare at the food. We won’t feed you later if you complain, so eat up quickly.” Baekhyun made an attempt to prod some kind of reaction from the abnormally quiet male.

But it seemed that his attempts were futile as the caramel coloured male refused to neither speak nor pick up his chopsticks, as if condemned into a silent vow against speaking and eating.

Jieun nearly sighed at the dramatics of it all. She could understand why he was acting this way, as she had learnt that whenever Chanyeol had did something wrong, he would become withdrawn from all conversations and would restrain from doing anything. Unless of course, she told him to act otherwise.

Honestly, this guy…he must be bipolar or something, his mood swings change more often than a girl on her monthly pains.

“Chanyeol, can I speak to you in private for a moment?” Although it was requested as a question, it came out more of a statement as she carefully placed the cat on the ground beside her as she started to walk away from the group, even though she was well aware of the fact that their highly advanced senses could easily pick up their conversation.

Folding her arms over her chest, she donned an impassive expression on her face as the fire manipulator did not hesitate to comply with her, yet keeping a firm gaze on the glossy green grass which seemed to be suddenly appealing to look at.

“Even though I am beyond furious with you right now for what you did,” She started off calmly although it was evident there were traces of anger present, causing the male to flinch slightly at her words.

“I know that you’re beating yourself far more than you should be right now. And to be frank, most women find that highly unattractive in a man.” The brunette shook her head, trying to add some humor into the tense conversation.

Slowly, he brought his head up revealing his widened eyes as he opened his mouth to speak but seconds later closed them again very much like a fish.

“You’re the most hyperactive, loud, contagious happy virus that I’ve ever met in my life. Sometimes I wish that you were quieter than you are because you drive me absolutely crazy with how much garbage you spurt out of nowhere.” Unknowingly, she was rambling on with a cross look etched on her face, making the phoenix to become more and more nervous by the very second which was evident with how he fidgeted in her presence.

Until she took a deep calming breath to manage her temper as she locked eyes with him. “However, with that being said, I find you more annoying when you are quiet and pitiful so I suggest that you get over what had happened earlier otherwise you’ll find that I personally will make sure to knock some sense back into you.”

“I may not have totally forgiven you yet, Chanyeol but that doesn’t mean that I won’t forgive you. I just need some time to recover that’s all, alright?” She shot him an eye smile, which instantly caused his heart to accelerate at a rapid pace as blood started to pool in his cheeks.

“Y-Yes, I understand maiden…” He mumbled so quietly under his breath, that it could be considered incoherent for human ears.

The girl in question puffed her cheeks out, as she lightly swatted his head, which was quite the task considering the noticeable height difference between the pair.

“Enough of your pouting Chanyeol-pabo ; you’d better go join the others and have some food before the guys eat it all. I’ll catch you up.” She pushed him in the right direction, which he responded with a confused look for a moment as he grabbed hold of her hand with a pleading look.

“I promise I’ll be back straight away, I’m just going to get you all some ice cream.” At the simple mention of the dessert, the familiar happy glint made an appearance in his eyes as he beamed down at her before he bounded back to the others in evident excitement.

Jieun patted her jeans pocket, feeling reassured when she heard the distinctive jiggle of coins as she started to walk towards the ice cream van which was parked in the centre of the park, where it attracted the full attention of children of all ages and young couples on dates.

Hm, I think I should buy some Melona ice creams? I feel like a strawberry one right now, since I pretty much wasted my chocolate cone earlier. She mourned the loss at that thought, before she got into line behind all the bouncing children with their weary parents.

While waiting, her gaze marvelled all the surroundings around her, taking in the pure serenity the park provided on the typical summer’s day. The bubbling enthusiasm of the children was simply contagious as they made the most of the remaining days they had left before returning back to the dreaded place that was school.

Just when she was about to return her attention back to her task at hand, she spotted a lone boy who was slowly wandering though the entrance of the park, his large doe-like eyes taking in the atmosphere as if it was his first time seeing it.

He looks somewhat familiar. But where have I seen him before?

