Chen glances down the hall to Sooyun’s room.  She is sitting on the ground and seems to be tidying up a mess she made.  It has been a month since the young woman had begun to live with them.  SM had added another title to her job: co-manager.  Since she is living with them after all, the company had decided to give her another job to help out Manager Hyunkyun to make use of her stay.  The household has been quiet the past month due to the new housemate But, Chen knows that they will eventually break away from their good behavior once they start to get completely comfortable with her.

            Almost everyone has been consistent with chatting with her, to become at ease with her presence in their home.  He, Xiumin, and the talkative Lay are the ones that she talks to the most, regardless of them being in the waiting room or at home.  Tao and Kris are more comfortable with striking up a conversation at home, knowing well that many are watching their every moves in secrecy.  Meanwhile Lu Han is rarely seen talking much to her.  He would ask something when he needs it, but the 4 second conversation ends there.

            “What are you doing?” asked Chen, in informal Korean.  When he found out that they were born in the same year, he was ecstatic and felt closer to her since she is so mysterious.

            “Sorting makeup out.” replies Sooyun, in Mandarin.

            Whenever Chen or Xiumin talks to her in Korean, she always responds in Mandarin.  She explained that since she is living in China for a while, she wants her Mandarin to be perfected.  Chen thinks that her Mandarin is already nearly perfect.  She has a slight accent if you pay close attention to it.  But, he understands.  It has taken him 6 years to be at where he is at with the language and he still has a long way to go.

            Chen stares at the cosmetic products surrounding her as he walks up to her door way.  He watches her placing them nicely into a makeup case he’s never seen before.  “You don’t use all those products on us…  Or do you?” asks Chen, horrified.

            Sooyun looks up at him, with a small smile.  “No, of course not.” she replies.

            “Well, that’s a lot you have there.”

            “This?  It’s nothing compared to what I have at home.” she replies.

            Chen’s jaw drops.  She sends him a soft smile again.  He has yet to really see her smile a real smile or laugh a real laugh...  That small smile of hers indicates that she is feeling positively towards what is going on around her.

            Sooyun lets a soft chuckle escape her lips.  “No,” she answers.  “Of course not.  Only makeup artists or girls who like to collect makeup do.”

            Chen snorts.  “Then, that’s your whole species.” he states.

            Before Sooyun could say anything, they heard a loud clatter from the front door.  Lu Han is home.  He had suddenly gone out 2 hours ago.

            “Yay!  Food!” screams Tao, excitedly from the living room.

            “What did you buy?” asks Lay, who was also in the living room.

            “Oh?” voices Tao.  “Xiao Xue Jie, you’re here too?”

            Chen’s face scrunches up, confused.  He turns towards the living room and, at the corner of his eyes, he could see Sooyun get up.  He quickly walks into the living room to catch the glimpse of Xiao Xue, Lu Han’s girlfriend of 2 years, and smiled.  She’s a nice girl and is easy to talk to, but he doesn’t know much about her like the rest of the guys except for Lay, who is the closest to the boyfriend.  Lu Han goes to her place the most and the guys rarely sees her at the dorm unless if it’s on a Chinese variety show, photo shoot, or something along the lines of those things.  But, it’s not like she avoids their dorm like the Plague.  She comes occasionally, which is probably once a year or so.

            “Hi, Xiao Xue.” smiles Chen.

            She returns the smile and greeting as Tao, Lu Han, and Lay set up their dinner.  Suddenly, she becomes distracted as she looks down at the figure comes up beside him.

            “Hi!” Xiao Xue warmly smiles.  She reaches out to give Sooyun a handshake.  “You must be Sung Sooyun.”

            The makeup artist smiles her small smile.  “I am.” she replies as she accepts the model’s handshake.  “And, you must be Xiao Xue.”

            “I’m a really big fan of yours.” she smiles, brightly.

            “Really?” asks Sooyun, confused.

            Xiao Xue nods her head, excitedly.  “I love your videos!” she explains.  “I’ve been watching them for 2 years now, every one of them.”

            “I’m glad that you like them.” says Sooyun. 

            Xiao Xue parts her lips to say something more, but Tao interrupts her.  “It’s ready!” he says.  “But we can’t eat yet!  Let me go get Xiumin and Kris Ge!”

            The dining table is loud as always.  But, everyone seems to be much cheerier since today is EXO M’s day off.  They have been traveling all over China to promote their new mini album and finally get some rest.  It’s nice to see Xiao Xue after a while and to see Lu Han happy.  He seems to have been mysteriously quiet and down for a while.

            “So, Sooyun, how do you feel about working with EXO M?” asks Xiao Xue, curious.

            All the guys stops eating and stare at the young woman, shocked.  Why would you possibly ask something like that?!, thought Chen.  It’s not like you don’t know that Lu Han and Moon Shin don’t look like each other!  You were one of his fans before he died!

