23

D.O was switching the TV channels when he came across a cooking show. Anything related to food and domestic affairs, his eyes would widen with interest. He loved to cook and bake. Suddenly, an idea popped in his head while he was concentrating on the show. Quickly, he went to the kitchen to see whether they had all the ingredients needed. Luck was on his side when everything he wanted was there. He smiled and then snapped his fingers delightfully.

The rest of the guys were doing their own set of activities. He had something in mind. He had always wanted to try something.

Eagerly climbing the staircase, he made his towards Lyorin’s room. He prayed she wasn’t occupied with anything urgent. As he reached in front of her door, he gently knocked it and entered the room after receiving her consent.

 She looked up and smiled. “D.O oppa, what’s up?” She asked.

He smiled in return and then went on to ask her. “Are you busy?”

“Not really, I’m quite bored actually.” She complained.

He jumped on her bed with a grin. “Would you like to bake cookies with me?”

At the mentioned of cookies, Lyorin’s eyes displayed as much interest as his. “Cookies?! Of course!” She replied and immediately stood up on her feet.

Both of them head to the kitchen with happy faces which earned curious stares from the rest of EXO. They asked D.O what was the occasion but he shooed them away because he wanted Lyorin to himself. Yes, he was selfish. It was bad enough that he had to share her attention with eleven guys more. Now, that he had his own fair share of her desired attention, he wasn’t going to let the guys steal the limelight from him.

“Oppa, what shall we do first?” She asked and helped him by gathering the ingredients to make cookies.

He scanned the area and then placed his index finger on his chin, deciding where to start. “Let’s preheat the oven first. Can you help me with that while I set up the mixer?”

She walked to the oven and stared at the buttons. The oven was a lot different from the one she had back in her house. She scrutinized it properly before pressing the correct button and adjusted the temperature correctly. Satisfied, she turned around back to him. “Okay, the oven is switched on.” She reported.

While he busied himself with the mixer, she took the bag of flour and cut it open. She prepared the rest of the ingredients. “Baking soda, sugar, butter and vanilla; what else do we need?” She mumbled softly to herself and assembled the ingredients on the counter.

D.O opened the refrigerator and said. “We need the eggs too. I’ll get it.”

“Oh yes, we need the eggs.”

They stood side by side and checked on the ingredient. Confirmed that everything was there, they started with the baking. D.O handled the mixer while Lyorin carefully put the ingredients inside. He noticed how pro she was as she confidently added the ingredients at the correct timing even without the need for him to tell her how to do it.

When it was time for the flour to make its way into the mixer, Lyorin put a finger on it and swiped bits of the flour on D.O’s cheek. Since both of the male’s hands were occupied with handling the mixer, he didn’t even get the chance to retaliate. As a result, his cheek was covered with flour and soon enough it became almost the whole face because she continued slapping more on him.

“Yah! Lyorin!” He struggled with his eyes close. He could clearly hear the sound of her giggles. She seemed to be enjoying the tease.

Once his hands became free, he grabbed a handful of flour and gave her an evil smirk.

“Oppa! That’s not fair! I didn’t use that much of flour okay?” She looked at him in panicked. Yes, she did but it was only just a bit. She didn’t expect him to threaten her with a handful of the flour.

“Baby, this is revenge!” He snickered and went closer to her.

She watched in terror as he walked closer to her. Impulsively, she ran away, giggling while begging for him to stop. She ran out of the kitchen to the living room. She went behind Kris and hid however he wasn’t going to join the mess.

“Yah Lyorin, don’t get me involve and D.O, don’t you dare throw that flour on me!” He warned. As usual, the serious leader didn’t like it when someone dirtied his clothes. He was a clean and neat freak and when he saw the flour D.O was holding, he gave him a death glare.

