The alarm rang so loud and so soon. It carried out its duty with the tolling of bells, repetitively yet simply. It was enough to wake the slumbering pair that were entangled in each other's arms as they lay on the bed. Barely visible, they were just a dark mass in the darkness of the room.

However, one of the two people was already awake, but Haejin didn't acknowledge the alarm at first.

She was too busy thinking about her dream. It wasn't an unusual dream; in fact, it was one she had already experienced. This dream was familiar to her only this morning, when she first had it. It was the same scenario-- the darkness, the emptyness, and Kai, who was rather forlorn. What was also the same was the way the dream ended. She awoke when he was going to speak.

And now she lay, staring at the ceiling, deep in thought. She knew about repeated dreams all too well, and knew they were a sign for something, or that something was nagging at her thoughts.

The question was what could possibly be bothering her? Or what kind of news does this dream bring?

Was it considered a nightmare? Was it foretelling?

What did this dream mean?

As the last question ran through Haejin's mind, only then did she hear her alarm, and it quickly chased those thoughts away like a seedling in the wind. She looked over at it, watching it as her phone lit up with each time the bell tolled. Hastily she reached her hand out, after detangling it from sheets and detaching it from a body, and she slid her finger over the screen to quiet the alarm, all the while shivering at the sudden chill that sparked her warm skin. Once the silence began to fill the air again, she slowly leaned back. Returning to her previous position, with her head on Kai's chest and her arms wrapped around his body, she listened to his heartbeat, and she breathed slowly. Then she looked up, looked up at her boyfriend's face.

Kai was sound asleep still, his eyes closed, his expression peaceful. His head had fallen to the right, and his blond hair partially covered his left eye. His breathing was deep and even, and barely audible. Haejin smiled at him, sadly regretting what she would have to do to the slumbering other: wake him up. Carefully, she plucked Kai's arms from her body, and she sat up on her knees so that she slightly hovered over his body. She sighed, in a breath, before she tentatively reached out to place a hand on Kai's face.

"Jongin," she called softly.

There was no response. Kai continued to sleep, as if he were completely undisturbed. Haejin inhaled, and she began to gently pat Kai's face.

"Jooooongin," she tried again. Again, no response and Haejin began to giggle to herself. Since when did Kai wake up easily? Try never; one could throw him off of a building and he wouldn't wake, he was such a heavy sleeper. Haejin tsked, before rolling her eyes. She slid off of the bed, before walking over to the window. The blinds were blocking out the sun, but not for long as Haejin drew them back, revealing a sunset that nearly blinded her. She blinked several times and reeled back. Then she closed the blinds again and instead reached over to turn on the light in the room, before she whipped back around to where Kai was still sleeping.

"Jongin," Haejin called, a bit louder this time. "Wake up, or I'm going to jump on the bed."

After receiving a reponse of silence, she shrugged. "Okay," she chirped. "Here I come!" Haejin scuttled over to the bed, pausing for a moment to give Kai one more chance, and when he didn't move she clambered onto the bed. It sank under her weight, and as she stood upon it she struggled to gain her balance. Her arms flailed in the air a couple of times but she succeeded on standing upright, and she stood overlooking Kai.

"Hana, ttul, set!" Then Haejin was jumping, though they were small jumps because although the bed was fairly large, she didn't want to risk falling off or hurting Kai because of her clumsiness. The bed began to shake, and Kai's body began to move with the bed, his torso beginning to bounce up and down as well. Haejin began to laugh at the sight, and she stopped jumping before she lost her balance. Fortuntely for her, Kai's eyes had opened,and he was staring up at her.

"Haejin?" He looked alarmed, dazed and confused. "What are you doing up there?"

Haejin only laughed harder. "Did you not feel that?"

"Feel what?" Jongin slowly sat up, as Haejin sank down to his level. She placed her face in her hands, giggling madly.

"Were you bouncing on the bed to wake me up?" Kai asked in disbelief. Haejin nodded, her shoulders bouncing up and down from laughter.

"Omo," Kai laughed slightly, his laughter rumbling in his throat. Well, I guess it worked because I'm certainly up now."

"It worked," Haejin reciprocated, her hands dropping in her lap and she smiled at Kai. Her cheeks were rosy. 

