They say that there are two states in which one should never make decisions. The first would be when the person is extremely happy. As it is that momentary euphoria that makes everything seem light and to put it simply, not a drag, and people perform certain actions just for the heck of it and then suffer the consequences later. A perfect example of this would be the time when Kris had agreed to let his chubby buddy Minseok ride with him around town for a month. Reason being, that Minseok had managed to get his hands on a limited edition Power Rangers mobile for Kris’s birthday. The only problem was that they were fifteen, and Kris owned a bicycle, and their town was huge. Kris not only ended up regretting his decision, but he also lost the feeling in his legs.

The second state is when you’re extremely angry. It is anger that clouds all sense of judgment, and no matter what it is, and no matter how much sense your actions make at that time, you eventually end up regretting them, probably for the rest of your life. Hana was already a victim of such aggressive judgment thanks to Yuri, and she knew better than anyone else that no matter how hard it is, one must always be in control of what they say, as even a single could make or break not only your own life, but the other’s as well.

However, Lay did not know, whether the decision he made was while he was angry or happy. Perhaps, utterly stupid. The sun was shining bright in their faces and the cool breeze canceled any sensation of heat the infrared rays carried. The streets weren’t busy but they weren’t deserted either. It was noisy, yet calm at the same time. Kind of like a paradox. All in all, it was a good day with great weather and amazing opportunities. The only problem was that a certain someone wearing a striped light blue button up shirt and dark jeans had his head hung low, avoiding all sorts of contact with a specific female with black skinnies and grey top.

So for Lay the saying had forever been changed. A person must never make decisions in the state of anger, happiness, and stupidity.

Hana felt that running around town singing ‘What does the Fox Say’ would be less embarrassing and awkward than having to walk beside the brunette who had been ignoring her. She thought that may be if they were alone, she’d be able to find the root of his problem or at least get him to talk. How she planned to get him to speak without talking herself was a task she didn’t really know how to execute. So the two walked side by side, stiffer than Kyungsoo’s week old brownies.

The passed various shops, bakeries, stores, and Hana wondered with each passing window how it would feel to be able to voice her opinions once again, to speak for herself, to ask what the other’s problem was, and to even justify herself when necessary. All the things she desperately wished to do right now but couldn’t, she didn’t think she was ready yet. Soon though….

Albeit Lay’s constant involuntary ignorance, he still kept an eye on Hana, making sure she was by his side, because even if he wasn’t talking to her or making her laugh, or if she wasn’t nudging him or poking his stomach, the idea that she’s there with him was enough to make him feel a little better. The mini heart attack he received when his eyes couldn’t grab the sight of the ends of her loose shirt made him abruptly turn around and almost bump into a mister. Avoiding that, he didn’t have to search hard. There Hana stood, approximately fifteen feet away from him, marveling at the detail on one of pastry cakes on display.

Hana leaned away from the window that displayed the chocolaty goodness of the double layered pastry cake. It had been a while since she had consumed anything chocolate and she smiled as she remembered her father comparing her relationship with chocolate to the relationship sunflower has with the sun. Lay stood behind her and Hana could see his reflection. He was looking at the same pastry she was internally drooling over. She spun around to face him, but the impact made her hair whip across his face and Hana felt like she had descended two steps of the stair of intelligence. He was smiling though. Not just a close lipped forced smile he had been giving all day, but a genuine smile, the one that exposed his teeth and showcased his dimples that she was extremely fond of. Their close proximity went unnoticed by Hana, she was just glad that the guy had finally cracked a genuine smile after hours. Lay noticed, but pretended not to. They stood there smiling at each other, looking like retards to the outside world but that didn’t matter.

“You want that?” he suddenly asked pointing towards the little cylindrical cake. Hana looked back towards the window before facing him again. She was going to say no, but Lay didn’t give her the time to answer, the glimmer in her eyes was enough for him to drag her into the shop.

“Go sit over there while I get them ok?” he said as he made his way towards the counter with ridiculously good looking baked goods. She held his arm to stop him but he held hers instead and seated her on the dark brown wooden chair. He walked past her, ruffling her hair in the process and Hana saw him greet the lady in red apron behind the counter. She stared out the window as she waited but Lay didn’t take long, and the sight of a mini tray with two tiny towers of chocolate cake greeted her.

“This is called…Death by Chocolate Lava……” Lay said, sounding a little unsure as took a seat opposite Hana. He looked at her, as if expecting her to mirror his bewilderment, but that didn’t really happen.

“Aren’t you finding the name weird…?”

Hana just shook her head. Frankly, she had heard way more ridiculous names than these. The cake for her 14^th birthday was called Chocolate Apocalypse and the one on her 17^th was called Molten Envy, whatever that meant. But she did know, that the stupider the name, the better the taste. According to Hana, Lay was probably the last person to judge something by its name…..his name reminded her of chips…but Hana thought it better be left untold.

 While Lay eyed the cake, Hana took a spoon of hers and the explosion of flavor almost knocked her out. The cake was so soft that it felt like it was melting in and the warm thick chocolate paste provided the right amount of creaminess.

“Is it even legal to name harmless pastries like that?” he asked, incredulity evident from his tone and before he could say another word, Hana used her spoon to scoop a piece of his cake and shoved it in his mouth, successfully shutting him up and probably answering all his questions.

His wide eyes stared at her and she retracted her hand. Since her spoon was gone, she snatched his from his hand and took another savory spoon of the sinfully delicious treat. Lay pulled out the spoon and realized the entire point of the name. The rest of the cake was devoured within minutes, Lay done with his before Hana, even though she started before him. Hana pulled out her purse as she saw the waitress approaching, but Lay cut her short by going to the counter and paying instead. Hana felt irritated. She wanted to pay for herself.

