'Jump, pabo!'

'Jump?!'

'Yes! Jump!'

'Andwae! Never!'

'Well I'm not climbing up to get you so you're going to have to jump. I'll catch you.'

'What?!'

'Come on, it's not like you haven't jumped before. Remember when you jumped out of the window with Lay to find Kai?'

'How do you know about that?'

'Idiot, of course I know. Come on, either jump or climb down yourself.'

'I'll flatten you'

'Fine'

Chanyeol began walking away and you screeched after him.

'Yeollie! Wait! Wait! I'm not tall enough to get down!'

Grinning from ear to ear, Chanyeol held his arms out wide and you squat hopped down, shutting your eyes until you felt him holding you.

'You can open your eyes now, Princess Hana'

'Thank you, Prince Yeollie' Chanyeol began walking towards the exit of the park still cradling you and you flicked his forehead. 'You can put me down now...' 

Chanyeol chuckled and shook his head.

'This seems familiar'

'What does?'

'Firstly, me carrying you.'

'And secondly?'

'You smell like my facewash...'

You froze, horrified and jumped down. Chanyeol doubled over, slapping his knee in hysterics.

'I knew it! Haneul-ah, you said you liked my cologne and I was fine with that but using my facewash too?'

'It was an accident! As if I'd use mens facewash on purpose!'

Chanyeol placed a finger on your lips, silencing you.

'Shh, shh... You don't need to feel embarrassed about it. If you like how I smell then just tell me. I'll give you a shirt or something like Kai and D.O have'

'Oh shut up'

 

You arrived back home to Chen and Seohee pinning up bunting on the roof of the dorm building. It had been obviously hand painted rather quickly and messily and the colors stood out obnoxiously. You choked when you managed to read the dripping hangul letters.

축하해! 남자 다 됐네!

[Chukahae! Namja da dwaetnae!]

'Congratulations... You are now a man...' you read slowly, Chanyeol shaking his head beside you.

'What the heck? What's this for?'

'Baekhyun and Maddie have had their first kiss' said Chen, 'they told us to go ahead earlier and then they walked off in a different direction'

'Sign of having their first kiss' Seohee added, nodding her head

'Oh'

A smile appeared on your lips and Chen cocked his head, looking at you curiously.

'Why? Did you think it was for something else?'

Chanyeol smirked, placing a hand on your shoulder ushering you towards the makeshift barbeques Kris was struggling to light.

'No, nothing'

At the edge of the roof near the wall, Kris was bent over 4 foil barbeque trays, frantically trying to light them.

'God dammit!'

He cursed when yet another match went out.

'Hyung you , use this' Chanyeol said, tossing him a long lighter from his pocket

Kris glanced at him, 'why do you have a lighter?...'

'Relax, I use it at work. Ask Xiumin-hyung if you don't believe me'

Kris lifted his hands, 'no, no, I believe you. Just worried you might torch the dorm with your idiocy one day'

'Uncalled for bro'

'You called me a '

'Boys, as thrilling as this conversation is... I'm going to leave you,' you announced, 'Luhan-oppa looks like he's struggling to wrestle that chicken even though it's already long dead'

Kris nodded and Chanyeol waved before grabbing the lighter from the older boy and successfully lighting the barbeque tray in one go.

 

'Luhan!'

'Haneul?'

Luhan turned around, sweat seeping down from his forehead to his neck.

'Do you not know how to joint a chicken?'

'I'm not Gordon Ramsey... And I told D.O to rest up for tonight'

'I heard my name!' D.O called, running over to you

You smiled, 'Luhan-oppa's having trouble jointing the chicken'

'Why didn't you say so then hyung?'

Luhan lowered his head as D.O put on a pair of sterile gloves and picked up the knife. He sliced the chicken straight down the middle, prying it open like a book. Taking the halves, he then cut the leg seperate from the . He then divided the leg from the thigh and cut the piece in half, repeating it with the other half of the chicken. Luhan watched in awe as D.O swiftly finished dismembering the chicken and dumped it in a large metal bowl with marinade in it.

'I'll teach you how to do it, hyung' D.O said, laughing when Luhan couldn't shut his mouth

'Whoever marries you is going to be one lucky girl' Luhan replied, eagerly picking up the knife again.

D.O cheekily winked at you, laughing, 'I know, right?'

 

Walking over to the far side of the roof, you found Tao sitting and watching the sun set in the distance.

'Tao?'

