Like any other Tuesday, the club room of the school magazine held at least five out of the existing eight team members. Shin was always with them and with Shin comes Kris. And most of the times, Tao too. Today, the others have turned in their articles and left for their lectures, leaving the trio to put everything together.

It was quiet, like it always was when they were deep in concentration. And like always, upon realizing that none of the photographs that he has taken was up to his own expectations, Tao groaned and slumped forward, throwing his hands over his face.

"What's wrong?"

And as usual, Shin being his pseudo elder sister, would drop whatever she was doing to check on him. She rubbed his arm encouragingly as she peeked over at his laptop. The soothing gesture was quickly replaced with a light smack. And Kris smiled at the scene, shaking his head. As always, he thought.

The way they both showed their affection for each other no longer made him green-eyed, although he was envious of how comfortably Tao would show her aegyo. It always succeeded in getting her to cave and he wanted to have that kind of effect on Shin too. Not that he did not enjoy the kind of effect he had on her now. 

"Your photographs are fine!" She exclaimed but for nought, as the younger boy still looked distraught by his own work. She shot the other male a look of help but he only shrugged. "But they're really fine!"

Tao thrashed his legs under the huge round table for a few seconds before looking up. He wore a sulk and his eyes were droopy with disappointment. "Except Jinhee never told me that she decided to change the angle of her article and now none of the photographs really fit anymore!"

Right, Jinhee. The other girl fron Kris and Shin's Chinese Literature class. Not more than a month after she first talked to Kris, she approached Shin and asked if the school magazine needed more people. And Shin, thinking as the team leader, decided that it was for the best of the team. Just like that, within less than three months, they welcomed three new members to the editorial team.

"I don't see how they don't fit though," she admitted quietly. Just then, the younger male stood up and began shoving everything into his bag. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to retake these photographs," he said, showing his determination with a slight frown. "I'll be done with them by tonight, so you don't have to worry about any delays. They'll be in your inbox before eleven!"

"Tao--"

"I'll see you tomorrow again, jiejie," and after several quick huge strides to the door, "bye, ge!"

Just like that, he left and it was down to Kris and Shin. As always. They exchanged glances, one with a look of disbelief and the other looked amused.

"Can you please make sure that Taozi doesn't work like a machine tonight?" She asked, shaking her head. While Tao was like an adorable younger brother she always wanted to have, he was as strict with himself as he was cute. No response. "Wu Yifan."

He flattened his eyes at her, although they quickly perked again with a familiar tenderness. It used to make her uncomfortable - in the sense that her nerves seemed to go into a state of overdrive - but she has gotten used to it. It seemed to have gotten into her head that he would never look at her in any other way.

"You know, Yifan will do." He teased, lips parting into a toothy grin. She clicked her tongue and frowned, turning away from his eyes. And he chuckled, knowing her well enough to recognize it as her way of self-defense. "You know how much of a perfectionist he is. If even you can't change his mind, what makes you think I can?"

There was a slight pause of silence before she sighed in agreement. "The first printing isn't until two weeks later, though."

"The same goes for you. Why are you being so anxious when there's still weeks to go?" He was referring to her workaholic side surfacing when they still had time. "Hmm?"

"Aren't you the same? You didn't have to come here every single day."

He smiled. "But I want to."

She shifted uneasily in her seat - because of how casually those words passed through his lips. They settled into silence again, although it was nothing but comfortable. In fact, she has gotten very comfortable her new friends. Even their occasional teasing no longer bother her; she has caught herself wondering what it meant to let it slide.

Kris' random expressions, like the one before, bothered her, though. Not in a negative manner - but they more than often not made her insides go abuzz with strange sensations. Either he never noticed it or he did and ignored it, but the way he so easily complimented and flattered her made her feel weird. Really weird.

She shook her head, that weird feeling rushing through her again when she glanced up at him briefly, remembering all those instances when it occurred.

"Better get back to work," she mumbled to herself under her breath, forcing all those thoughts out.

On the other hand, Kris was enjoying the way she reacted to him. More than that, he enjoyed showering attention on her, especially more so now that she no longer pushed him away nor denied their friendship. He smiled inwardly, having caught every single expression flit across her face from his peripheral sight. The smile was threatening to split his face, so he quickly gave himself a pinch. The pain, instead of forcing the smile back, only served to tell him that it was real. 

Everything was real.

