Ah, Sunday. You know the day is off to a good start when you don't wake up to hear Kris and Chanyeol bashing away at the drums, or Baekhyun belting out opera-worthy notes while Luhan shouts, "Higher, higher, higher!"

It also helps that I don't see a male the moment I step out of my room, and that no pranks seem to have been played (yet).

Great day. I would have called it splendid, even.

And you know, I was pretty happy about this once-in-a-blue-moon kind of morning, because I had class later in the afternoon and I didn't want to turn up to uni in a bad mood.

Key word: was.

See, a morning that ends with a pissed off Sehun is never a good one.

***

This morning

Invisible bluebirds are chirping in my ears as I practically float down to the kitchen, grinning like a fool because this day is a gift. I'm about to head down to the stairs when a pair of hands whip out and encircle my waist.

I panic for a moment, expecting to see one of the boys with a seedy face, before realising that it's Junmyeon. He kisses me on the cheek and whispers, "Hey, baby, you look happy today."

(Yes, we're now dating. But that's a story (a strange one) for another time) "Yeah," I murmur against his cheek. "Today is nice."

"Ew, you guys are so gross," Jongdae says, making a face as he walks past. "Do you really have to do that in front of us?"

"Don't look, then," Junmyeon retorts, attempting to trip Jongdae as he starts descending the stairs. He misses; Jongdae is fast on his feet. "Damn."

I laugh. "Never mind. Today is still going well."

Junmyeon goes in for another kiss, claiming my lips this time. He tastes like fresh spearmint toothpaste and I almost laugh, remembering how Kris had last night for brushing his teeth more often since we started dating.

When we break apart, he lifts his head up a little like a bloodhound and says, "Is that breakfast I smell?"

"Mmm." I nod. "Smells like Kyungsoo."

"Like Kyungsoo?" Junmyeon repeats with a snigger. Everyone knows Kyungsoo always smells strange; like skin, or cooking oil or cats. Sometimes he smells like Jongin (we don't ask why).

I nudge Junmyeon in the ribs, rolling my eyes. "You know what I meant."

"Of cour−" he begins, but is cut off when Baekhyun and Chanyeol come barrelling through, pushing us aside and walking between us without apologising, like we're not there at all. "Hey!" Junmyeon yells indignantly.

"Don't yell, gramps!" Chanyeol calls over his shoulder. "You'll get wrinkles."

"Why, you little−" Junmyeon reaches down to grab his shoe and throw it at Chanyeol's head (it's a habit of his; again, another story for next time), before he realises that he's barefoot. He sighs. "I swear, they have no respect."

"You love them," I say, laughing, "and you know it."

"Sometimes it's really easy to forget," he mutters.

Everyone is in the kitchen by the time we walk in, except for Tao, who is in the shower, and Luhan, who has a job interview.

Kyungsoo is flipping pancakes at the stove, while Yixing hovers over the stack of cooked pancakes, cutting them into strange shapes with a fruit knife; it's a tie, I swear! A neck tie, he insists, when Baekhyun asks him about a particularly interestingly shaped pancake.

Junmyeon goes over and helps Minseok find the instant coffee (that's pepper, I hear him telling Minseok. And no, that's hot chocolate. Don't touch that; it's Kris').

"Hey, what's this?" Jongdae asks, holding up the pancake that Yixing has just finished carving. "It looks like a pair of cheeks." He grins and I have to look down to avoid laughing, because he's right. They really do look like cheeks.

Yuri laughs out loud, slapping her knee in excitement. "Oh my gosh, you're right!"

Yixing frowns, snatching the pancake back; it rips in half, leaving Jongdae with one cheek and Yixing with the other. "It was a heart," he says. "But now it's broken. You broke it."

"No, I didn't," Jongdae says. "You broke it. But if you want to get technical with me, you can't exactly break  a pancake. A better word would be rip−"

Yixing lets out an exasperated sound and shoves the pancake (which, to Jongdae, is one buttock) into Jongdae's mouth to shut him up.

There's silence for a moment as the biggest chatterbox in the house chokes on a -shaped pancake, and then I hear Jongin say, "Hey, Sehun, how's your girlfriend?"

