KYUHYUN   I heaved a long, tired sigh the moment I stepped inside the house. I just came back from The Three Musketeer’s rehearsals. It’s the very first musical that I’ve ever participated in and I’m glad that so far I’ve been receiving good feedbacks and advices from my sunbaes. Harhar!   Apparently, no one’s in here as of the moment since everyone’s got their own schedules. Yes, even that annoying girl. Since she already got that part time job at the pet hotel, Zee took her out today to orient her around. I don’t really understand why Zee is so nice to that troublemaker. She’s only met the person for a day yet she treats her even better than me! Knowing her personality, Zee’s not the type to easily warm up to a person she’s just met.   Could it be because they’re both girls and they took this chance to conspire against me?   Well, come and think of it, I haven’t been really the nicest person to Angela.   No, wait. I am nice to her somehow! If I was really heartless, I would have kicked her out of my place this instant, considering that she’s been bugging me with that Ahjussi-name calling.   Oh wait. I forgot she’s got my consent…   AISH! I don’t understand what’s gotten into me. No wonder everyone else was making a fuss about it.   Events from last night’s dinner suddenly started to resurface in my memory. How I wish the earth could have swallowed me whole already! I seriously cannot believe that my hyungs and Zee would do that to me! Was that their payback for all of those bullying schemes I pulled on them?   I dropped my back pack on the ground as I slumped my less than half energy filled body on the couch nearby.   I put a palm on my face as I tried to shudder at every striking memory of that chaotic dinner, not to mention Heechul hyung’s crazy love advices. I don’t even understand how he came up with those. Like I mean, seriously! Were they really thinking that I am interested in Angela?   Don’t get me wrong though. I’m not saying the girl’s not pretty. In fact, she’s blessed with her looks but she’s still the most annoying, bratty, loud, manipulative person I’ve encountered! So, that doesn’t really make me interested in her.   But the others don’t seem to think so.  They were feasting over what happened. Noooo! I thought it was all going to be over once we’ve finished dinner but boy was I wrong. Like what I’ve said earlier, Heechul hyung gave me those weird, absurd love advices.   “If you want to shut her up and if you should use your mouth in anyway, then just kiss her. Just like how I demonstrated it to you earlier!” I remembered him saying enthusiastically and I heard my other hyungs sniggering in agreement.   “Hyung, do you want me to die right away?!” I exclaimed outrageously.   “Well, if that was SaeMi, you will. But that’s Angela we’re talking about. The worst thing you could get is a kick from down there.” He said as he pointed down to my crotch and he, along with my other hyungs, laughed boisterously.   See? I told you it’s crazy. Talk about awkward and the intensity of awkwardness would have been doubled if Angela heard and understood everything that hyung said. She and Zee were doing the dishes that time so whew! Although I think she already had an idea of what was going on. I noticed how awkward she’s become when she saw Heechul hyung and Zee kiss.     Well, I couldn’t blame her though. Even the other boys and I felt awkward too but considering that we’ve known how those two act as a couple, we’re somehow used to it anyway.   After hyung and Zee left the house, and it was just the two of us left downstairs as everyone else had already gone up in their respective rooms, she couldn’t look at me straight in the eyes anymore when I was asking her if she had already finished the dishes. She became fidgety and was rushing to go ahead of me.   Then earlier this morning, I noticed how she would naturally make conversations with everyone else but me. It’s not that she won’t talk to me but she would just give me one-liners and not even a single eye contact whenever I’d ask her something. Relief was painted on her face when Zee came to pick her up and as she bid goodbye to everyone, almost forgetting about me had I not cleared my throat.   But wait a second… Why the hell do I even care about that? Why did I even notice those details? If she doesn’t want to talk to me then fine! It’s not like I’m missing out on a lot or something. Well… I did tell her to keep our conversations at a certain extent.   But then…   “WHY IS SHE TREATING ME DIFFERENTLY???” I managed to blurt out loud for everyone to hear. Good thing no one’s around though.    This is Heechul hyung’s fault! If he hadn’t slipped up in English, Angela would not have had an idea of what was going on! And actually to begin with, if he didn’t start all those teasing, none of this awkwardness would have happened.   Still…it was only meant as a joke, right? And jokes are not meant to be taken seriously… right?   My furrowed eyebrows straightened up as I pondered on the thought.     Hmm… Maybe I was just overreacting to the whole thing. I guess I’ll have to lighten up. The next time they tease me, I’ll make sure to ignore them as best as I could so as to show my disinterest. Ha! That’ll show them.   I smirked at the thought as I can’t wait to prove my hyungs and Zee wrong.   Angela should lighten up too! Seriously, I think she’s the one who’s overreacting more than I do. I mean, why was she even avoiding me? Did she really think I’m going to hit her by kissing her?   The thought of doing it was already making feel as if my whole digestive system was already malfunctioning.   “IN HER DREAMS!” I blurted out loud in disgust and as if on cue, Angela was standing at the entrance of the living room which was just a few meters away from where I was lying down.   We stared at each other for awhile, both of us unable to utter a word. Did I actually say it out loud that I didn’t notice her arrive? Yeeesh! Good thing I blurted everything out in Korean.   “How long have you been there?” I asked her casually as I could so as to break the ice. I avoided her gaze as I rose up from the couch and switched to a sitting position.   “Not long enough.” She said and I saw her loosening her scarf as I looked at her again.   