Shin reacting to his subtle hints at his feelings for her was real.

He looked up at her, taking in her brand new look. As soon as the temperature began climbing, she switched her black hair for a shade of ashy red, even chopping off her signature (or what he thought it as) long locks for a more refreshing length. Granted, it has been a little over two weeks since she donned this look, but he was still getting used to it. 

The first time he saw her after her haircut, he was shocked. Not because it was bad, but because he knew that it would be more difficult to not act rashly on his feelings.

There was something about the way her short hair framed her face, highlighting her chubby cheeks that used to hide behind her long hair. Even the new hair color added a little rosiness to her otherwise pale cheeks. If anything at all, it made her look like a cherub-faced angel; it highlighted her impish features, making her look cheeky even when she so much as smiled.

He could have continued staring at her if allowed, but the moment was broken when the door opened. In walked Jinhee, bowing slightly and wearing a shy smile as she took the seat beside him. He merely greeted her back with a tight-lipped smile, eyes on Shin instead as she smiled happily at the other girl.

"I'll go get myself a drink," she said as she stood up.

He stood up after her. "I'll go with you. I need a drink too."

"Ay, you shouldn't leave Jinhee here alone," she shook her head, saying it as a matter-of-factly. Something was strange. Although she meant to , she could not help but feel that something was off. Terribly off.

"Then I'll go get us the drinks and you'll stay here with her." Then he cut in again before she could refute, "It's a gentleman's job to make sure that the ladies are comfortable. Don't argue with me."

And out the room he walked, without even waiting for any of them to say anything. It was not that he disliked Jinhee. He liked her but only as a classmate, a fellow writer and a friend. It was just that Shin seemed to has taking a liking to putting them together, like what she just did.

But it's you. The one I want to be with is you.

Shin's eyes were wide open with amusement as she watched Luhan's features distort as he laughed. It was the day of the week when it was only her with the boys. In the past, it would have made her immensely uncomfortable but now, she was more than happy to spend time with them. If only Fei and Jia were here too. 

Opposite her, Luhan burst into another face-destroying laughter. She smiled, remembering how Fei always defended him, saying that he did not look that bad. Especially Fei. Most especially her.

A sudden impact hit her shoulder, causing her to almost drop the sandwich in her hands. It was Tao, doubling over in laughter and hitting his head against her shoulder in the process. She may have zoned out but she was very sure that nobody said anything funny enough to draw such an obnoxious laughter out of everyone. Hence, she concluded, that it was because of Luhan's face when he laughed.

She bit back a laughter as she looked around the table. Lay's eyes were teary from too much laughing while on Kris' face was a gummy smile. The sight of it tickled her and she quickly looked away before she got caught staring.

"Please, just stop it," Tao pleaded, his voice full of tears even though he was not crying. He leaned his head against her shoulder again, grabbing his stomach. "My entire body hurts so much from laughing!" 

"Do I really look that funny?" Luhan asked, fanning himself as he tried to calm down and control his expressions.

Shin nodded. "To be quite honest, you do."

"Yes. And Tao," Kris said, pointing lazily at the younger boy, who happened to have gotten comfortable leaning against her, "you have your own backbone. Sit up straight."

The younger boy clicked his tongue in annoyance and he removed his weight off her shoulder. This was another thing. While it seemed that Kris was fine with her calling Tao by a pet name (Luhan said that it was only because she called him Wu Yifan or Mr Wu more often now; he treated it as a pet name), he still disliked it whenever the latter stuck too closely to her. 

As of late, she and Luhan has gotten closer because of their frequent grouping together during class; he would try to into their conversations whenever they got too animated while talking.

For some reason, it was endearing, the way he would try to fend off other guys. Except they were not just any guy - and she sometimes rolled her eyes at his reactions too. But still, it made her feel strangely warm.

She jumped when a leg kicked hers lightly under the table. Instantly, she looked up at him and frowned.

He blinked innocently, "Luhan just asked if we can hang out at your house this Friday instead." Then he shot said friend a teasing look. "Said that Fei promised to cook a meal for us to celebrate finishing our assignments in a single piece."

Lay and Tao began snickering while the eldest of them spluttered, fumbling for the correct words to explain himself. Shin joined in, grinning as she wriggled her brows at him.

"Shinnie, not you too!"

Only one person reacted slightly negatively to that, eyes widening as he turned to him. "Shinnie?"

