"CHEN!" I yell loudly over the running shower. "HURRY UP! Breakfast is ready and I still need to jump in the shower too!"

This isn't the first time I've spent the night at my boyfriends apartment. Lately, I've been here more than I've been in my dorm room. Which isn't a bad thing at all since I get to be with my boyfriend and I don't have to put up with my psychotic roommate. I hear a voice singing through the noise of the running water. Is that Chen singing like that? I recognize the song as 'Baby Baby' by 4MEN, one of his favorites. I literally get goosebumps up my arms and almost burn my arm flipping the eggs as I listen to his stunning voice. He sings on pitch perfectly and the vibrato of his voice as he hits the high notes literally sends shivers up my spine. We've been together three years, why haven't I heard him sing before? I'm so in awe of this I don't hear the shower shut off and him come into the kitchen, pulling on a tank with jeans on and his ruffled from quickly towel drying his hair.

"Thanks babe," he says pecking me on the cheek as he grabs a plate of eggs and waffles. I look at him as he sits down at the table, already shoveling food into his mouth. I roll my eyes. Such a boy. "I don't know what I'll do for breakfast when I'm in China."  Chen and his friend, Yixing, are going to a music school in China after the end of the spring semester.

"I'll be in Costa Rica, thousands of miles away," I say, patting him on the shoulder. "You'll survive somehow." With any luck, I'll be in Costa Rica next summer on a faculty-led study abroad trip studying medicine in Central America. I've been talking about this trip for weeks. The students who applied should be finding out this week who's going. He grins through a mouthful of waffle.

"Was that you singing in the shower?" I ask, not being able to contain my curiousity any longer. He raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he answers slowly, swallowing. "Why?"

"How come you never told me you could sing?" I demand, crossing my arms over my chest. I'm almost mad now he didn't tell me because a voice like that should not be kept a secret. He shrugs, finishing up his breakfast. 

"It's nothing special," he answers with a shrug. Understatement of the year, possibly the whole decade. Chen dumps his plate in the sink and I feel my face heat up as he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close to him . 

"You know, you can always join me in the shower if you want," he whispers in my ear. I scoff but smile anyway as he pecks me on the shoulder. 

"You're so greasy sometimes," I tease which gets a laugh out of him. "But thanks for the invitation." I briefly pressing my lips to his. He grins as we pull away and makes his way to the bedroom to get dressed. I stifle a giggle as I notice his Monsters Inc boxers. "Babe?" His head pops around the corner of the wall.

"Yeah?"

"Nice boxers."

 

"Your apartment can fit twelve people?" I ask Chen as we walk towards the front doors of the university. He's majoring in music composition and I'm a biology major or pre-med. His apartment is about a ten minute walk from campus, so when I stay over we always get to walk there together in the morning, picking up coffee on the way. 

"Potentially," he answers with a nod.

"Which means no," I say with a smile as I sip my coffee. I yelp when he squeezes my hand super hard accompanied by a glare. "You guys should just meet up at Baekhyun's new apartment, it's bigger." Chen scoffs. "I'm not lying and you know it." He rolls his eyes but grins anyway.

"You look nice today" he compliments. I look down at my outfit and laugh.

"This is your sweatshirt."

"And it still looks great on you, just like everything else." I feel my face heat up with a blush a nod. "Did you ever hear about that Costa Rica internship? I already set up my Skype account so we can webchat over the summer."

"No, I haven't heard-"

"Chen!" A voice yells across the campus. He has short, brown hair, is fairly skinny and has an adorable dimple when he smiles. The boy has on a navy blue sweater with jeans, sneakers and his favorite yellow backpack. An eardbud hangs out of one ear as he approaches us.

"Lay hyung," Chen greets casually. "What's up?" Lay's name is actually Yixing, but for some reason goes by Lay instead.

"You have to hear this piano piece I composed last night!" he exclaims, shoving an earbud in Chen's ear. "Hey!"