            “SM just placed me as EXO M’s new makeup artist so I was mainly nervous because I didn’t know how fans would react.” admits Sooyun.

            “I see…” nods Xiao Xue.  “But it seems like the fans aren’t saying much, right?”

            “No,” replies Sooyun, as she shakes her head.  “They haven’t said anything at all actually, which is good.”

            Xiao Xue smiles.  “I’m glad.” she comments.  “Who is your EXO M bias?”

            Chen can feel sweat bead on his forehead as he glances over at Kris.  The leader’s had a look of disbelief as he tries to signal something to Lu Han, to make his girlfriend stop.  But, the babyfaced member is too distracted by Sooyun to be looking Kris’s way.

            Before she could answer, Xiao Xue interrupts her.  “Is it Chen?” she asks, rather loudly.  She smiles a bright smile.  “You and Chen seem pretty close and cute together…  Are you two dating?”

            Chen flashes the young woman a look.  “No!” he and Sooyun replies in unison.

            “I like Lay.” she explains.

            “You do?!” asks the band, surprised.

            “Of course.” smiles Sooyun, softly.  “He’s so adorable and manly.”

            “Why are you blushing, Yixing Ge?” giggles Xiao Xue, drawing the entire table’s attention to him.

            His face is flushing brightly as he turns away to Lu Han.  “I-It’s not what you think.” he explains.

            Xiao Xue continues to giggle.  “Well, Ge Ge, your blushing isn’t helping the situation.” she comments, with a bright smile.

            Kris’s serious face looks over at Lu Han, as the guys sit around his and Xiumin’s room.  It was midnight and they were sure that Sooyun had turned out the lights to her room for 30 minutes before they started their meeting.  Kris crossed his arms across his chest and let out a long breath.

            “Lu Han, that girlfriend of yours sure knows how to talk.” he comments.

            “She didn’t mean to ask those questions.” he defends, instantly.  “I had a talk with her before she left and she said that she was sorry.  She didn’t know that we haven’t talked about those things yet with Sooyun.”  Lu Han lets out a soft sigh.  “Why do we have to act like we’re walking on egg shells around Sooyun anyways?” he asks, continuing on.  “I’m sure she’s well aware of the fact that we know about her ties to Shin and how he and I look alike.”

            “Well, it doesn’t make it any better considering the fact that she always looks like she’s about to cry when she looks at you!” explains Kris, sharply. 

            “We’re just trying to be as gentle as possible.” chimes in Xiumin, softly.  “Besides…  You’re the one that’s always acting like you’re walking on eggshells.  Unlike us, you never talk to her.  You never try to interact with her…  You only do so when you need to, which is rarely.  There is so much tension and awkwardness between you and her that I cringe whenever you two interact.”

            Lu Han doesn’t say anything for a while as he absorbs what his brothers were saying.  “What do you want me to do?” he asks.  “I can’t be Moon Shin for her and she knows that.  Why can’t we all just let her be?”

            Chen blinks slowly at his reply.  “Do you know something that we don’t?” he asks, curious.

            If Sooyun still uses her Weixin to contact “Lulu,” then he will know something right?  He would know about her thoughts about the situation and feelings towards us, thought Chen.

            “I don’t know anything.” answers Lu Han, softly.

            “Does she send anything to you on Weixin?” asks Lay, curious.

            “No.” he replies.  “She doesn’t send anything anymore because I never respond.”

            Silence fell over the group for a while.

            “Why don’t you try to get to know Sooyun Jie, Han Ge?” wonders Tao.  “Are you worried that you might hurt her?”

            Lu Han’s lips purses into a thin line.  “You can say so…” he explains, slowly.  “It’s just better to distance myself than to get to know her.”

            Chen nods his head, understanding.  Everyone, even Manager Hyunkyun, has been hesitant to ever leave Sooyun and Lu Han alone together.  They would never want to see her cry because of his resemblance to her late fiancé.  The way she would sometimes glance at him already pains them…  But, then it makes Chen wonder why she is still holding on.  It has been 4 years already.  Most people learn to move on, but this person continues to hold onto her memories.

            Does she love Moon Shin that much?, questions Chen.  Was their love that great?

            He looks up at Lu Han.  He wonders if he, too, is still holding onto a bit of Shin even though they never met each other.  Chen wonders if his brother still has those night terrors of Shin and Sooyun.

            Are you holding onto a bit of Shin as well, Lu Han?, thought Chen.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

            Yay!  ^^  I finally updated!!  Hope you all enjoy today’s chapter!

            I had the biggest writer’s block for a little while…  I think I know where I’m going to take the next chapter, but that’s if I don’t have another writer’s block…  >_<

LOVE,

loveFORyunho