The doe-eyed male seemed to realize what slipped his tongue. He explained hurriedly. "She laughed at me when Feife-- Fei called me Hannie, so as revenge, I called her Shinnie."

"Aw, is our almighty duizhang jealous?" Lay quipped, more than happy to jump at any chance to tease the basketball team captain.

Kris grumbled. "No."

Shinnie. Shinnie? Shinnie?! He ran through the word in his mind several times and made a face. It doesn't even sound nice enough for her. Shinnie? Really?

"Come on, it's not like she can call you Fannie," Hannie continued. "That just sounds... funny."

"And girly."

Said Fannie tore a piece off his sandwich - his appetite has magically adapted to her tastes over the months - and aimed it at the youngest of them. It struck him, nice and right on his forehead, causing him to whine.

"You asked for it," Shin stated, lazily reaching up to rub his forehead with her palm.

That only made him whine more but he quickly kept quiet. By now, he knew that if an aegyo did not work on her, then it never would. So he sulked, purposely pushing his bottom lip out as he picked at his leftovers.

The previous conversation was quickly forgotten as they continued with another topic. The height of summer was fast approaching; Luhan suggested that they hang out at each others' houses or that they go on a road trip. Both suggested were shot down by Kris and Lay, both of whom are involved in the upcoming inter-school basketball champion league.

"And we expect every single one of you to turn up at every single one of our matches," Lay said, emphasizing on every single one. He then added, "Which will be every single match until the finals."

Kris scoffed. "Where did you get the confidence from?"

Lay looked back at him, eyes as blank as ever. "You. You're our star player, aren't you?" Then his droopy eyes shone with cheekiness, his dimple showing as he smiled sweetly at him. "Moreover, Shin'll be there. Of course you'll have to show her why you're team captain, right?"

"Jiejie, you really have to be at their games!" Tao butted in excitedly, already cutting Kris off before the latter even got a chance to open his mouth. "Lay-ge transforms into a totally different person and that's also the only time you'll see Kris-ge lose his temper!"

"Yah!" Kris scolded, looking embarrassed as he did not expect Tao to reveal this side of him. It's only because we're getting foul counts for nothing! "Believe it or not, I can also lose my temper here."

The younger one merely stuck his tongue out at him, purposely linking arms with Shin again to annoy him. And there was nothing the dirty-blonde headed one could do except for click his tongue, turning away with a frown. Deep inside he was wondering, though, if she would come watch any of their games. No guy would refuse any opportunity to impress the girl of his dreams and he, too, was not about to let slip this golden chance. 

"Hey," she kicked him lightly under the table and he snapped his head up at her instantly. "I think Jinhee wants to speak to you."

He turned around and looked in the direction that she was pointing at. True enough, Jinhee was approaching them in small but swift steps. Any other time he would have said that she was here for their editorial team leader, who is none other than Shin, but there was something about the way she walked towards them that told him otherwise. He smiled back in response when she flashed him a smile, prompting her to quicken her pace. 

"Oh, Jinhee!" Tao greeted first, although his chirpy tone quickly changed into a more serious one. "Yah, you'd better let me know when you decide to change the angle of any of your future articles! I can't guarantee that I won't go crazy with any last minute changes again!"

Shin smacked his arm and looked at him warningly. Then she turned to the standing girl again, who was looking awkward with two stranger - Luhan and Lay - looking questioningly at her. "Is there anything wrong, Jinhee?"

"No, nothing's wrong," she answered softly, smiling gratefully at her before she looked at Kris. "But I'd like to speak to Kris for a moment." Then she added quickly, lowering her head so that her hair covered her face, "In private. Is that okay?"

Three pairs of eyes instinctively turned to him, probing with curiosity. He ignored them all, fixing his gaze on the girl in front of him. He raised a brow questioningly, as if asking if he should go. While he knew that he should not be expecting much, it stung a little when she nodded curtly at him, looking away and avoiding his eyes. He already knew that she would not react any other way but why did it still hurt him so?

He stood up, patting the creases out of his shirt. "Sure. It's okay."

As the pair left the cafeteria, the three boys adverted their gazes to Shin, who remained quiet as she nibbled on her sandwich. 

Why do I feel… this way?

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Ah! Another week before an update again! Same old excuse: work. I may be able to update only 1-2 times a week... until I clear all of my work. Also, wishing everybody a great lunar new year week! :D