"Hey Lay," I greet with a smile. "Have you seen Xiumin? He's supposed to help me with my Calculus homeowrk."

"I'm right here!" A voice exclaims, running up to us from the street. He's wearing a white tee with jeans and red Nike sneakers. Xiumin's lost a feew pounds, not that he needed to, and doesn't have the chubby cheeks he used to that earned him his nickname 'baozi', courtesy of Luhan. "Sorry I'm late. Luhan thought it'd be funny to unplug my alarm clock before I woke up." I nod as I turn to Chen.

"I'll see you at lunch?" I ask as he listens carefully to Yixing's composition. His eyes turn to me and he nods, wrapping an arm around my waist. I feel like a sap for having butterflies in my stomach when he kisses me. I smile at him as we break apart and he gives me a nod before he's being dragged away by Lay.

 

"I'm pretty sure I just failed Calculus," I tell Xiumin as we walk out of class.

"You and me both," he says, furrowing his eyebrows together. He shakes his head. "How are you and ChenChen doing?"

"Have you ever heard him sing before?" I blurt out, remembering that heavenly voice that floated out the bathroom this morning.

"I haven't even heard him sing 'Happy Birthday' before. He's self conscious or something like that." Self conscious? Of that voice? Even if Xiumin, his best friend, hasn't even heard him sing, then who has? I get my answer as a laughing Chen and Lay approach us. Lay and Chen are in music composition together and they're writing music all the time. Lay must have heard him sing before.

"Nope," he answers when I ask him about it when we're in the cafeteria line. Seriously?! "He always has me sing. I asked him a few times if he wanted to sing some, but he always insisted I do all he singing." This boy is relentless, but so am I.

The rest of the day, I try and trick Chen into singing for me. Even if it's just a few bars of a songs.

"Why me?" he asks, blushing slightly. "Baekhyun hyung can sing, ask him. Or Kyungsoo, Suho hyung, Luhan hyung-"

"I want to hear you sing though," I say, putting on my best pouty face. He looks at me, expression unreadable. Chen shrugs.

"Maybe next time," he says. "I have class, I'll see you later." Before I can even protest, he's kissing me and walking away. Maybe next time. He's been hanging out with Kris way too much.

 

The biology teacher in charge of the internship hands me an envelope as I pass by his classroom. I rip the envelope open as soon as I'm around the corner from his classroom. A single tear falls as I  read the opening statement of the letter.

Dear applicant,

I regret to inform you that you have not been chosen to attend the Costa Rica internship...

 

Kyungsoo has been my best friend since the first year of high school. We hit it off in our home ec class and have been nearly inseperable ever since. We can read each other like open books, so when the wide-eyed boy asks me what's wrong when we're out for coffee after our last afternoon class, he can tell something is bothering me.

"Why wouldn't he tell me though?" I inquire, stirring my spoon in the huge coffee mug. These must be for decoratioin because nobody in their right mind can drink a soup sized bowl amount of coffee. They'd have heart palpitations if they drained this whole thing. Then again at six bucks a cup, I guess you might as well get your money's worth of coffee. Even if it does shorten your life span by a couple years.

"Maybe he's shy," Kyungsoo says calmly, sliding his full lips around the spoon full of whipped cream off the top of whatever fancy coffee drink he has. He has on a red and blue striped sweater, jeans and some shoes I remember Suho having on a couple days ago.

"You've meet Chen," I state. "He's far from shy."

"True," he confirms. Kyungsoo suddenly pulls a letter out from his backpack slung across the back of his chair. "I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to be embarrassed if I didn't get in." I raise an eyebrow as he hands me the envelope.

"Get in where?" I ask opening it. It's a letter from a culinary institute in France. Wait, France?! My eyes widen even more when they congratulate him on a scholarship and look forward to seeing him next semester. Next semester... that's three months from now! My best friend is leaving my in three months and is going to be gone until June.