"You goofball," Kai chuckled, reaching out to pull Haejin into his arms. Haejin let out a final laugh before it was muffled, as she fell into his chest softly. She felt Kai kiss the top of her head, and she smiled before wrapping her arms around his strong torso.

"What time is it?" Kai asked, and his exceptionally deep, sleepy voice grumbled through his chest. Haejin turned her head toward the closed door. Outside, she could faintly hear the sounds of pans clattering against stove tops, muffled calls and shouts, female and male voices intermixed, and they came from the kitchen.

"Probably dinnertime," she replied softly. "It's been a couple hours."

At this, Kai's eyes grew wide and he let out a moan. "Food," he whimpered. Haejin giggled.

"Yes, you monster, food," she replied cheekily before pulling away from him, only to lean in and plant a quick kiss on his lips. Kai smiled crookedly in response, watching as she leaned back and take his hand.

"C'mon," she urged. "Let's go eat." Haejin stepped off of the bed, and Kai threw the bedsheets off of him and was right behind her in an instant. They passed by a mirror, standing upright on a dresser and the two of them stopped to look in it in unison, making sure their features weren't tousled or crazed, before opening the door and walking out.

Instantly the smell of delicious food filled their senses. Chatter wafted throughout the large dorm, and the area was filled with life. Sehun, Tao, Sora and Jina were playing a game on the TV and bickering, Minji and Kyungsoo, as well as Lay and Baekhyun were in the kitchen. Luhan was showing Eunhwa how to solve a Rubix cube, and Suho and Chanyeol watched intently. Kris was lounging in a recliner, texting someone. Xiumin was watching the game being played, and he stood over them intently. Chen was resting on the couch, and Hyori was practically laying on top of him, both of them lazily spread out on the furniture. Yejin was setting up the table, receiving the bowls and plates from Lay, occasionally sending Hyori an evil look, which Haejin assumed was because Hyori was supposed to help Yejin.

Xiumin noticed the couple first, and he smiled at them. "Look who's up!"

Instantly, all eyes were on the couple. There were a few greetings. There were also a few laughs.

"How'd you guys sleep?" Xiumin asked. Baekhyun snorted.

"They didn't sleep," he winked. Kai shot him a playful glare as everyone laughed.

"Did you guys get it on?" Jina blurted. Haejin's eyes widened and she looked at Jina in disbelief. Jina shrugged, and Haejin narrowed her eyes at her.

Luhan chuckled. "Did you guys sleep well?" he asked.

"Like a rock," Haejin and Kai answered in unison, before they laughed at each other. The others pointed their fingers at the two of them.

"There they go again," Tao accused. "Saying the same stuff at the same time!"

"KaiJin," Eunhwa yelled, pointing at them. Haejin giggled and rolled her eyes. "Yejin-unnie," she called. "Do you need help?"

Yejin looked spitefully at Hyori, who maintained a pokerface and pretended not to hear, before turning her gaze to Haejin. "Yes, please!"

Haejin nodded, and quickly made her way to the other girl. Kai followed her, crossing the living room floor. Baekhyun gave him a suggestive look,and Kai playfully punched the older boy. Chen wiggled his brows, and Kai punched him as well, shaking his head and smiling. He made his way into the kitchen to find Kyungsoo.

As Haejin helped to set the table, her thoughts began to wander back to her dream. It dwelled and weighed on her consciousness and she frowned. She hadn't even noticed that everything was set quickly and soon enough, that the feast for nineteen people was ready and steaming because she was so lost in thought.

What could it mean? And why was Kai so forlorn?

So distant?

So... Angry? She frowned harder, until a kiss was placed on her cheek. She jumped slightly and looked up, and Kai was right there.

"What're you thinking about?" he asked softly, his voice close to her ear. Haejin blinked at him, confused, and she looked around. Everyone was beginning to gather at the table, and some were seated. Again the chatter began to creep into her hearing.

With her lips parted, she slowly turned her head back to Kai. He tilted his head and looked at her in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked tenderly, placing a hand on her cheek.

