“When the skies and the grounds were one legends, through their twelve forces, nurtured the tree of-HEY!” Baekhyun exclaimed when Jongdae pulled the paper away from him.

“Ain’t nobody got time for that.”

“But I need you guys to hear it!”

“WE HEARD THAT OVER 20 TIMES ALREADY!”

“Psht. Much exaggerated.”

“Actually,” Hana interrupted from where she was sitting next to Lay, “ we have. It’s great Baek I don’t see why you have to get us to confirm every time.” Baekhyun stared at her in disbelief.

“If you’ve heard it oh so many times then you must know the line that comes next.” He challenged and crossed his arms while Jongdae sighed.

“-through their twelve forces, nurtured the tree of life. An eye of red force created the evil which coveted the heart of tree of life, and the heart slowly grew dry. To tend and embrace the heart of tree of life, the legends hereby divide the tree in half and hide each side. Hence- you want me to continue?” Lay raised his brow and Baekhyun closed his gaping mouth and swallowed with a shake of his head. Lay triumphantly smiled and leaned back into his seat and grabbed Hana’s hand. Hana pinched his palm just for the heck of it and he looked at her with slit eyes. She on the other hand, innocently smiled and looked towards Jongdae who was shoving the sheet back into Baekhyun’s bag.

“Remind me why- no wait, HOW are you doing homework when our term ended already and school hasn’t even started yet?” Jongdae asked.

“It’s not homework idiot. I wrote this for fun and since it’s the first time I wrote, I want honest opinions.”

“It’s great Baek, trust me.”

“Yeah, we like it.” Lay added after Hana and they both nodded to support each other’s statements.

“Chill out bro, it’s good.” Jongdae patted his back but rather than looking satisfied, Baekhyun frowned deeper.

“But you guys are my friends! You’re supposed to say that!”

Jongdae groaned and looked away. Baekhyun was still silently sulking and Hana wanted to console him when she felt a tickle on her knee. Lay had left her hand and it was hovering over her knee with his fingers pinched together. She looked at him curiously, he was talking to Baekhyun and Jongdae but his fingers made contact with her knee and spread, making that area tickle. She giggled and their attention diverted to her.

“Why are you laughing?” Baekhyun looked genuinely curious and Jongdae gave her a questioning gaze too.

“Uh...I…” She was clueless about what she should say, Lay was trying his best not to let a snicker escape his lips and looked at Hana.

“Yeah Hana, why are you laughing?” He faked innocence and Hana cocked an eyebrow. He was smiling normally and if Hana didn’t know better, she’d be convinced he was seriously curious. She smiled and looked back at the waiting figures in front of her.

“I just imagined how Kyungsoo must be holding up between Sehun, Kai AND Chanyeol, all alone.” The excuse was worth a shot and luckily they bought it. She glared at Lay and he looked outside in attempts to hide his growing smile.

“At least Mr. Twelve Legends isn’t there to add to poor Soo’s torture.” Jongdae supplied and Baekhyun gaped at him.

“If my absence is good for him then yours must do wonders to his mental health.” He scoffed and Hana heaved a sigh as she watched them go on. They were all supposed to meet up at the café and then go to the nearby park. It wasn’t just them, their elders, meaning their brothers were supposed to join them too. Hana learnt that Minseok and Tao would be present too along with the others she met at the club that day. According to Lay this was their first outing in a really long time with the entire group present.

Luhan said he’d join them later so he let her go first. Kyungsoo volunteered to take care of the snacks and the others decided to help him out even with his vehement protests against the idea. The rations were split between Key and him, but Hana was still worried, working with those hooligans would definitely be hard. Baekhyun suddenly stood up, surprising her and Lay who was too busy coming with different ways to annoy her to pay attention to his friends.

“I’am going to march to Kyungsoo’s house right now and DEMAND that he let me help him. THEN I will show you how amazing I am!” He announced and left the café even with Jongdae yelling his name. Hana and Lay were trying to process what just happened when Jongdae stood up as well.