'I miss her, Haneul'

'Who?'

'My mom' he said, 'we keep having parties and dinners and I feel sad that she can't be here to celebrate with me. I was never supposed to stay here but I got stranded and left behind.'

'She knows you're here though, right?'

Tao nodded, 'I managed to get back in touch after I moved in here.'

'Do you want to go back home?'

'It's been a few years since I've been here and I still haven't gone back. I'd at least like to see her again. I'm even jealous that Kris-hyung saw his mom again, even though she tried to take him away'

'How about you write her an email? Or a letter? Or call her?'

'I'm scared I'll want to go home. I'm scared I'll run back to China and leave Korea- give up the life I have here'

'Tao... There's nothing wrong with wanting to go home'

'I don't think I'd be strong enough to come back to Korea once I step foot in China though'

You sat cross legged with Tao for a while, ignoring the bustle happening just metres away: Kris checking up on the food, Jiyoung chasing Jinri still trying to sign her, Xiumin and Minwoo playing football against Jenny and Lay who were proving to be quite a duo together. It was peaceful taking in the sight of Seoul's busy city transitioning into hues of warm orange and amber before it became dark and nightlife began until you heard a shout from the stairway to the rooftop.

 

'Oh my God... Chen! I'm going to kill you!'

'Baekhyun-hyung's here' Tao said monotonously, standing up and making his way over to the commotion. His steely and cold expression you hadn't seen for a while was back.

'Oh god...' you said, mentally face palming when you heard cheers erupt from the crowd and you saw both Maddie and Baekhyun standing red faced.

'I don't know what you're talking about' Baekhyun said indignantly, 'why are you congratulating me?'

'Because!' Xiumin said playfully, 'you two just had your first kiss together!'

Baekhyun opened his mouth to rebuttle but you launched yourself at your friend, trapping her in your arms

'How was it?' you whispered, 'Wet? Slobbery? Passionate? A peck? Tongues? Longer than 5 minutes? Or shorter?'

'Haneul!' Maddie shoved you and sent you stumbling down the first step of the stairs.Everyone turned in shock, breathing out a sigh of relief when someone caught you from behind.

'Sehun!'

'Be careful, Haneul'

'Lucky we were coming up the stairs, isn't that right oppa?'

You caught your balance and stared at Chihiro who was with Sehun. They had momentarily stopped holding hands in order to let Sehun stop you from tumbling down the entire flight of stairs. The grin of Chihiro's face slowly but surely grew wider and you found yourself smiling knowingly. Sehun coughed, finding the atmosphere awkward and you led them back up the stairs.

'Haneul! Haneul, are you okay?' Kai asked, rushing to you as soon as you emerged

You nodded and Maddie collapsed to her knees, clutching her heart. Baekhyun immediately crouched beside her, putting an arm over her shoulder.

'Jagi, are you okay?'

'I thought I'd killed my best friend, Baekhyun...'

Hoots rang through again at the sight of the couple, led by Chen and Seohee and more shrieks sound out.

This time however, it wasn't Baekhyun shrieking but Sehun.

'Haneul! Did you do this?!' Sehun pointed to the banner that read: 'Congratulations! You are now a man!' 'That was your idea, wasn't it?' he pouted angrily, 'Haneul!!' 

'Stop whinging, Sehun. You look like a pansy in front of your girlfriend' you snapped back causing everyone to look your way

'Wait Sehun... You have a girlfriend?' Suho asked, 'since when? Why didn't you tell me? Who is it?'

'Hyung... Isn't it obvious?' Chanyeol nudged him, jerking his head in the direction of Chihiro who had taken a seat beside Jiyoung with a look of pure glee on her face. She was obviously enjoying the embarassment Sehun was going through and decided not to make any effort to save him.

'You mean... You didn't know?' Sehun said, looking at you frantically, 'Haneul didn't tell you?... The banner isn't for me?'

'Of course not,' Chen said, 'it's for the silly little embarassed Baekhyun over there'

'Yah I'm older than you' Baekhyun retorted

'Hardly.'

'I'm more mature than you.'

'As if! Even Sehun's more mature than you!'

'How can Sehun be more mature than me?' Baekhyun protested

'Is that supposed to be an insult?...' Sehun asked, 'because that's just low'

'Aren't we all missing the point?' Luhan said, stepping in between the squabbling Baekhyun and Chen, 'Sehun has a girlfriend'

'Who is she?' Lay asked, also slow to catch on. He could be forgiven though as he had lots on his mind and therefore keeping track of anything else had sort of gone out of the window.

