“Min can’t you just do what you have to do and stop nagging already?” I asked while my cousin continued to complain.

“We’re sorry Minnie,” Kyu said in a calm voice “we took care of the extra payment already…”

“The only right thing you bought on my list is the Pumpkin itself,” Min continued on as if he didn’t hear us “here,” he handed the huge pumpkin to Kyu “help me mush that so we can start baking.”

“Heechul hyung, you could get a bowl there and join us mix this pie with egg, sugar and milk!”

“No thanks,” I casually said as I jumped on top of the kitchen counter “I’ll just sit here and watch” . . . just in case Kyuhyun does something evil with the pie.

“You’re just gonna sit there like a princess, then?” Kyu said.

“Yes. Yes I shall.” I winked at them.

After Min sliced the pumpkin, they mushed it in two separate bowls. It was quite obvious that Kyu didn’t bake the pumpkin pie he brought because he was struggling with the mushing and the mixing.

“You have to mix it well,” Min said to Kyu “look, there are still brown sugar at the side of the bowl. Follow what I do.”

“You mix like a girl,” Kyu teased my cousin and pinched his cheek.

Min tried to hide it but I saw him blush. Oh that flirty cow.

I continued to keep a close look until they finished with the messy mushing and mixing. They poured the gooey orange stuff  inside the blender… and it looked extremely sweet as they pressed the lid with their hands intertwined.

“Hyung,” Donghae entered the kitchen and went straight to me.

“Why’re you all sweaty?”

“I’ve been trying to find the toilet…” he said and I laughed “hyung where’s the toilet!?”

“Go upstairs. Look for the pink room, you can use Sungmin’s bathroom”

“Pink room?” Hae said “okay okay, thanks Hyung!” then he ran.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. That kid’s gonna hurt himself someday if he keeps this up. But I hope he doesn’t change coz he’s stupidly adorable that way.

“Do you have fishies here?” Hae poked his head back on the doorframe.

“Aren’t you going to the bathroom?”

“Fishies! Do you have fishies?”

“Ugh,” I face-palmed “there’s a huge aquarium at the second room from the pink one.”

“YAY!” he shouted then ran again.

My attention turned back to the Chubby Cow and the Little Bully. They were carving the pie crust while drawing flour on each other’s’ faces. I have never seen my cousin this happy. But I still couldn’t leave him alone with Kyuhyun… not after that blasted nightmare. I felt chills across my spine when Kyu held the knife and drew little shapes on the crust.

“Hey Little Bully, be careful with that!” I panicked when he almost hit Min with the knife coz they were playing around like a couple.

“Heechul hyung are you alright?” Min worriedly asked “you seem bothered today…”

I just remained silent. After a while, my phone vibrated.

“Good morning Heenim! Are you busy today?” – Hangeng

There was a sudden smile on my face… and butterflies in my stomach. Stay casual and pretty, Heenim. Stay casual and pretty.

“G’morning! That depends. If a maniac killer appears today, then I’m quite busy. Why?” – I replied

“Hahaha that’s nice. There’s a kid here from our school, he’s looking for your cousin’s house, but I forgot how to get there…” – Hangeng

NOW YOU HAVE A REASON TO DRAG HIM HERE! A stubborn diva voice inside my head screamed out. Hmm it has a point though.

“Wait there, I’ll come over.” – I casually replied

“Thanks sweetie :* haha” – Hangeng

“Anytime <3 haha” – I replied with a smirk

“Little Bully,” I called out to Kyu as I jumped off from the counter “don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

“Where are you going, hyung?” Min turned his attention away from the oven.

“To Hangeng’s house. I’ll be back right away,” I said and waved.

I left Sungmin’s house and walked happily towards Hangeng’s residences. The thought of seeing him during a weekend made me happy. I read his text again calling me “sweetie” with a kiss mark and again, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t stop smiling. After a few minutes, his house was within eyesight… and I instantly saw him on the porch looking handsome as always. There was a boy with him… the one that looked like a monkey.

“There he is!” Hangeng beamed when he saw me.

“Oh, hi there!” the monkey boy greeted me. His gummy smile was quite bothering but it suited him.

“Hello,” I gave him a half-smile.

“You must be Heenim? You’re Sungmin’s cousin, right?” monkey-boy said then held out a hand “I’m Hyukjae!”

“Nice to meet you, Hyukjae” I lightly shook his hand “why’re you looking for Min?”

“I borrowed his books a few days ago, and he told me to return it today… but I forgot to ask where his house is…”

“Come on, they’re baking pie, join us.” I said and gestured at them to follow me. Hyukjae picked up his bag from the floor and walked after me. Hangeng stayed at the porch, leaning there like a model.

“Hey, come on!” I called out to him.

“Oh, am I invited too?” he looked surprised then smiled.

You’re the only reason I walked all the way here “I don’t like pie! I want some of your Beijing fried rice!” I shouted instead.

“I’ll cook for all of us!” he happily said then jogged to keep up with us.

The three of us walked back to Sungmin’s house. I didn’t bother telling Hangeng the landmarks he should remember to find it easily next time because deep down I wanted him to constantly ask me for favors. It’s not in my nature to be nice to people. In fact, I usually prefer if it others would just leave me alone and not bother me about anything. But in the case of Hangeng, it’s like I’m craving to help him all the time. The heck with it, I don’t like acting cute but if it’s for him I’ll do it all day long. We reached Min’s house after a few minutes and the moment I opened the door, the smell of baking pumpkin pie entered my nose. In that instant, I remembered all the things that happened in my nightmare. All the screams and the blood…and the fact that I wasn’t able to do anything to help anyone. I stood frozen at the doorstep.

“Hey, you okay there?” Hangeng worriedly asked.

I was pulled back to reality when I realized that he wrapped his arms around my shoulder. It was just a nightmare, Heechul, I told myself. I nodded and gave Hangeng a reassuring smile. He smiled back.

“Min, a monkey’s looking for you!” I called out when we entered.

My cousin stepped out from the kitchen… full of ingredients. His face was covered with flour, his hair was decorated with cinnamon and ginger, and his clothes were splattered with pumpkin. Well, better pumpkin than blood.

“Hyukjae!” he happily greeted when he saw the monkey-boy beside me.

“I brought your books,” Hyukjae said while rummaging inside his bag.

For some reason, Sungmin flashed a smile. It was a different smile… I could feel it was supposed to be an evil smile but his natural cuteness covered it.

“Go put the books at the study room,” Min said to Hyuk. And I instantly understood his plan.

“Where’s the study room?” Hyuk asked.

“Go upstairs, look for the pink room,” I butted in.

Min looked at me with a questioning look. A look that said Hyung, you’re so pretty and you’re a genius. How did you know about my plan? I winked at Min.

“The second room from the pink one… that’s the study room.” I said.

Hyukjae nodded then went on his way upstairs.

Dearest Readers, I apologize for not updating this fic for a looooooooong time :(

To make it up to you guys, I'll be posting the next chapter of this later today (still at work... the boss is just beside me and I'm currently working of a software's manual... a HUGE software for the budget of the whole Philippine Navy... sorry I didn't really have to write that down, okay I'm blabbering now, I shall stop)

-fairytaleXuntold