Lynn listened to Kyungsoo. The very next day, she stepped foot into school grounds. She didn't dare keep her head held high, not wanting people to assume she was being arrogant. So instead, she looked down at the ground while walking to her locker. Like every day, she took only the important things she needed and the rest she left in her locker. 

"Lynn!" The young girl turned her head around and saw Kai heading her direction. "What's up?"

"Good morning to you, too, Kkamjong. What brings you here early in the morning?" She tried joking around to mask her uneasiness.

"Morning babe. I'm here to fetch you." Lynn blinked once. Twice. "You're not a dog though. Where's your owner?" 

Kai chuckled and his lips, "You."

They were teasing each other back and forth, not knowing that a certain person nearby Lynn's locker was staring at them with nothing but anger and venom in his eyes. If Lynn and Kai didn't feel the chills and the goose-bumps creeping onto their skin, they wouldn't have suspected that someone was blowing daggers at their back.

Go flirt somewhere else.

Lynn closed her locker and was about to sling her Jansport bag around her shoulders only to be taken away by Kai. "Yah Kim Jongin, give me my bag back." She demanded, narrowing her left eye at him. Kai stuck his tongue out before telling her a simple 'no'. "Fine then, be that way, slave." 

Unfortunately, Lynn had no classes with Kai, leaving the two best friends no time to see each other. The only hour they had together was lunch and it was usually ruined due to Chanyeol and Amber's amazing -blocking skills. Kai walked Lynn to her English class first period and was met face-to-face with Xiumin. "My sweet dumpling, there you are! I was looking all over for you!" 

Ever since their first introduction, Xiumin has been calling Lynn 'dumpling' regardless of her reaction to the nickname. "Minseok, I told you many times to just call me Lynn. I'm not a food that you can just eat." Kai snickered when Xiumin whined, reasoning with Lynn how the nickname he gave her suited her much better. "No. I like the nickname 'dumpling'. You appear to have a fragile and thin outer layer that can easily be broken but on the inside, you're full of life and many yummy ingredients. There are the sweet or savoury meat, chopped vegetables, or even glutinous rice filled insi-"

"Xiumin, just stop." Kai sighed, not wanting to listen to any more of Xiumin's hungry talk. If you leaned closer, you could probably notice the drool that is preparing to take over his chubbiness. "We don't need you to describe Lynn as if she's a type of dumpling."

Even if he was thinking of the food dumplings, Minseok is kind of right. I am fragile and can be easily left broken on the outside. No matter how hard you try to mend those broken pieces together, they're already shattered and nothing can be done to get it back to normal. What's done is done. On the inside, I can be happy, sad, angry, or even indifferent. 

"Fine. But I want dumplings. I'm hungry." Xiumin complained. "Wait a minute... did you just call me by Minseok?" He turned to face Lynn, the food can come later. Lynn nodded. "But I told you to call me Xiumin oppa! You do know what oppa is right?" 

Face against palm. "Yes I do Minseok..."

"Then let me hear it. Xiumin oppa. Repeat after me. Xiumin."

"Xiumin."

"Oppa."

"Xiumin."

"No that's not how you say it! It's Xiumin. Oppa."

"Xiumin."

"Oppa." A high pitched voice squealed. 

"YAY I GOT TO HEAR YOU SA- EW KAI I'M NOT YOUR OPPA! YOU'RE NOT EVEN A GIRL!" Lynn and Kai laughed so hard at Xiumin's reaction to Kai's girly voice. In the middle of when Xiumin was trying to teach Lynn how to say 'Xiumin oppa', he failed to notice the playful grin and wink that was sent between the two best friends.

"You guys are so mean to me!" Xiumin pouted and harrumphed, stalking into his English classroom.

"That was hilarious. We should do that more often, Kai." Lynn wiped an imaginary tear off her right eye. She held out her hand, signalling Kai to give her backpack back. "Thanks for being my slave today, Kkamjong."

Kai's smile reached his eye as he watched Lynn disappear into her homeroom. The bell hasn't even rung yet but it was about to. "No problem, anything for you, Lynn... Anything for you."

When Lynn sat down at her seat, she noticed the teacher haven't made her grand entrance yet. She glanced at Xiumin that decided to sit on the other side of the classroom where the window was. Normally, he would sit next to her; the teacher was generous enough to allow her students to sit wherever they want as long as they can behave like how sixteen and seventeen year olds are supposed to behave. Lynn and Xiumin met eyes but he quickly turned his head away from her direction. Fine... two can play at that game. She thought he was ignoring her since she had a few minutes ago. But she was wrong.

All Xiumin wanted was to hear Lynn call him oppa once. He thought that she would come and sit next to him to cheer him up. He thought she would end up giving in and for once, hear the word oppa come from . He wanted to be the first person she calls oppa, especially since Lynn was not Korean and there were not many Koreans who would call him 'oppa'. For Kris' sake, he was living in a province in Canada (though he still has no idea which one) and there are just too many English-speaking citizens in this beautiful free country. 

Xiumin didn't know what Lynn was doing but she didn't move from her seat. He was upset and Xiumin never liked being upset. So instead, he took all his belonging and trudged over to Lynn, claiming the vacant seat beside her. "Dumpling, don't be mad at me." For most Koreans, he did the so-called 'buing buing' cutesy move in hopes that Lynn would talk to him again. What he didn't know was that Lynn, who had faced the other way when he sat next to her, was stifling her laughter. In the end, she burst out laughing, causing some of her classmates to glance their way.

"Sorry... my friend here doesn't know what he's doing." she apologized for disrupting the class, although the teacher was nowhere to be found yet. The bell hasn't rung yet so school haven't started even though it should have two minutes ago.

"He's cute!" some girls shouted from the back corner on the far side of where Lynn and Xiumin were sitting.

"Thanks!" Xiumin replied in glee, happy to claim the compliment.

"I'm not mad at you, Minseok. Don't do that cutesy face thing ever again." As if reading his mind, she continued, "It's too cute to handle. I don't want to die from laughter and inner squealing moments." 

"You just called me cute! Kai will be so jealous!" 

Lynn thought for a moment, wondering why Kai would be jealous that she just admitted Xiumin was cute. "Why would he be jealous?"

Xiumin shot her a look as if she really didn't know, when in truth, she really had no clue what he meant. She was oblivious to her surroundings. "He likes you."