“You guys stay here, I’ll go get him. YA! BYUN BAEKHYUN!” he yelled one more time and ran after his quickly disappearing figure.

“Do you think it’s safe to let Jongdae go after him? What if they bump into Kyungsoo and the group and see the cake? Or even worse, bump into the cake….” Hana wondered, her voice becoming distant as she imagined the horror on Jongdae’s face, and the anger on Kyungsoo’s face if the cake was to actually fall.

“They’ve done this before don’t worry. Jongdae always manages to mix up his birthday with Key hyung’s, even if he does see it, they can cover it as it being hyung’s and not his.” Lay chuckled and Hana nodded with an ‘Oooooh’.

“Hey, when’s your birthday?” Lay suddenly asked, “What sort of a boyfriend am I?” he scolded himself and Hana chuckled.

“A very sweet one so shush. And my birthday….I can’t tell you.” She said and Lay looked at her slightly bewildered.

“Why not?”

“You’ll scold me.”

“Don’t tell me it passed already.” He narrowed his eyes and Hana inhaled.

“You remember when we went to the arcade?” she asked and he slowly nodded, wondering why she was bringing it up right now.

“Two days after that.” She looked away and held her breath as she waited for an outburst.  Two seconds of silence and Hana glanced at him to find a blank stare.

“How could you do that to me?” he deadpanned. Hana raised her hands defensively.

“Come on! It’s not that big of a deal-“

“How is your birthday not a big deal?”

“I haven’t celebrated my birthday since I was fifteen. It honestly doesn’t matter Lay.”

“How can you not celebrate your own birthday? And how can you not even tell us! Tell me! You could’ve told me at the arcade we could’ve celebrated together!” Lay argued and Hana sighed. Celebrating anything, even if it was her birthday, meant nothing to her anymore. Sehun and Luhan surprised her with a cake this year and Junmi made her favorites for dinner. It felt good, if she had to be honest, to celebrate again even if it was as low scale as that. But that was all she needed, a small gathering with her family. No one remembered her birthday anyways, and no one asked before either so she kept it that way. But now Lay was asking, and she felt bad for not telling him before because she could feel a hint of hurt in his voice.

“I’m sorry Lay. It’s just…ever since my parents died, it feels wrong. I feel like it’ll make me a bad daughter, celebrating my birthday when my parents are already dead.”

“Hana.” He called for her attention and gave her a stern look.

“I don’t think I have to say it out loud right? Judging from your expression you know what I’m thinking don’t you?” she looked away and stiffly nodded. But thinking like that wasn’t her fault. The year her parents died, and Junmi took in Hana, Sehun and Luhan prepared a small cake for her. Junmi made her cookies and they tried their best to cheer her up in those awful times. They didn’t do anything grand, just a small cake and some cookies. It did indeed cheer her up a little, but just as she was about to cross her knife through the layered cake, Youngmin grumbled how shameless she is.

“How can she be so shameless? Her parents died and she’s here celebrating? What kind of a daughter is she? Tch, no remorse at all”

She still remembered his words. That night she cried and begged God for forgiveness. She didn’t want her parents to see her from above and feel disappointed. She thought Youngmin was right. Lay tsk’d and grabbed her hand.

“Look at me.” he said and after pausing for a few seconds, she obliged.

“You won’t be a bad daughter just because you celebrate your birthday. I didn’t have the honor to meet your parents but do you think they’d be happy up there? When you’re wasting your birthday just so you don’t disappoint them? I think they’d want you to enjoy your life am I right?” Hana slowly nodded. He was right, her parents wouldn’t want that, but she still held on to her thoughts, it’ll take time for her to be completely over her previous mind set.

“Next year, we’ll celebrate together alright?”

“Ok.”

“By the way, what are you plans for university?”

“My dad always wanted me to major in music. That’s what I’ll do.”

“Do you want to do it?”