Haejin hesitated, and then nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," she reassured, leaning into his touch for a moment before pulling away. She pulled out a chair and sat down, and Kai took a seat beside her. She could feel him gaze at her for a second longer, before his attention was drawn to Sehun, who was asking him a question. Haejin shook her head, shrugged the feeling off, and looked around her. Everyone was now seated, save for Minji and Kyungsoo. Before all of them were heaping plates of food: kimchi stew, bulgogi, rice, soups, noodles, steak, and dumplings. It all looked incredible, and Haejin's mouth began to water.

Suddenly, there was the sound of glasses clinking. Everyone turned their heads to the kitchen, and saw Minji and Kyungsoo emerge with wine glasses and two large bottles of champagne.

"Ooooh~" Everyone began to clap, and Minji smiled, handing everyone a glass. Kyungsoo handed out glasses as well, and gave Suho and Kris a bottle of champagne. They then sat down, and Minji began to speak.

"I believe that we should propose a toast," she started. "This is for our sunbaes, EXO, and their comeback which is making so much success!"

EXO began to "aww" in response, smiling as Minji continued.

"I now ask that Suho and Kris make a speech, and then they will pop open the bottles of champagne at the same time, and we will then toast! Suho, you go first," Minji urged, looking at the EXO-K leader.

Suho laughed and he blushed, his dazzling smile reaching his ears. He bowed, before he started speaking.

"Wow," he started, and the others began to laugh. "Well, what would I say? I am very proud of EXO, and each of its members. We've come such a long way in such a short time, and we've really grown a lot. We have suffered together, cheered together, laughed together and cried together... And I know that without all of you, I wouldn't be the person I am today." Suho blinked a few times, feeling his eyes begin to get watery. Lay reached over and rubbed his back comfortingly, and the other members cheered on the flustered leader. "I really am proud of us, as a group and as individuals. I know that we will keep growing, and things will only get better from here on out. We've got the love of our incredible fans and friends, and family... And we have each other." Suho looked at s, all of which were smiling warmly at him. "We are one," he concluded. "And we always will be."

The group was in awe, and there was a round of applause. Suho smiled and bowed.

"I would now like to let Kris speak," he declared. Kris smiled, and the spotlight was now on him.

"Thank you, Suho," he replied, before he smiled. "Well guys, we've done something amazing. I still remember when we were all trainees, fumbling and stumbling around on a dream. We all wanted to be on stage, in some way or form." Kris paused to look at the members, who were nodding and murmuring in agreement.

"Some of us were unconfident, some of us wanted to quit, and some of us didn't think debuting would be possible," he continued. "Especially debuting together with who we're with now. Some of us didn't get along with others, there were language barriers, and we thought some were better than us so we were scared of them. We were born of different races, interests, concepts, values, religions and cultures, but we all shared that dream. We clung to it, and in the end, we never gave up even though sometimes it seemed pointless to carry on..." Again, Kris paused. The member's heads were down, remembering the past and reminiscing. The room was silent.

"But we made it," Kris stated. "We had to overcome the differences and learn to work together. We became friends, and soon we became brothers. We've gone through so much, and have accomplished more than we've ever even thought of dreaming of. I couldn't be more proud, or more happy, than I am right now. And we did it together, guys. We're living the dream, and we're living the dream as one. We are one!" Kris raised his bottle of champagne, and everyone cheered for the M leader.

"Pop 'em!" At Kyungsoo's command, Suho and Kris popped the corks off of the champagne bottles and the group clapped as glasses began to get filled. Suho filled the glasses belonging to the members of EXO-K, as well as Jina's, Yejin's, and Haejin's glass. Kris filled the glasses of EXO-M, and also poured the champagne for Minji, Sora, Eunhwa and Hyori.

Once everyone was seated, Minji raised her glass. "A toast," she called. Everyone raised their glass.

"To 'Wolf'," Minji declared. "To 'Growl', to EXO, and to their success." She pushed her glass forward. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" The nineteen people clinked glasses, and laughter and smiles soon filled the room.

"Alright," Kyungsoo's voice called above the rest. "Eat up; the food's going to get cold!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Kai replied, and the group laughed, before helping themselves ravenously to the delicious food.

Author's Note

Oh my goodness, you guys. I'm sorry for not updating in a while! ;.; I've been afflicted with.. With...

LAZINESS.

The Lazy Disease.

It's terrible! But I willed myself to sit my down and get this done! ^^

SO. Hopefully you'll hear more from me soon ><

Saranghae <3