“Omo, look at that cutie pie! I just want to squish his cheeks~” She overheard a few girls conversing, as they snuck glances over at the oblivious male.

“He looks lost; maybe we should go help him?”

“Is there some kind of hot-guy-convention going on today that we don’t know about?”

From the short distance, the brunette could just about see his lip wobbling as his eyes shifted all around his surroundings wearily. He couldn’t possibly be a demon right? I mean, don’t they usually find me first?

Glancing back at the boys, who munched on their food unaware of her inner mind turmoil, did not seem like they sensed the new presence. Should I go help him before he gets bombarded with girls?

Making a quick decision without thinking much of it, she squeezed her way past a few cluster of girls to attempt to get close to the obviously confused male as she reached out to tap his shoulder, feeling a zap of electricity run through her at even the slightest touch.

“Where are you Maiden? I felt your presence in danger before but I can no longer sense where you are.”

There was no mistaking it, he was definitely a demon. She was pleasantly surprised with how gentle his voice sounded in her mind, but she had to admit it suited his overall innocent appearance that naturally drew in the girls like a moth to a light.

“Excuse me, but I think I know who you’re looking for. “

He blinked his doe eyes at her in puzzlement for a moment as he turned to face her. But a millisecond passed by before they widened even further—if that was possible—in realisation.

“Oh thank goodness, I have been searching for you for a while and I thought I lost you for good.” He released a deep sigh of relief; his shoulders slumped down as the short lived stress poured out of him.

“Are you alright Maiden? Did Chanyeol hurt you?” Again, he was overcome with his natural mother hen instincts that could easily rival that of the saintly Suho as he took a step backwards to inspect her from head to toe with nothing but concern written all over his face.

Jieun could not suppress the amused smile or the small stream of chuckles that escaped her lips at the boy in front of her. “There’s no need to worry, I’m fine. And my name’s Jieun, by the way.”

Sputtering cutely in embarrassment, he bowed to her deeply. “I’m so sorry, that was rude of me. My name is Do Kyungsoo but I am also known as D.O. It is an absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Shortly afterwards, he straightened up to beam his innocent smile at her, which caused a few girls close by to squeal at his undeniable cuteness.

“The feeling’s mutual, Kyungsoo-ssi.” She returned the smile graciously, causing the male’s heart to swell up at the beauty standing before him. “Now, onto more important matters, have you ever tried ice cream?”

Once all the food was devoured, the deposable plates and cutlery thrown in the bins, the tablecloth all nicely folded and containers placed back in the basket. It was already pre-evening as the cerulean sky was tainted with a variety of shades ranging from soft pink to glowing orange with the formerly humid summer air was replaced with a stiff coldness as they all walked towards her apartment.

All the boys were all happy to see the arrival of the dubbed ‘umma’ of the group, as it was explained that his cooking skills were the best due to his interest in bettering his natural talent and learning about different recipes.

Though, the devils twins did not waste the opportunity to tease the doe eyed male for this.

“It’s about time you came here; I was starting to miss my dear Kyungie’s cooking.” Luhan smirked, taking satisfaction in seeing the younger male squirm uncomfortably as his cheeks grew pink at the unnecessary attention.

“What’s wrong with my cooking?” The leader of Exo-k frowned in confusion.

Jieun smiled at them all as she lingered behind them, watching as they all conversed with one another so freely and naturally, which was to be expected since they were all brothers who shared a deep connection and it would not be long before they were all reunited again.

I may need to invest in buying more quilts and air mattresses, especially in preparation for the harsh winter weather lying ahead. She mused, feeling slightly guilty that not all of them could have their own bed to sleep in. In total, there was roughly about five or six places for the demons, including the guest/parent’s room and the living room where there was one main sofa and two reclining chairs. She frowned slightly, as she snuck a glance at the merry boys walking in front of her.

Maybe I should give up my bed for a while, until I can sort out the sleeping arrangements. Besides, I know that they would never complain about any possible back problems they might have. I may have to consider getting another job for that. Aish, what has my life come to?