“Of course. It’s been my dream.” She chuckled as she remembered all the times she spent with her dad on the piano. Her mother would bring them cookies and milk while they were practicing, and her father would use those double chocolate chip cookies to bribe his daughter.

“I hope we get into the same university then.”

“Yeah that would be great…” Lay pulled her by hand so she was leaning on his shoulder and played with her hair. Hana was used to it now, the close proximity. It was during one of their sessions when she was explaining to Kris how she felt embarrassed every time she and Lay were close. The kiss made her avoid Lay for at least two days since she was too awkward around him after that. Lay became a little worried but gave her time and eventually she became normal again, after her session with Kris that is. He was professional; he didn’t poke any jokes or made her feel uncomfortable so she told him with ease. He said it was a natural reaction, especially if you’ve kept yourself isolated for so long without any close encounters. He made it clear for her. She was his girlfriend, he was her boyfriend, and they were dating. She should get used to it. And that’s what she did, so for the next two weeks after that session, she became a lot more comfortable with skinship, sometimes even being the one to initiate it.

“When are you going to Busan?” she asked and he exhaled.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

“It’s your soccer match.”

“Your aunt is the principal.” She leaned away from his shoulder to give him a look. He flashed an innocent smile and brought her back to his shoulder where he could feel her warmth.

“It’s supposed to be second week of next month.” He replied and Hana rose in surprise. The inter-city school soccer cup was approaching and Hana knew that, but she didn’t know it’d be so soon.

“But school’s starting then….you won’t be able to attend the classes….”

“I know.” he smiled. Hana shifted in her seat so she could completely face him and frowned.

“You’ll miss out on school work. And it’s the final term, wouldn’t it be hard?”

“I can handle it Hana. They got teachers there for us.”

“You’ll have to juggle practice and school?”

“Basically.” Hana’s frown deepened. His summer break was filled with practices already, and now he’d have to leave to soon. Hana knew how intense their practices were, she’d seen some of them until she decided not to visit anymore since it may distract him. He was tired, and now to think he’d have to do school work and practices was difficult for her to digest.

“Don’t worry Hana. I’m not the only one remember? There are thirteen other people with me.”

“But the exams-“

“We’ll get a break. The games will be put on hold until we are done with exams and then continue after, so there’s nothing to be worried about.”

“………next month’s too soon……”

Hana knew this year’s cup would be held outside Seoul. She knew their school was competing. She also knew that sooner or later, Lay would have to go somewhere away from Seoul for almost four months and she won’t be able to do anything about it. She didn’t expect that he’d have to leave so soon though. Almost two and a half months had passed since they began dating and those were the best days of her life. She finally had friends who trusted her, her cousins who meant the world to her were back, her therapy was going great and Junmi was on her road to recovery as well. Not to mention, Lay was more than what she could ask for in a boyfriend. Why he chose her when there were thousands of other choices was still unclear to her, but the fact that he did made her feel extremely lucky.

“I know it is but hey, at least I’ll get to celebrate my birthday with you.” He tried cheering her up and although Hana was still gloomy because of the revelation, she did find that to be the silver lining.

“You’re right….” she sighed and laced their hands. How warm it felt, to have his hand fit perfectly in hers. Lay had his back leaning against the window and his body facing hers while she was facing him. They sat like that for a while, no words exchanged, just presence was enough. Hana thought about how she’d be able to cope without him there for the next months. They may have been officially dating since two and a half months, but they had been friends for almost eight months now, moreover had feelings for each other for almost six of those months. To say Hana was used to him would be the truest statement of the day. Especially after being completely isolated from the world for two whole years, having a rainbow burst through the dark clouds was a blessing for her in itself.

“What do you want for your birthday?” she asked as she played with his hand. She thought he had pretty fingers ever since she saw him play the piano, back then she had to hold her urge to hold them, but now she had the license to.

“I think I got you as an early birthday present so I’m good.”

“Getting greasy are we?” She asked with a look and he laughed.

“Lay, I’m serious.”

“Honestly Hana I don’t need anything.” He said making Hana cry in frustration. He ruffled her hair to distract her from the topic but failed.