Reluctantly, Lyorin had to find another hiding place and that was when she noticed Kai who was listening to his mp3 while reading a comic. She crept behind him and pulled out his headphones. Kai gave an annoyed look and turned to see who had the nerve to disturb his peace. But when he saw it was Lyorin, his anger subsided and he melted instead when his eyes met hers.

“Kai, help me please. A wild D.O oppa is coming after me with flour.” She whispered adorably.

However, just when she thought she could rely on him, he instantly blew the cover. “Hyung, she’s right here!” He teased and laughed. Kai might be a grumpy bear most of the time, but he can be as naughty and mischievous as the rest of them.

As a result, D.O appeared and immediately smudged the flour on her face playfully. She struggled and closed her eyes. But still some on the flour went in her eyes and nose. When she started to sneeze, that was when Kai felt bad.

He grabbed D.O’s hands and stopped him. “Hyung, I think that’s enough.” D.O laughed while Kai watched her in concern.

She slapped her cheeks and dusted away the flour on her face. Once her eyes were opened, she gave them a pout. “Kai, you’re so mean ~”

He walked up to her and cupped her cheeks affectionately. “Aww, I’m sorry.” He apologised and smiled.

D.O slung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her back to the kitchen. “Come on; let’s continue with the baking. I’m sorry alright.” He apologised.

“You were kind of scary actually.” She pouted.

The smell of fresh baked cookies floated the air in the house. With gleeful faces, both D.O and Lyorin placed the cookies on the dining table for the guys to eat it. There were all sorts of flavours, shapes and colours.

“Wah! This smells nice!” Sehun grabbed a cookie and took a bite. “And it tastes great too!” He applauded. The rest of them tried and praised their baking skills as well.

 D.O and Lyorin high-fived and were satisfied. They were glad it turned out better than expected. The guys loved it.

While everyone was eating, Chen noticed a heart-shaped cookie. It was the only one. He took it and asked D.O, “Who is this for?”

Lyorin stepped back and gulped nervously. She made it especially for someone and hoped the person would eat it.

Sehun snatched the cookie from Chen. “It’s for me, right?!”

He was about to take a bite when Lyorin immediately stopped him. “NO! Aish ~” She shook her head in embarrassment when suddenly the attention was on her.

Sehun teased and asked. “Then who is it for?”

“N-no one ~”

“Then let me eat it.” Sehun pestered further. He could sort of guess who the heart-shaped cookie for.

Silently, she took the cookie and walked to someone. The guys watched her every move. She stood in front of him and gave it.

“For you.” She looked down to avoid the eye contact. It was embarrassing but she really wanted him to have it. She made it different from the rest of the other cookies on purpose.

He lifted up her chin so that he could look at her pretty eyes. He smiled before taking the cookie. “Thank you. I’ll eat it well.”

   ~*~

Tao punched and kicked forcefully at the punching sandbag. He was in the training room all by himself. Drop of sweat flowed down his face but he could not care less. He needed to train more. He continued with his training to the point when he almost could no longer take it anymore. He plopped down to the floor, panting and gasping for more oxygen into his lungs. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.

Suddenly, he heard a knock and thought it was one of the guys dropping by to train as well. However, he was so wrong. The person he least expected to enter the huge training room was there.

“Oppa, can I come in?” Lyorin asked softly.

He turned around and saw only her head sneaking in to the room. Immediately, he got up on his feet and walked to the door. With a smile, he opened it bigger for her to enter.

“What are you doing here?” He asked.

She stared at his tired face and then flashed a shy smile. It was the first time she entered the room and wished to explore it. Since she knew Tao was there, she decided to look up for him. “I was bored and I thought you might need these.” She explained and then held up two bottles of water

He gladly took one from her and turned the cap. “Thanks!” He drank it straight and finished it all up. When he was done, he looked at her curious eyes. He knew there was more than just giving him the drink. So, he asked. “Do you want to come inside?”

As if he heard her thoughts, she nodded vehemently and her face brightened. “I want to!”