“—how does that sound, Jieun-ah?”

The chestnut-haired girl blinked as she slowly raised her head up to acknowledge who was speaking to her, though it was pretty difficult to guess when all of them were staring at her.

Well, this isn’t awkward at all. She cleared , breaking the pregnant silence as she schooled her features into an impassive expression as she addressed them. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. What were you saying?”

Suho merely smiled reassuringly, like he always did. “We were saying that once we get home, we’ll take care of the chores list, so you can have some time to relax.” Kyungsoo’s ears perked up at the prospect of cleaning, his natural ‘umma’ instincts could be finally put to some good use.

The ‘chores list’ was self-explanatory, but it was the only way she could remind herself about the endless amount of work that needed to be done in her apartment each day. And because she had the memory of a goldfish, it was definitely necessary, or else she would not remember anything other than the basic chores like washing the dishes.

She was about to protest when Lay piped in helpfully. “Don’t worry; we’ve already finished half of today’s work so there’s not much left. Besides, you said you needed to think about what you were planning on doing with the cat.”

“Please tell me you aren’t thinking of keeping it, right maiden?” Sehun was in a hurry to say, as his green-with-envy eyes shot laser glares at his rival for her affections. I’m supposed to be the cutest one, not some scrawny cat!

Jieun’s gaze dropped down to the graceful feline that was walking beside her, its tail trailing slowly behind its body as its yellow slanted eyes roamed around almost lazily.

“As much as I would like to keep it, I’m afraid that the owner of my apartment would not agree to it. She’s not particularly fond of any of the tenants keeping pets, something about having an allergy to their fur or something.” She released a sigh filled with regret, she always had trouble with goodbyes.

The maknae suddenly felt the urge to fist pump, but managed to momentarily squish the urge as he feigned a disappointment look. YES! Looks like I’m gonna be keeping the cutest one~ on that cat!

“But, that doesn’t mean to say I’m going to abandon it straight away. I’m thinking about giving it a nice bath and shelter for the night, since I’m sure that it’s been deprived of both for a considerable amount of time.” She nibbled her lip in thought. Instantly, Sehun’s face fell at that as he nearly fell to his knees in distraught.

“Then in the morning, I’ll drop it off at the local pets’ store, so then they can find the cat a good home to go to.” She nodded mostly to herself in satisfaction of her plan, unbeknownst to her the youngest male was silently cheering with joy, with Luhan giving him a what-on-earth-are-you-doing-you-crazy-fool look.

Baekhyun smiled in approval. “That’s our Jieun, so thoughtful and kind hearted as always.” With Suho, Lay nodding in evident agreement and the hyperactive fire breather grinned manically to show his support.

She rolled her eyes in exasperation yet a small smile twitched on the corners of her lips. “Oh, stop it. I can’t cope with all the flattery.”

“Kitten, if you think that is flattery, then maybe you and I should spend some quality time together—“

Luhan didn’t get to finish his sentence that was coated with oh so many possible innuendos, as the fuming girl aimed a punch to his head as she stomped off to her apartment, her newly acquired feline companion easily keeping up with her pace as Sehun helped nurse the fair-haired male’s injury, sniggering as he did so.

“That was so smooth, hyung.”

“…Shut your mouth, you disrespectful brat.”

“Right, that should be enough water.” She murmured to herself as her hands were halfway moving to wrap her long hair up into a loose bun. Her fingers lightly trailing over the surface of the bath, making sure it was at the right temperature and not scalding hot.

The brunette poured some lavender scented bubble bath liquid into the tub, watching as the number of clear bubbles that started to accumulate, making her wish that she was the one who could have a nice relaxing bubble bath.

Smiling to herself, she turned to face the jet black cat with extended arms, cooing as she did so. “Come here, kitty. Time for you to have a nice bath so you can be clean and ready for tomorrow~”

It meowed loudly as it casted nervous glances towards the tub, as if it was some trap set by the devil himself. She frowned slightly, as she crouched down to its level. “It’s not going to hurt you kitty, it shouldn’t take any longer than five minutes if you let me clean you. I promise.” To prove her point further, she placed a hand on her chest where her heart was with a deep, solemn expression.