“You really wanna know what I want?” he asked and she nodded eagerly. He looked around to see if anyone would hear him and Hana mimicked his movement, confused as to what he was doing. He ushered her closer with his free hand and Hana looked at him suspiciously before slowly leaning in. She wasn’t close enough so he asked her to come nearer until he could easily whisper in her ear. Hana listened intently.

“There’s this really cool thing, in order to get it you have to-“ He cut his sentence and suddenly pecked her lips and immediately pulled away. Hana jumped back in surprise and held her hand to with wide eyes, still not clearly sure what happened.

“-in order to get it you have to have a girlfriend as beautiful as mine and then trick her into this.” He finished and laughed at Hana’s expression.

“LAY!” she shouted and he laughed harder. Hana continued burning holes in his face but being mad at him for long was hard since his laugh was literally infectious. She scolded herself when she caught a smile on her lips and tried to remain as stoic as possible.

“Oh c’mon, I know you’re not mad at me.” he squeezed her hand and Hana gave in with a smile. This guy knew how to deal with her. He pulled her back into their previous position when Kyungsoo and the group came into the café. Han straightened back into her seat, much to Lay’s disappointment, and soon sounds of chairs screeching and chatters filled the air. Kyungsoo carefully placed the huge basket next to the window so it’d be safe and allowed his aggression to take over as he almost slammed the other two smaller baskets on the table, making Hana and Lay flinch a little.

“Who allowed these two punks to come after me? Wasn’t having these three idiots with me enough of a punishment?” he seethed pointing back with his thumbs. Sehun and Kai were trying to break Baekhyun and Jongdae from their ongoing argument. Chanyeol was standing between them, hopelessly trying to get them to calm down and Hana suddenly felt bad for making that excuse. Kyungsoo heavily sighed and stomped towards them, successfully pulling Baekhyun from the collar and ending the ruckus.

“It’s all your fault they’re fighting you know.” Lay whispered into her ear as his gaze was locked on his friends and gave an amused smile. She bumped her shoulder into his chest and looked at him accusingly.

“It’s your fault too, if you hadn’t tickled me I wouldn’t have had to make that excuse.” She whispered back and glanced at him. What was supposed to be a short look turned into a stare when her eyes locked with his. It was more like a staring contest since none of them blinked. A smile formed on his face and the tips of her lips pushed upwards a little.

“Concentrate.” She said and used her hand to push his face back towards the scene in front of them. Baekhyun sat opposite Hana while adjusting his hoodie and grumbling. He stopped instantly when he saw Kyungsoo shooting him a glare. Kyungsoo sat down in front of Lay while the others sat down wherever they found a vacant seat. Sehun sat beside Hana and she gave him a questioning gaze.

“He almost saw the cake. Me and Kai were looking at it on our way here when they suddenly popped up. Chanyeol luckily shielded us but Kyungsoo’s majorly pissed at all of us. Me and Kai cuz he told us not to look but we still did, at Baekhyun cuz he was the reason Jongdae was there….i’m not sure why he’s pissed at Chanyeol though.”

“Kyungsoo takes birthdays very seriously.” Kai interjected. Hana nodded and peeked at Kyungsoo who Lay and Chanyeol were trying to pacify. Baekhyun and Jongdae were already on talking terms despite having an argument merely a few seconds ago. They were trying to figure out who funded Phineas and Ferb’s endeavors while their parents were clueless and Hana seriously wondered what went on in their heads.

Soon Lay got a text from Kris that he and his group were at the park already. They picked up their belongings and moved out. Chanyeol volunteered to carry one basket and Baekhyun held the other as they conversed. Kai was discussing online gaming with Jongdae and Sehun was explaining the events that pissed Kyungsoo off to Lay.