"Congratulations," I choke out. I'd been too embarrassed to tell him about the internship. It was supposed to be the highlight of my summer and be a resume builder for when I apply to med school in a couple years. Now I'm left facing an empty summer with nothing to look forward to. Everyone else is leaving within the next few months or over the summer, getting on with their lives. Kai and Luhan are going to some dance academy in New York over the summer, Chanyeol is going to a music school in Japan , Kris is going back to Canada for a few weeks in June, Suho, Baekhyun and Xiumin are studying abroad in Thailand next semester, Yixing and Chen are going to some music school in China, and Tao and Sehun are going to London because they were the only two left not going anywhere and decided to take a spontaneous trip to Europe. I at least thought my best friend would be around for next semester or the summer. I didn't tell Chen about Costa Rica because I'd been talking about it for weeks and would be embarrassed since I couldn't go now.

"Are you okay?" Kyungsoo asks. I nod. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I lie through my teeth. "So, tell me about France."

 

It takes serious motivatioin for me to get out of the bed the next morning. Chen's arm wound tightly around my waist and the steady rise and fall of his chest doesn't help motivate me to move because I just want to snuggle up closer to him. So I do, turning away from the blinding sun rays streaming through the window and curl up against Chen's chest.

At first, it's humming that I wake up to. When I crack an eye open, I hear his voice, soft and melodious floating through the room. He literally has the voice of an angel. I lace my fingers through his and look up at him as he blushes. 

"Keep singing," I encourage with a smile. He shakes his head.

"It woke you up," he pouts slighlty. He pecks me on the forehead before rolling out of bed and hopping in the shower. If Chen thinks the noise of running water can hide his singing, he is sadly mistaken. Not as sad as I am when he runs into me coming out the bathroom as I was listening through the door. He curses under his breath before walking into the bedroom and it does nothing to improve my mood.

Chen's mood doesn't improve much either when he finds out I didn't tell him about Costa Rica when he was talking to some chatterbox sophomore in music composition. We had a little argument during lunch that ends in us avoiding each other until the drive to Baekhyun's house warming party that night. Thankfully, Chen is the first one to talk, but I sure wasn't going to be.

"You could've just told me," he says sharply. I roll my eyes. "I'm your boyfriend. You should be able to tell me anything-"

"I was embarrassed!" I snap, folding my arms across my chest. "I've been talking about this internship for months and now I can't even go." He looks at me and I pout. "Everyone else is leaving and I didn't want to be stuck here by myself. And it was supposed to be on my resume for when I apply to med school." I sigh angirly and he glances at me, slight sadness in his eyes. "Don't pity me."

"It's called sympathy."

"Well, I don't need it." I roll my eyes. "Plus, you're not one to talk about keeping secrets."

"What are you talking about?" he asks, seriously confused. He can't be serious right now.

"Your singing, Chen," I answer hotly. "You have one of the best singing voices I've ever heard and you won't sing a bar for me. Not even the freaking alphabet! Lay hasn't even heard you sing and you guys write songs together."

"You asked Lay about my singing?"

"Or lack there of." He glares at me.

"I have my reasons," he states in a firm voice, as if to end the conversation. I don't give up that easy.

"Just like I had my reasons," I point out. " Plus, I'm your girlfriend, Chen. You should be able to tell me anything." A tense silence falls in the air. I brush my bangs out of my face and I hear Chen sigh. "Look, I-Chen, watch out!" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My first thought when I hear the voice singing is that I'm dead. I remember Chen and I arguing, a flashing light and a horn honking, then that's it. Where is Chen? Did we both die? I hear the voice again and I listen closely. Something about it is very familiar, like the way is sends goosebumps shooting up my arms. The only explanation for this would be the voice of an angel because I don't know a human possessing a voice that beautiful. I listen closely as the voice builds power and the vibrato in the voice sends a shiver down my spine. I know that voice. I heard it in the shower and when I woke up to that handsome face in the morning. It's Chen that's singing. I try to go towards the voice, but it's fading the closer I get to it...

