Flashback

“Anika-ah, do you want me to stay over tonight?” was all Daesung could suffice, as he watched Anika kick through the newly fallen leaves.

She continued her way through the sea of multicolored leaves. Each crispy leaf crunched under her foot with each step she took, a comforting sound to her ears. It’s what kept her calm, a feeling she hasn’t felt in a week. This calmness, it felt new to her, it felt foreign.

The words of her father no longer living was something she’d never imagine hearing, ever. The image of her father’s lifeless corpse filled every inch of her machination. This news, as if it was an attack on her body, completely shut her down as her defense mechanism. It was as if the very life within her that made her smile everyday, that made her tick, vanished, as if it never existed. This numbness reigned within her, nestling in every crevice of her inner body. It was her form of protection. It made her feel safe…

“Anika-ah, please answer me,” Daesung pleaded, raising his voice a bit.

She kept on walking, the crunching of the leaves drowning the penetrating sounds out. She just kept on moving.

“Anika-ah!” Daesung shouted this time, a mix of frustration and sadness quite clear in his voice.

Right on moving.

Step.

Crunch.

Step.

Crunch.

The singer clenched his fists, anger welling up within him. He sped up, his steps thunderous from the anger building up inside him. Daesung grasped her shoulder, whirling her around to face him, putting a tightening grip on both her shoulder blades. Turning her around, thinking he’d get the expressionless face he’s been seeing every day, was, instead, met by a crumpled face Anika, with an abounding amount of tears streaming down her reddened face.

“He’s dead… He’s really dead,” she choked through broken sobs.

Daesung stood there, grasping his now crumbling best friend, unable to comprehend words.

“My father’s gone… He’s gone forever,” Anika murmured, looking around, a lost expression on her face.

She was beginning to shatter before his very eyes. The numbness that “protected” her, the numbness that stopped her from registering the news of her father’s death, was now crumbling. That wall, the numbing wall he thought was impenetrable, was becoming no more, and this relieved him.

“Anika-ah…” was all Daesung could manage.

“He’s really gone…” were her final words before she crumbled completely, burying her massively teary face in her best friend’s chest, wailing loudly as she could go.

Although he couldn’t fathom any words, he knew words wasn’t what Anika was looking for. Instinctively, he wrapped his muscular arms around the sobbing girl, engulfing her in a tight hold, her hair, as he let his best friend cry into his chest for as long as she needed to.

End flashback

I didn’t need to go looking for Dae’s room because I knew exactly where it was. I shook my head as I came across the sight of the door coated in Doraemon stickers. Twenty-two years old, and he was still watching a little kid show. Then again, I should talk, since I’m still, and forever will be, hopelessly in love with Scooby-Doo. BUT SCOOBY-DOO ISN’T A KIDS’ SHOW. It’s for mature pre-teens. Major difference between that and Doraemon. Seriously.

Since I don’t believe in being polite when it comes to Daesung, I busted through, only to get sandbagged by the unexpected sight before me.

“Yah! Don’t you guys believe in kn---”

My eyes went wide. His eyes went wide. I could feel my cheeks burning. I could see the reddened color staining his. I was greeted by a slightly wet, half Kang Daesung, who stood in the middle of his room, in his Doraemon boxers. This was probably every Daesung fangirl fantasy, no, dream. Can you say the ultimate fan service? Me? This was just plain awkward, embarrassing… and maybe, possibly… slightly…. arousing.

My mind was screaming at my body, ordering it to hightail it out of the bedroom. Too bad the signal to my body was down.

I just stood there, mouth dangling, throat too dry to form any words. I was hypnotized by the rather magnificent being before me. I mean, I knew Daesung had a body, BUT DAMN.

“Hey, Anika-ah, did you find Daesung?” hearing a voice, too distracted to decipher who it belonged to.

 ***

 Walking in on my best friend in his boxers was not how I pictured seeing him for the first time in six months. I think what made it worse was I felt this sudden arousal sensation. Can you say awkward on my part?

“I bet you were very happy with what you saw,” Jiyong bantered through his fit of laughter.