Hana and Kyungsoo walked side by side. Kyungsoo insisted that he should be the one to hold the biggest basket since it included the cake. The others were deemed too stupid to handle such a task and Hana was turned down since he thought letting her carry it would be ‘insensitive’ of him. He was still a little angry and Hana wondered how he’d react if she told him her birthday passed already. She decided that would be better informed later, right now they needed everyone to be in a good mood. She struck a random conversation about the recipes he knew and it escalated quickly. His mood was instantly better and Hana couldn’t understand some of his culinary terms, but if talking like that made him feel better then she was all up for it.

“How do we know where they are?” Sehun wondered out loud.

“Just look for a group of guys with clashing personalities and we shall be good” Jongdae answered making Sehun even more confused. A soccer ball came flying in their direction and Kai jumped away startled. Lay blocked it from hitting Baekhyun’s precious shin and kicked it back towards his brother on the other side of the park.

“Found them.”

The first thing Jongdae did was run into Key and gave him a bear hug while screaming ‘Happy birthday!”. Key responded like he would and the others shook their heads at Jongdae’s stupidity. They welcomed the group and Hana felt a little awkward being the only girl in a group of sixteen guys. Luhan was there too, he had met Minseok, Suho, Lay and obviously Kris, before but the others were all new faces to him. With Tao and the others he was a little familiar now but the rest of Hana’s group was still unknown to him. He met Baekhyun with a warm handshake and gave him more attention than he gave the others. He was the one who knew about Hana’s condition and took care of her when he couldn’t so he wanted to make sure his gratitude would be put through properly. Lay received a formal shake from his though, making him wonder why he only received a ‘Hello’ and a shake while Baekhyun got a ‘It’s so good to finally meet you’ and a shake that lasted fifteen seconds.

Taemin jumped behind Hana and she almost yelped.  He met her with a smile and she returned the gesture. Onew came, and then Jonghyun with Key, they met her with knowing smiles and then boasted how it was their café where their relationship began. Minho was absent and Hana wondered where he was. They all settled down, Hana between Luhan and Sehun while Lay had to sit across her with Onew and Kai on his sides. Their group was probably noisier than the kids. Taemin’s phone buzzed and Hana saw Kai peeking into his screen. They both had wide smiles stretch instantly on their faces and Taemin signaled Jonghyun about something since he nodded and whispered something to Key. A short lived automated sound suddenly resonated form next to Kris and Suho shoved his hand in his pocket.

“Jongdae! Let’s go get ice creams!” Suho suddenly shouted and Jongdae looked rather surprised. He went still, and grabbed Baekhyun as well since handling so many ice creams would be difficult. They went and the second they left Taemin jumped.

“Guys Minho is on his way! He’s getting the other basket so quick! Prepare everything while Suho hyung and Baekhyun stall him!” They immediately left their spots and began scrambling here and there. Kyungsoo shielded the cake with his life and glared at everyone who came close to him. Hana and Lay quickly took out the utensils and divided them among each other. Taemin, Kai and Sehun were keeping a look out and Onew, Key and Jonghyun disappeared into the direction where Minho was supposed to come from. Tao and Minseok laid the blanket, Chanyeol put the food on display and Luhan helped. Minho and the group came running with several bags. Minho hurriedly greeted all of them and distributed the hats and glasses among them. The rest of the decorations were supposed to go around the cake. Kyungsoo brought it out God did that cake look good. It was a two tier cake, not that tall but it looked elegant still. One could tell just by one look how many packets of whipped cream were used on this. There were peppero sticks on the sides creating a sort of fence. The plain area was cut off, leaving only the coated part to create the chocolate fence. The top area was filled with deep red strawberries. It was a simple cake, but the juicy looking strawberries, the glistening whipped cream and the chocolaty fence made it look extremely desirable. He carefully placed it right in the middle of the blanket and Minho bombarded the surrounding space with random decoration. The food was all set, the cake was set, and now all they had to do was wait.

“Before I shove soil up your noses, both of you please SHUT UP.” Suho was heard exclaiming and their ears perked up. Everybody stood in front of the cake, covering it from their sight and saw Suho walking ahead of Jongdae and Baekhyun with a displeased expression and no ice creams. He saw their bright expressions and his mood slightly lifted as he considered the upcoming event.