All heads turn towards Jongin, the mood instantly freezing. Yuri's eyes glare daggers at him: Don't you dare, Kim Jongin. Kris' eyes say the same thing, and also, Man, this isn't funny. Don't be insensitive.

Sehun, who had been sitting silently and for the most part remained unnoticed up until that point, fumes as he stares Jongin right in the eye. "Shut up," he says.

"But−"

"Just shut up, Jongin," Junmyeon says, his voice almost a sigh. He exchanges a glance with me before his eyes flick towards Sehun, whose expression has turned sour.

For the past week, we've been trying to help Sehun forget about the incident with Krystal, and it had somewhat faded from our memories until now.

And now we're all thinking of last Friday night.

***

Last Friday night

"Yuri! Elle! Guys! EVERYONE."

Everyone comes into the kitchen to find Sehun flailing his arms about.

"What's wrong, Sehun?" Yuri looks worried, because Sehun is never like this. "What happened?"

"I-in-vah...fruh... din...na," he says, eyes wide and threatening to pop out of their sockets.

I raise a brow. "What?"

"That wasn't even a valid language," Kris tells Sehun. "Say it again."

Sehun opens his mouth several times like a fish out of water, before finally managing to say, "I... got... a date."

Everyone is surprised into complete silence, which is broken almost immediately when Jongdae starts laughing. "A date? Wow, Sehun, finally."

"Shut up," Sehun says. "It's not like you have a girlfriend."

Jongdae mutters something that sounds like, "Psh, ladies love the danChen machine."

"What's her name?" I ask.

"Krystal," he says, wringing his hands. "She's from America."

"That's, uh, great, Sehun," Yuri says, looking puzzled. "But shouldn't you be happy? Why are you so panicked?"

Jongin coughs and says, "BecausehehasthehotsforLuhanhyungbutdoesntwanttoadmitit." He coughs again and straightens with a grin.

Luhan blinks. "What?"

"Nothing." Sehun flushes furiously. His eyes say, I'll castrate you later, Kim Jongin. "Anyway, I really did get a date. I invited her for dinner here."

"Nice." Minseok nods approvingly; any date involving food gets a thumbs up from him. "Where are you going?"

"Didn't you hear?" Sehun looks panicked again. "I invited her for dinner. Here."

"What." Yuri's mouth drops open. "Tonight?"

Sehun nods.

"When?" I ask, eyeing the clock. It's 6:30.

Sehun fiddles with his fingers and looks downwards as he mumbles, "She said she'd come at 7:40."

Kyungsoo throws up his hands. "Oh, my God, Sehun! That's an hour and ten minutes away! You expect us to cook and clean to an acceptable standard by then?!"

"I'm sorry!" Sehun wails, the words spouting out of his mouth like a river. "She asked if I was free today, and I panicked, because I didn't know what to say, because she's kind of clingy and−"

"But you didn't have to invite her here," Kyungsoo says. "There are hundreds of restaurants in Seoul!"

After that, the other complaints rise up.

"What is she going to say about my body odour?"

"Yeah, Minseok, you do have quite a... unique smell."

"Shut up! What about you and your adult magazine collection?"

"They're not mine! Th-they're Heechul hyung's!"

"She's going to think we're all freaks," Jongdae murmurs.

"Does this mean I actually have to put on clothes while heading to the bathroom?!" Chanyeol exclaims hysterically. Jongin gasps.

"We have no time to clean!" Kyungsoo wails.

"Okay, everyone just calm down!" I have to yell to make myself heard above the noise. "At least we still have time. We don't even all have to sit down for dinner. We can just help Sehun out and somehow disappear and eat biscuits in our rooms for tonight or something."

Junmyeon sighs. "My room still smells like shampoo."

Yuri gives him an odd look, wondering how his statement is relevant. "All right," she says, nodding. "Kyungsoo, Yixing and I can make dinner− and no, Luhan, I forbid you to come anywhere near the kitchen," she adds quickly. "The rest of you can clean and make yourselves presentable. Even though we won't be eating dinner with her and Sehun, we'll still have to be polite and say hi. And we can't look like hobos while doing that."

Tao sniffs and says, "When do I ever look like a hobo?"

"When you're sobbing over Gucci," Kris says. "Because you're a poor college kid who can't afford high end luxury clothes."