The three boys, excluding Seungri, since he’s still miffed about his ego getting trampled on, Daesung, and myself, who sat there, red faced, too embarrassed to even look at Dae, were huddled together in a roar of each other‘s laughter. As for the rest of us, we kept silent, as we waited impatiently for the boys to digest their laughter. Daesung sat silently, his expression unreadable. I took the spot next to him, occupying myself by flipping through whatever reasons the president might cover during the meeting. I’d occasionally catch a side glance from Daesung, unsure of what to make of them. And, as for the maknae, Seungri sat next to me, his body curled in the opposite direction, resting his head on his arm pedestal, as he isolated himself from us and the laughing madness.

Those three idiots are going to die ‘Death by uncontrollable laughter,’ Daesung isn’t saying a word in edgewise, I’m too embarrassed to even saying, and Seungri’s too engrossed in his hurt ego, I thought, heaving a sigh. I glanced over at Daesung, hoping he’d be able to read my silenced message. As if he already knew, he looked in my direction as soon as my eyes went to him, meeting my hazel eyes. Daesung then looked at his band mates for a second, returning his eyes to me. My best friend gave me a slight nod and went for my hand. Only using his eyes, Daesung motioned towards the door. I looked over at Seungri, the three tearing idiots, and back to Dae. I gave an understanding nod, ready to go.

Time to ninja our way out of here.

“Hey, where’d they go?” Youngbae asked, looking around.

“Like a boss,” I smirked, as we headed towards the café.
 

***

 Although we sat in silence, we were engulfed in a comfortable atmosphere. Our encounter back in the dorm didn’t propel us into some kind of awkward state. There have been moments in our past we’d just sit in silence, that being our own form of communication. Our parents couldn’t quite get how it worked, hell, how even our friendship worked in general. Daesung and I had our weird little quirks in understanding one another; the silent communication on the listing. Another one we had, even though we grew out of it once we debuted into our preteen years, was our own little made up language, like a set of twins would have. I remember I put down on an application for a job I was fluent in Knong (our last names put together for our language) as a joke.

“You don’t look too thrilled to see me,” I finally spoke up, breaking the comfortable silence, a teasing smirk on my face.

There’s his famous, contagious smile.

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

“Would it make you feel better if I scooped you up into my arms and give you my famous hug?” Daesung appeased, falling back in his seat. “I bet you’ve been suffering from ‘Daesung Hug Withdrawal’ for the past six months.”

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

I dropped my teasing smirk, my usual soft smile taking its place. “I wouldn’t say that kind of withdrawal. I mean, yeah, I’ve missed the guys, but…” I trailed off, noticing my reflection staring back at me through the watered mirror. Why is my face red? I narrowed my eyes, shaking the unexplained thoughts. “…But I did miss Gaho most of all,” putting on my most sincere expression. “I’ve suffered “Not Seeing Gaho Withdrawal.’”

That famous smile of his faltered, his face decreasing to a pout.

Ba-dump.

Ba-dump.

“Anika-ah, Anika-ah, Gaho didn’t miss you as much as I missed you~!” Daesung wailed, burrying his “crying” face in his hands.

“Between you and I, Dae,” lowering my octave, leaning into Daesung, “I did miss you a little bit more than I did Gaho. But you can’t tell him that, or he might get jealous!”

He spaced his index and middle finger, a deep brown colored eye poking out from the shield. “I won’t tell Gaho, but you have to make it up with me by going out to dinner with me tonight.”

“We can’t tell Gaho or the others of this rendezvous. They will surely try to keep us apart, especially Gaho,” I urged, my eyes distraught.

“You’re right. I should’ve known! We’re going to have to be sneaky about this.”

“Yeah… Sneaky, Charl--I mean, yeah, sneaky, Dae. I’ll call you later about the plans. I need to get back to the dorm and wait outside for Hyung Suk.”

Nodding, Daesung looked around, checking to see if there were an infiltrators scoping out our secret plans. My God, we’re such dorks. He held up his hand as a shield, motioning a thumbs up. We were in the clear.