Seven

Any sort of qualms I'd had remaining about having to move away from home pretty much left when Yixing confessed to me. My only problem: how to tell the group.

It turned out, however, that I didn't need to.

I sat down in my normal spot at lunch and removed the wrap off the kimbap Kris had packed for me. I looked up and saw Yixing carrying a tray with his usual curry on it. The only thing that wasn't routine, however, was that he dropped into the seat next to me and threw one arm around my waist before dropping a peck on my cheek. He gave me a cheeky grin and a raise of an eyebrow as all conversation at the table stopped, before picking up a spoon and digging into his curry.

Immediately, the table exploded into fervent noise and activity. I watched Baekhyun simultaneously slap his palm down on the table while screeching out a demanding "is this why you two didn't turn up yesterday." Meanwhile, Eunjung was clapping in delight and Lu Han had left her side to put Yixing in a headlock and muss up his hair.

"You’re a ty best friend for not telling me this last night," Lu Han said as Yixing struggled out of his grip. 

Tao just gave me a small smile, focused on his noodles.

"You know, the only thing that would make this better is if you set me up on a date with your brother," Baekhyun added as he rubbed his hands together.

I choked on my juice, and Lu Han reached over to thump me on the back. “Kris oppa likes girls,” I informed Baekhyun.

Baekhyun just shrugged. “That’s what they all say at first,” he muttered, but his eyes were fixed on something else. 

I followed his line of vision to see Jongin looking at his soup blankly. I reached across the table for his hand, wanting to ask him what was wrong, but Baekhyun nudged me away. Even Yixing was looking a little guilty, fork frozen in his curry rice. I bit my lip and looked down. There was nothing to be guilty about since I was never actually with Jongin, but still, I couldn’t help but feel bad. 

“Well,” Baekhyun coughed, breaking the awkward silence, “let’s go get boba together after school, okay? My mom wants to test out a new potential flavor on you guys.”

“Yah, we’re not guinea pigs,” Lu Han snapped, immediately springing back into action and wrapping his arms around Jongin instead. “Right, Jongin?” he asked. 

“I guess we can be, for free boba,” Jongin chuckled but the laugh did not quite reaching his eyes. 

As the conversation move forward, I could feel Jongin’s eyes on me but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. Sensing how uncomfortable I was feeling, Yixing reached under the table and took my hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

The next time I asked Kris about what was going on in China, he was tightlipped. “Don’t worry about it, Jung, he said. “It’s being dealt with by professionals.” However, for the first time, he actually looked worried.

The movie that Yixing had gotten tickets for was a romantic comedy. It had been in theaters for a while, and we were the only ones in the showing. 

“Empty theaters are kind of creepy,” Yixing said, looking around. He took a seat right in the middle and waved me in next to him. 

“Just be glad we’re not watching a horror movie,” I laughed. 

The Korean voices dubbed over the original English were slightly unnatural sounding, as all dubs tended to be. I turned to tell Yixing, but found that he was already looking at me. Upon being caught, he blushed, letting out a little laugh. 

“I’m really glad you’re here with me,” he said, lacing our fingers together and pulling me toward him.

As I curled into his side, I found that I was really glad to be with him as well. 

After the movie, Yixing and I walked hand in hand to the boba place just down the street. Sehun was working at the time, and he waggled his eyebrows upon seeing us holding hands.

“Where did you guys just go?” he asked curiously.

“Movies,” I replied, messing up Sehun’s bleached hair teasingly. He shook me off, waving us to an empty table. 

“Did you guys go see that hollywood movie? Was it any good?” 

Yixing blinked, tilting his head to the side. “I don’t remember what it was about,” he said, a little embarrassed. 

“Me neither,” I admitted. Yixing and I had spent most of the time chatting, laughing, and looking at each other. 

“You guys are so cute that it’s gross,” Sehun groaned, tapping his pad with his pen. “Hurry up and order already, Yixing hyung.”

The next day, Kris greeted me with bad news. “They’re back in Korea,” he said, eyes fixed on his laptop. “Something