We both became silent once more as she remained motionless in her post while my was still glued on the couch.   Hello, awkwardness!   “I heard you screaming.” Her eyes were scanning the room, probably looking for the person whom she thought I was conversing with earlier.   “Are you okay?” She asked me in what seemed to be a concerned manner.   “What?” I asked her unable to hide my surprised reaction and she seemed slightly taken aback. “Oh yea, I’m okay.” I added right away before she can ask anything else but she was still giving me that puzzled look.   “What do you want for dinner?” She asked as she completely removed her scarf around her neck and hanged it on her free arm, as her other hand was holding a small paper bag.   I gasped at what she said, my eyes widening. “You’re going to cook?!”   Angela rolled her eyes at me as she puffed out a heavy sigh. “Well, do you want to eat or not?”   “Of course I do! But if you’re the one who’s going to cook—   “Ryeowook Oppa told me there are some left-over foods in the ref that just need some heating.” She cut me off with a poker face.   YES, she’s calling Ryeowook-sshi Oppa now too, even Donghae hyung and Siwon hyung. Why I’m the only exception! Not that I want her to call me Oppa but addressing me by name is better than Ahjussi.   “Oh…” Was the only thing I managed to say.   “Well, I suppose you can do that on your own since you don’t seem to trust me enough in doing so.” She said as she her heel and started to walk away.   She’s not going to leave me to do these things on my own, is she? That’s the reason why she’s here!   “Hey wait!” I got up from my seat and went after her as fast as I could and good thing she hasn’t gone that far yet. “Aren’t you going to feed me?”   “You said you didn’t want me to cook for you.”   “But…you said you’re just going to heat it, right? I mean, come on! Surely, you know how to operate a microwave.”   “Do you really think I’m that stupid?” Angela remarked incredulously as she crossed her arms at me.   I chuckled at her as I leaned on the handle of the staircase. I don’t know why but I enjoy it so much when she reacts that way.  “Prove me wrong then.” I told her smugly.   “UGH, BWISIT KA!!” (You are such a pain in the neck!!) She said in a really frustrated tone though I didn’t really get what she just said.   Was that a Filipino word?   “What did you say? Are you cursing me?” I asked with my arms crossed.   She closed her eyes then let out a tired sigh. “Nothing. I just said fine!” She said with a forced grin as she shifted her direction to the kitchen instead of going upstairs.   Though I still wasn’t convinced with the meaning that she said, I gave out a satisfied smile as I watched her storm off to the kitchen, before following her shortly.   While waiting for the food to be served, I leaned against the kitchen doorway as I watched Angela prepare and in all fairness to her, I can see that she’s really trying her best. See? My insults for her can actually do something good. Kekeke.   Instead of creeping her out by letting her see me just observing her, I somehow made myself a little helpful by setting up the table. After doing so, I readily sat down on the dining table as soon as I heard the last beeping sound of the microwave.      “Faster! I’m hungry!” I demanded to her as I placed my elbows on the table with my chin resting on it.   “Offering a helping hand would have been nicer to hear.” She retorted back as I she got out of the kitchen doorway with the bowl of the heated Kimchi Fish Soup on her hands.   And I thought she would have noticed my little act of kindness.   “A little appreciation would be nice too!” I gestured to the table set-up I made.   Well, it’s nothing really special as it was just the ordinary set-up. Placemats, plates, bowls, glasses and chopsticks, just the usual but still! I don’t usually do this, not even back at the dorm with my hyungs.   Angela eyed it with boredom as shown by her stoic expression. “K.” She said coolly before going back inside the kitchen again.   K? SERIOUSLY, IS THAT ALL SHE CAN SAY??   I scoffed at her as I watched her trail off. “Why sticking to letters now, Angela? What happened to your big words?” I asked her smugly as she got out holding a glass ware containing the hot steamed rice.   “Saving it for something worth talking about.” She replied nonchalantly as she placed the cooked grains on the table before going back to the kitchen again, leaving me aghast and my jaw hanging as a response.   “Stop being a smart mouth and just serve the food.” I finally managed to say aloud irritably, just good enough for her to hear me.   Angela appeared again with a plate of dumplings on her hands. “Dinner is served.” She told me smugly as she placed it on the table.   “How did your day out with Zee go?” I asked Angela, breaking the icy silence that has been feeling us since we started eating around ten minutes ago.   She looked up from her plate to me, looking slightly surprised as shown by her amused facial expression. “Uh, it was fine. Why’d you ask?”   Err…yea. Why did I even ask her that kind of question? Why did I break that silence?   “Well…I was just making sure you didn’t cause her any mishaps today.” I improvised, successful enough to hide my uncertainty.   She huffed out a heavy sigh as she gently placed the spoon she’s holding down her plate. “Well, too bad for you cos all went well.”   Ooh, looks like someone’s controlling her temper today. Kekeke.   “Really?” I asked with feigned skepticism in between bites of the dumpling, which I must say tastes very good.   “Yea, sure. Zee toured me at the pet hotel. I can’t wait to start working there! Then she introduced me to a lot of nice people too.” She replied confidently with a satisfied smile.   “Oh yea? Like who?”   “Well, there’s Eun Hee and Kim Shin whom I’ll be working with pretty soon. Oh! And then there’s also Zee’s adorable, baby-faced cousin, Henry!” She exclaims happily, her eyes glinting with joy.   “You mean the hoarding chipmunk? He’s my apprentice, just so you know.” I said before taking another spoon of the Kimchi Fish Soup, which I think Angela’s not really fond of eating as I was the only one who’s been feasting over this for the whole time we’re eating.   “Apprentice? Seriously?” She scoffed. “It doesn’t