The cat stared at her for a moment with its penetrating scrutinizing eyes before it turned its head to the side, letting out a weird sound as if it was snorting in disbelief.

Now realising that the gentle method wasn’t going to work, and also the fact that the bath was gradually getting colder, she decided to settle for another approach.

Feigning a sniff, she tilted her head slightly. “Why aren’t you listening to me, kitty? I’m only trying to help you…” She rubbed her hand over her arm almost self-consciously, inwardly grinning at the fact that she could feel its eyes boring into her.

She sighed with a pout. “Looks like I’m gonna have to get one of the guys to clean you instead, maybe I should call Suho? I’m sure that he wouldn’t mind giving you a bath. Suho—“

The sound of water splashing was more than a sufficient answer for her, as she grinned in triumph. Heh, looks like I am more than capable of working my womanly charms on not only demons but cats too!

“I’ll be right back kitty; I’m just going to get some towels.” She called over her shoulder as she exited the bathroom, to grab a few fluffy white towels from the airing cupboard in the hallway.

Humming to herself, she bumped the door with her hip closed shut as she walked bare-footed back into the bathroom. Not noticing how the bodies of the demons in the living room stiffed with suspicion with the sudden feeling of another presence in the apartment, they slowly turned towards the bathroom in high alert when it seemed to finally click together, all with a synchronised thought. ‘OH ’.

“Okay, I’m back kitty~” She chimed, as she placed the towels onto the counter, waiting patiently for it to meow at her in response. Maybe he’s just having a strop because he’s being forced to have a bath? However to her dismay, it did not even utter a single sound.

Worry and paranoia instantly slipped into her mind as she whirled around towards the bath, expecting to see the cat drenched in water, looking unimpressed at the fact he was stuck in an unwanted predicament.

But to her horror, in replacement of the cute furry feline, there was a male sitting comfortably in her bath tub with the cockiest smirk plastered across his face as arrogance practically rolled off his body in waves.

At first, she presumed she must have been hallucinating this entire incident, as she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision. However, there was still a male in her bath.

He titled his head to the side, resting it on his fist as his eyes freely roamed over her body, making her feel all exposed and vulnerable to his smouldering gaze.

“Hello, love. Fancy joining me? There’s always room for one more.” His smooth voice would have felt like music to any other girl’s ears, as he winked at her with a motion of his index finger moving back and forth in his half clenched hand. But Jieun felt too mortified by the situation to even feel affected by it.

…For Pete’s sake, I try to be kind and generous and look where it gets me, trapped in a bathroom with a erted male. Oh, how my night couldn’t get any worse right now. She exhaled deeply as she closed her eyes for a moment, trying to suppress the urge to face-palm her forehead at her sheer bad luck at this current moment in time.

“Jieun-ah! DON’T WORRY; WE’LL SAVE YOU FROM THE ERTED CLUTCHES OF THAT DEVIOUS CAT!” Suddenly, the bathroom door slammed open, nearly causing its hinges to drop off by the combined strength of the boys, revealing the menacing silhouettes of the males their faces contorted with unadulterated rage at the seemingly innocent male who had the nerve to raise an eyebrow at them which clearly read guys-can’t-you-see-I’m-in-the-middle-of-something-here?

Spoke too soon, Jieun-pabo. This time, she really did slap her forehead. Aish, what did I do in my past life to make fate despite me so much to make me suffer this much?

Author's Corner

I hope there was enough interaction in there for you guys, there was so much fluff moments~ ^.^

So, D.O and Kai have appeared~ He was the cat, haha I'm just wondering is this story really predictable? I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not!

I wanted to post this chapter because I've reached 100 subscribers~~~~~ I'm so happy that people are supporting my story :D I love you guys <3 So, I'mma gonna spam you all with Exo gifs, okay? Okay, good~