 

 

The pungent smell of disinfectant and the sound of beeping machines tells me that I'm in the hospital. I feel the gentle squeeze of a hand and look down to see a hand intertwined with me. Chen's head rests on the railing of the bed as he quietly sings Open Arms, slight sniffles sometimes interrupting his words.

"Chen," I say quietly, squeezing his hand. His head snaps up at the sound of my voice. I can barely say another word before he's smashing his lips to mine. My mouth curves into a smile against his and he pulls away. I thumb away a tear as it slides down his cheek. "I'm here, babe. I'm here." He nods before looking me in the eyes.

"I love you," he tells me. My eyes widen and he chuckles. "What?"

"That's the first time you've said that to me," I state with still wide eyes. He smiles at me. "I love you, too." I can't help but smile when he quickly kisses me again. "Tell the guys I'm up, I know they're here."

"Guys, she's up," Chen calls into the hallway. All eleven of them come into the room accompanied by teddy bears, balloons and flowers. Some are chatting happily, some look worried, some look a little teary eyed as well. I hear Chen chuckle at the chaos and I give his hand a gentle squeeze.

 

 

 

"Chen!" I call into the dark apartment a week later. Silence. " ChenChen?" More silence. "This isn't funny I'm on crutches." Even more ear splitting silence in the pitch black apartment.  "Babe?" I sigh as the silence continues as I try and move forward on the crutches. "Angel?"

"SURPRISE!" voices bellow at me. The lights flicker on and I'm met by Chen and the boys throwing confetti into the air and blowing party blowers. I laugh out loud as Chen comes towards me.

"What is this?" I ask as Suho ushers me to a chair in the middle of the room.

"Your welcome home party,of course," Chanyeol says matter-of-factly. Tao and Sehun take my crutches from me and set me down in the chair.

"We heard about Costa Rica, sorry," Tao says to me. I smile weakly at him.

"Thanks," I tell him.

"However," Sehun pipes up. "We put our money together and managed to swing another plane ticket." My jaw drops in surprise.

"We leave the second week of June," Tao tells me with a light pat on the shoulder.

"Alright, quiet down!" Kai shouts over all the noise before I can say another word to Tao and Sehun. I mouth 'thank you' to them and they both give me a thumbs up. "Chen has something to say."

Chen stands in front of me, microphone in hand.

"So, she's been begging me to sing to her," Chen announces and I feel my face heat up in embarrassment. "I never sang in front of you guys because of a girl I dated in high school." The murmuring around the room quiets down. "She heard me singing in the choir room one day and asked me out. She convinced me to enter the school talent show and I won." They clap and he smiles before taking a bow. "However, she had a bet with a friend about whose boyfriend could win the talent show and after she won, she dumped me." 'Aw's' chorus throughout the room. "Yeah, yeah. It's sad. So I never sang after that. But now that I know that the girl sitting before me loves me...I think I could spare her a song." There's cheers and yells of encouragment and I smile when Chen winks at me.

The room silences at the sound of Chen's voice. It's beautiful, perfect, angelic even. By the end of the song, some of they guys jaws are dropped, some of them look stunned, and some look like they're about to shed tears. After the final note, Chen comes towards me and quickly kisses me as the room erupts into applause.

"Why did he always make me sing?" I hear Lay ask somewhere in the room, causing Chen and I to laugh.

"So, Angel?" Chen asks, still hovering about me, microphone still in hand. "Interesting nickname. Cute, but my friends will tease me about it relentlessly-"

"You know it," Luhan says patting him on the shoulder as he passes by.

"But," Chen continues with a grin. "I'm drawing a blank on how it came about."

"I thought I heard an angels voice when I was out," I explain with a smile as I lace my fingers through his with his free hand. "After I realized it was yours, I woke up." He smiles wide before leaning down and kissing me again. He grins at me as we break apart and I feel more butterflies in my stomach. "I love you." 

"I love you, too."