"Thanks." Tao looks unimpressed. "I really needed that reminder."

"You're welcome."

"Guys," I say. "Go and get changed."

Later.

"Oh, you must be Krystal!" I open the door to see a fresh-faced girl with a nervous smile and a floaty peach dress. To be honest, she looks younger than I thought she'd be, but I swing the door wide open for her and hope to God that everyone has finished doing their jobs.

She bows once as she shakes my hand. "Yes, I'm Krystal," she says in a modest little voice. Her Korean sounds slightly accented. "You're Sehun's housemate, right? He said he lives with two girls."

"Yup." I nod, smiling. "I'm Elle. My cousin, Yuri, and the other boys are around here somewhere, as well as Sehun. He invited you to dinner, right?" I ask, as if dinner had not caused such a fuss earlier.

"Yes−" Krystal begins, just as I turn away and indicate with one finger to please wait for a moment, hollering, "Yuri! Boys! Sehun-ah! Krystal is here!"

Chanyeol, ever punctual at the most inappropriate times, skids into the room barely a second later, sneakers squeaking on the floors. He grins the moment his eyes land on Krystal. "Hey," he booms in his deepest, "y" voice (I try hard not to roll my eyes). "I'm Park Chanyeol, and I live here− hey, wait, aren't you−"

He is cut off by a loud "Ooooh!" as Yuri sashays into the room, already showering Krystal with compliments. Judging by the bright smile on her face, I'm guessing they managed to clean and cook everything on time.

"You're so pretty!" Yuri exclaims. "So youthful! Your skin is amazing! I love your dress!" Yuri envelopes her in a hug, and Krystal cheeks flame. "Oh, I'm Yuri, by the way," she says, after they break away. "I'm the boss of this house. My word is law."

Krystal laughs, but Yuri doesn't, and neither does anyone else; we all know she's dead serious.

"Anyway," Yuri says. "Welcome! It's so lovely to have you here. Sehun and the other boys are around here somewhere, but I'm sure they'll be here very soon. After everyone gets to know each other, we'll get out of your hair and leave you two to your dinner."

"But−" Chanyeol begins, only to be interrupted yet again when everyone else comes filing into the room, Sehun trailing behind. Junmyeon slides an arm around my waist and murmurs into my ear, "Do you know how many times Kyungsoo made us rearrange the pillows? It's like he's preparing the house for his own girlfriend! Krystal's probably not even going to see the pillows."

I smile sympathetically and pat his arm, whispering back, "Don't worry; when Kyungsoo has a girl over, we'll let him clean everything by himself."

"Sehun!" Krystal beams when she sees him enter, and Sehun ambles over, pulling her into an awkward hug; Jongdae snickers into his hand, disguising it as a cough.

When they let go of each other, I smile and say, "Well, everyone's here, so, uh, everyone, this is Krystal, and Krystal, this is the rest of the house. Everyone, raise your hand as I point to you," I instruct. "Jongin, Baekhyun, Jongdae, Tao, Luhan, Kris, Junmyeon, Minseok, Yixing and− wait, where's Kyungsoo?"

Everyone shrugs, and I shake my head, imagining him collapsed on a pile of imperfectly organised pillows. I sigh, telling Krystal that, "There's also Kyungsoo, but he's not here right now."

Krystal laughs a little and bows. "It's nice to meet you all," she says.

"Hey!" Kris exclaims suddenly, pointing at Krystal. "I swear I know you."

Jongin narrows his eyes, trying to remember. "Yeah, you look familiar. Haven't I seen you before?"

"Maybe," Krystal says. "From the performing arts school Sehun went to?"

"Ah, yes!" Jongdae exclaims. "I know you, too! I saw you on campus when I picked up Jongin and Sehun on Fridays. What do you study now?"

"Uh, I don't−" Krystal begins.

"Wait, that's not what I meant," Jongin mutters, but no one hears him. "I didn't know she went to our school..."

"Oh, thank God," Yixing says, addressing Krystal. "You've saved Sehun from his legion of fangirls. I remember one time, like years ago, Sehun was telling us about the leader of his little fan club. She used to annoy him a lot and bring him chocolates−"

"Hyung, shut up," Sehun mutters, looking terrified.