“Take it as an apology from my side.” Hana looked back at him confused. They were walking down the street towards the convenience store. Lay could tell she was annoyed he paid, but for a girl to pay while he was around went against his principals. Besides, he had realized his behavior was kind of killing the entire point of getting together before exams. They met to release stress, but he was just piling more of it, on her and on himself as well. An apology was necessary.

Hana still looked at him, confused by his statement and he chuckled at her expression.

“I haven’t really been nice today so I wanted to apologize. Don’t know what happened. So….I’m sorry.” He flashed an apologetic smile and she stared at him stoic. For a second he thought he was screwed, that maybe she had bad enough to not forgive him just like that, but then she smiled too, and he felt all better. She bumped their shoulders and giggled to reassure him that it was fine. But mainly because she was happy that he was talking to her again.

The original route to the store which took hardly fifteen minutes was suddenly extended. It had been thirty minutes since they had left Baekhyun’s place but they were still nowhere near the store. Lay talked about random stuff, just like always, and Hana laughed and smiled and nodded when she felt like it.

They passed a bubble tea store, and Hana jumped in joy because bubble tea was another love of hers that she had abandoned. She pulled out her wallet before hand and glared at Lay, no way would she let him pay again. Lay eyed the wallet in her hand and vehemently shook his head accompanied by a string of ‘oh no’s. However, with big eyes and an unconscious pout like hers, disagreeing was hard. Hana felt a rush of nostalgia the second she sipped her chocolate bubble tea.

‘Gimme a sip of yours!’

‘No way! you have your own!’

‘Hyung! Hana won’t share her tea with me!’

‘Shut up you two I gotta study!’

‘Psht. Oppa’s always studying….’

‘Tch. Hyung you’re boring….’

Hana wondered how they looked like by now. It had been almost two years since she last saw them....

Lay glanced at her while sipping on his own mango tea. The sunlight hit her face and outlined her features. Her smile looked even brighter and with the effect of nature’s lighting, she looked way more beautiful than when he generally saw her. She looked his way and his heart skipped a beat. He suddenly felt the same warmth he felt before, and he realized that he felt this way every time he saw her smile or laugh or even look his way.

The convenience store was almost empty with occasional customers here and there. It was probably because of the minimal amount of people in the store that Lay had the wild idea of running around the store with the cart. With Hana in it. Despite her protests he convinced her that it wasn’t as bad of an idea as she was thinking. She’d get a ride, and he’d be able to get some exercise. So even though they had nothing to buy but a packet of cheese, they grabbed trolley, made Hana jump inside, and ran through every aisle. Hana was very much aware of the stares they were receiving but still couldn’t hold back the laughs and giggles because this was crazy and ridiculously fun. Lay chose to ignore the whispers, the only thing he focused on was the sound of Hana’s laughter and it was more than enough to act as his petrol to run longer.

The cashier judged them as they paid and walked out but they didn’t care, they had fun. Hana was glad the previous awkwardness between them had completely dissolved and Lay scolded himself for putting them in an awkward position in the first place but was more than glad to have made the decision of accepting Hana’s request to come along. Even if his decision was made in the state of ‘stupid’.

It had been almost forty five minutes since they had left the house, and the streets got busier. They walked side by side, just like usual. But Hana didn’t notice the group of high on life teenagers running towards them. Lay pulled her to his side and she grabbed his arm as she saw them running further away from them. Lay expected the pressure on his arm to disappear, but it didn’t. And he didn’t mind it either.

“How the heck did it take you guys an hour to get to a store that’s only ten minutes away?” Baekhyun asked, pretending to be irritated. Kyungsoo, who was busy in the kitchen, popped into the living room the second he heard Lay’s voice.

“Well….that was fast.” Kai lazily said as he eyed their interlocked arms from the sofa he was lying on. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo noticed it too, and mentally exchanged a high five because hell yeah their plan worked. Hana seemed to notice what they were looking at and immediately moved away while coughing awkwardly. The sudden distance made her miss the warmth she felt a while ago. Lay laughed awkwardly, why, no one knows, and shoved the blue plastic bag towards Kyungsoo.

“Here’s your cheese.”

“Oh…..is that why I sent you guys? Oh God. I’m sorry….. was cheese in the drawers. I just didn’t see.”

Lay and Hana stared at him in incredulity. The entire point of the trip was to get the damn cheese but here he was saying that it was already there. If they hadn’t had so much fun on the way, Lay would’ve probably strangled Kyungsoo by now. But instead he mentally thanked him, although he was a little annoyed.

“WHO WANTS KIMCHI SPAGHETTI?! ME!” Baekhyun screamed as he ran into the kitchen.

“Baekhyun! Wait! It’s still hot! You’ll bur-“

“OH MY GOD MY TONGUE!”

“-n…..yourself….never mind.” Kyungsoo asked the others to join him in the kitchen and fulfill their appetite. Hana followed behind, she felt stupid and shy for not noticing their interlocked arms, not to mention embarrassed that the others noticed it before her.

“So….you asked her yet?” Kai asked as he draped his arm across Lay’s neck.

“What?”

“You know…right?”

“Uh…..”

“O c’mon! You don’t know yet?! how can you- ugh God you’re so stupid.”

Lay watched Kai walk further away from him into the kitchen. Kai had a reputation of being….vague and different, and Lay was probably among the few people apart from his cousin to be able to make sense of his words. But this time, he was as clueless as a dim bulb. 

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exams are over :D BOOYAH!