Sehun walked over to Chihiro who stood up and took his hand. They say actions speak louder than words and everyone besides you, Chanyeol and Luhan were stunned in silence. They had known about everything but never in their right mind did they think it'd happen anytime soon.

'No way...' Chen whispered, 'there's no way he got the balls to ask her out'

'I'll show you' Sehun said grinning. He shut his eyes and kissed his girlfriend's forehead tenderly.

'And you were saying you're more mature?' You said, nudging Baekhyun, 'I've got video footage of you trying and failing to put your arm around Mads over a hundred times'

Maddie looked up, her head diverting gaze between you and her boyfriend. 'What? When did that happen?'

'H-How do you have that?!' Baekhyun hissed under his breath

'This game Sehun and I played.' you replied, swishing your hair, 'It's called 'spy on couples and don't get caught'.'

 

The first batch of chicken had been chargrilled to charcoal and deemed inedible. Following that, Xiumin had quickly banned Kris from being in charge blaming it on his 'inadequacy to cook properly' ('What?! Why do I have to give up my chef position?!' Kris had yelled and Xiumin had screeched back in his face, ripping the apron off of him: 'Because of your inadequacy to cook properly, we'll be black around our mouths and starving the rest of the night!'). Lay was swifting changed into chef position as D.O kicked back and relaxed with a can of Cass beer. He threw a can to Kai who opened it at arms length, laughing when froth poured out of the opening, drenching his arm. Ah Ri and Luhan spoke about his experience as a trainee as her going to see her brother's showcase. 

'You must have missed him' said Luhan

Ah Ri nodded, 'the way you must have missed everyone here'

 

Sehun was busy finding out all sorts of things about Chihiro in a quiet and intimate chat in a far corner whilst you busied yourself with showing everyone the video footage as both Maddie and Baekhyun tried to grab the camera from you whenever they could.

'Baek, you're so shy!' Jiyoung squealed, 'aigoo, so cute!'

'Cute? Noona, that's called being a wimp' said Chanyeol

Jiyoung slapped the back of her brother's head. 'Until you get yourself a girlfriend, you can't talk Park Chanyeol'

'Noona!' Chanyeol whined, 'you're supposed to take my side'

'Over my dead body will I take your side so stop bullying my poor baby Baekhyun'

Once everyone had been shown the mortifyingly embarassing video, you took a seat beside Xiumin who passed you a can of beer from the coolbox. In his hand he held a carton of banana milk and you laughed at how the oldest in the dorm could look like the youngest.

'Love shot?' He asked, one eyebrow raised. You grinned and accepted his offer, hooking your elbow around his.

'Cheers to?'

Xiumin smiled, 'Cheers to you'

'Me?'

'For good luck'

'Luck?'

Xiumin nodded, looking past you. You turned your head and saw Aaron by the stairwell, carrying a sixpack of cola and a sheepish smile on his face. He had arrived late. You turned back to Xiumin who grinned cutely.

'Here's to me then' you said before chugging a large swig of beer. Laughing, Xiumin looked at you with both impressed and concerned eyebrows. 

'One more for confidence' you said, linking arms again. This time you took a longer gulp, letting the ice cold beer run down your throat before letting out a satisfied 'ah!'

'Yah, yah, yah! You little alcholic!'

Xiumin screamed with laughter, holding his stomach. You groaned and clutched your forehead.

'Brainfreeze...'

 

 

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WELL HELLO THERE! WELCOME ABOARD THE SECHIRO SHIP. DO ENJOY YOUR JOURNEY. I'm being gifted posters all of a sudden so thank you! This one is from Pikrachu, a reader of mine who's been supporting me and commenting on my stories for longer than I can remember lol... Thank you!!

So where have I been? Simply put I have been one with my pencils and sketchbook. Not a lot has been going well in my private life so I've taken to drawing a load to get my mind off it ^^ This is my latest drawing :) (here) also you can follow me on twitter (here) where I've started to post über e quality phone camera photos of my drawing in process

ANYHOW thoughts on this chapter? ^______^

 

also special mention to my gal avianview/@leesunhae26 for telling me how to say 'You are a man' in a teasing way in Korean because I swear to God, Google Translate will tell you how to say 'I am a toilet' when you want to find out 'where is the toilet'... anyway, you're a babe!! 고마워!♡