"−and send him love notes, and offer to walk home," Yixing continues. "I forgot what her name was, but− oh, shiiiiit," he cuts off suddenly, eyes widening. "Her... name was... Krystal. You don't happen to be..."

"No, that's impossible," I say immediately, but Krystal's smile is faltering and I realise that it must be true. I gasp. "Oh, my God, if you're the captain of his fanclub, that means you're still in high school. Weren't you like, three grades below him?"

"Elle, stop, you're making this worse," Junmyeon says through clenched teeth.

 "Sehun is in uni..." Yuri says. "Legally, he's an adult. And... how old are you?"

"Seventeen," Krystal replies, breathless.

"Holy ," Jongin mutters under his breath. "This is all kinds of wrong."

"What, because she's a minor and Sehun is an adult, and that's probably classified as ia?" Luhan whispers back.

"No..." Jongin covers his face in his hands. "I thought she was a star."

"What?!" Krystal isn't the only one who exclaims that out loud, but she's certainly the loudest. Tears are b in her eyes as she looks at Sehun. "Y-you didn't tell them about me? About us?"

Sehun's eyes are wide, frightened, flicking around the room twice before finally settling on her. "Well, we're not even dating yet, so I didn't say anything, and when you said you wanted to come here, I kind of didn't have time to explain who you were..."

Krystal's upper lip trembles. "Y-you think I'm annoying?" She looks close to bursting out into tears. "You think that I'm just... just the leader of your "little fanclub"?"

"Krystal−"

"No, forget it! You've been leading me along for years and I've had enough!" Krystal storms off towards the door, while Sehun runs after her, yelling, "I wasn't even leading you along! You kept clinging to me like an orangutan, and I just wanted to be nice−"

Sehun breaks off, realising he's just dug his own grave. Krystal freezes, whirling around to glare at him with furious eyes. "Did you just call me an orangutan?"

"Oh, snap," Kris breathes, eyes darting back and forth between Sehun and Krystal, like a spectator at a slapping match. "I don't see this ending well."

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way−" Sehun starts, reaching an arm out towards Krystal, but she's already disappearing through the door without a backwards glance.

The door slams shut, right on Sehun's finger; there's an audible crack, and he doubles over in pain, the tip of his index finger stuck in the door.

Luhan and Yuri yell out in shock, and Baekhyun goes to fetch some ice; meanwhile, I'm standing there, mouth open. I'm still in disbelief at the events that have just unfolded too quickly for me to fully process.

I hear them saying that Sehun's finger must be broken, and Jongin in the corner, muttering, "I am one sick bastard," over and over again, just as Kyungsoo comes into the room.

"Guys!" he cries brightly. "Dinner's ready!"

***

This morning.

"I didn't mean to upset Sehun!" Jongin protests, as everyone glares at him. "In case you guys forgot, I was pretty traumatised, too, seeing as I thought she was freaking star, when she's a minor−"

"You might want to shut up," Yixing says, "because right now, you're not in a great position to explain why you thought that, when a dozen adult magazines, that are supposedly Heechul's, are lying under your bed. And yes, we all know."

"Oh, my God, Jongin!" Sehun yells, slamming his fist down on the table. "What the hell! You know, she told everyone that I was a e!"

"Well, you kind of are..."

"I wasn't dating her, so technically, no, I wasn't!"

"There have been a lot of technical instances this morning," Jongdae mutters, eyeing the leftover cheek pancake.

"Shut up, Jongdae," Kris says.

"Why is it always me who has to shut up?"

"Because you say the stupidest things!"

Over in the corner, Sehun and Jongin have continued their argument in low, heated voices, stabbing fingers towards each other. And right in front of me, the never-ending war of Kris-thinks-Jongdae-is-a-stupid-idiot-and-everyone-agrees is raging, with Jongdae waving his arms around like a maniac because no, he is not a stupid idiot and everyone can't just gang up on me like this.

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. Beside me, I hear Junmyeon sigh, his chin dropping onto my shoulder. "Yeah, there goes our great day."

***

A/N: Yeah, I know, finally, right. It's Elle again ^^ A little longer chapter, to make up for my long absence :L I'll... edit later.

Thanks for reading~