He reached out his hand for her and slowly guided her in. “Be careful okay and watch your steps. We have scary-looking and dangerous items in here.” He nicely warned.

He brought her to the punching bag located at the corner. Since he was on it, he thought maybe he could show off some of his cool moves to her. Like a true gentleman, he grabbed a chair for her so that she could sit comfortably.

“Thank you.” She muttered and took a seat. “Oppa, you can continue whatever you have been doing. I’ll just watch from the side. Anyway, this place is huge and spacious.” She commented, scanning the entire room.

He started punching and kicking big sandbag while she watched him with full concentration. He was using so much force and every hit was not less good than the previous. Dressing in a sleeveless black top and gym pants, damn he looked so good. His arms were toned and muscular. She thought he looked extra cool and hot when he practised his martial art.

After quite a while, he stopped to look at her. “Would you like to try it yourself?” He then pushed the bag closer to her. She stood up, walked nearer and gave him an eager nod. Of course, she wanted to give it a shot too. It looked fun and exciting. “Okay, but be careful alright?” He reminded gently.

Slowly, she threw a punch, however the bag didn’t even flinch. Embarrassed because Tao was watching, she tried another blow, harder than before. This time, it swayed a little.

Tao smiled as he watched her from the back. She was a lot smaller in size than the huge bag but the determination in her eyes whenever she kicked or punched was immense. He then analysed her strengths and weaknesses while she continued with the display.

Several minutes passed and Lyorin had gotten tired. She was already perspiring and her knuckles and legs were sore. Tao clapped his hands, totally satisfied by her strong moves.

“You’re really good.” He said and opened a bottle of water for her. She took it and instantly gulped the refreshing liquid. “Your strength is in your kicks. You have long, strong legs. It is easier for you to land a kick to an opponent than a punch.”

“Really?” She asked in surprise.

He nodded and then added. “Come; I’ll show you how to do it correctly.” He gestured for her to move closer to him. He positioned her feet and made sure she was stable. He bent down and lifted her left leg. She was struggling to keep her balance. “You need to keep your feet slightly apart so that when you kick, you will have more balance.” He told her. Next, he asked her to kick the air and she did. It was awkward at the beginning but slowly she got better. Her kicks became stronger and more impactful.

“Good.” He smiled and then moved in front of her. She stopped her kicks but Tao asked her to continue. “Try kicking me.”

“Oppa, I can’t kick ~”

“Do it.” He affirmed. Slowly, she kicked his torso quite gently because she didn’t have the heart to hurt him. However, he wasn’t impressed. “Lyorin, when I ask you to kick me, you have to do it hard. What if I’m a bad guy and not your sweet loving Tao oppa? Come on girl, I know you’re much more capable than that.”

She gathered all her strength and went for the second shot. This time, she gave him a hard kick. She continued to kick him and vent all her strength. “More; I want more!!” He provoked further. Hearing his words, her kicks became more intense until she was almost out of energy.

The final kick finally made Tao flinched and cowered. She was already at the maximum and was beyond exhausted. She closed her eyes and dropped to the floor, gasping for air.

“That was excellent!” Tao came to her and gave her pat on the shoulder.

She tried catching her breathe slowly as sweat trickled down her face. “D-did it h-hurt?”

 He nodded. “Yes, it hurts but you don’t have to worry. I’m fine. Are you alright?”

“Gosh, this is worst than running a marathon.” She blurted.

He ruffled her hair playfully and then reached out his hand for her and stood up. “You need more practise but a good first try.” He pulled her up on her feet and patted her shoulders.  “Let’s get out of here and find some food. I’m famished!”

(To be continued)

Hello!  I'm actually adding different interactions between Lyorin and the rest of EXO, individually. I realised I didn't have many of their interactions in the first story. So, I thought of incorporating short moments she spent with the individual members.

We already have Baekyeol and then, D.O and Tao. Hmmm.. I wonder who's next.... hehehehe