“Why are you guys standing like that?” Jongdae asked after his laughter subsided. Baekhyun sprinted and squeezed himself between Hana and Kyungsoo.

“Jongdae, what day is it today?” Key asked with a cheeky grin.

“It’s Sunday, and your birthday hyung!” he brightly replied and some of them snickered.

“This idiot,” Hana heard Lay next to her snicker and she broke into a smile.

They all exchanged looks, and upon Kris’s command, they split and divided into two groups.

“SURPRISE!”

The moved away and Jongdae could see the cake and the food. He excitedly strode towards it.

“HYUNG LOOK! A cake for your birthday!” he beamed and Chanyeol wacked him in the head.

“It’s yours you nut.” Chanyeol grumbled and Jongdae’s eyes slightly widened as he realized that , he mixed his birthday again. After singing the birthday song and cutting the cake, they gave him gifts after which they began with their random shenanigans again. Soccer playing was suggested by Minho and they divided into teams. Hana was surprised that even after being surrounded by soccer the entire summer and literally having practices every day, Lay was still excited to play.  The team was divided into nine players each. Sehun, Chanyeol, Lay, Taemin, Key, Minho, Kris, Jongdae and Suho were in one team while the other team had the remaining players. Hana liked soccer yes, but she only liked watching it. Playing it was not a part of her ‘things I like’ list. Luhan was extremely jumpy, it had been a while since he played and his eyes were twinkling. Hana saw Lay smirk in her direction and she wanted so badly to wipe that mocking smile off his face. Tao and Kyungsoo were competent players but Minseok was a monster. Seems like Luhan would have a suitable teammate. Kai and Taemin were challenging each other from a distance when their leaders pulled them in to form strategies.

Two minutes had passed since the game began and the score was neck to neck. The score was 2-2 and Hana wanted to hit Lay really really hard. She , she knows, why that twit has to remind her every time he passed? Luhan literally let out the beast, he was practically everywhere on their impromptu field. It was only Minho, Luhan, Lay and Minseok playing seriously. The rest were just running around and trying to make proper passes. Sehun and Jongdae were goalies but they were relaxed most of the time since the ball never reached the goal post, someone would always steal it and kick it away. There was this one time when Hana somehow ended up with the ball, she almost kicked it to Luhan when suddenly a brat crossed her path and stole it away.

“Too slow” he said and ran away. If Hana didn’t like him, she would’ve probably hit him already. Onew and Suho suggested Hana to rest, Suho was panting hard while Onew’s breathing was just a little above normal. Probably since he was the goalie and wasn’t running around much. Luhan assured her he’d fill in her position, there was nothing to fill as she wasn’t doing anything to begin with. She went a little away from where they were playing to rest and so the ball won’t come flying to her face.

Lay noticed her leaving and stopped playing. He was worried something may have happened to her. She didn’t look in his direction and her expression wasn’t good so he panicked more. He ran towards but stopped mid way when she looked up at him. Hana saw him away from his team. Why wasn’t he playing when the match was clearly still going, she wondered. She was still annoyed so she glared at him with narrowed eyes and he raised a brow inquisitively, was he the reason she left the game? He ran towards her still and squat in front of her to look at her face. She looked away at first, but when she heard how worried he was she gave in.

“I’m just a little out of breath that’s all. Onew and Suho suggested I sit out from rest of the game.”

“Yeah do that. I thought maybe it was something I accidentally did that you left suddenly.” He sighed in relief and smiled. Hana melted every time she saw that dimpled smile of his.

“I’ll be fine. Go get your kicked by my awesome cousin.” She shooed him, the last part made him scoff.

“Yeah right, desperate to get rid of me?”

“No. I want you to stay,” she confessed and Lay felt a rocket burst in his chest. He honestly would’ve stayed but Hana continued and provided a reason he couldn’t simply ignore, “but if you don’t go now then Chanyeol will want to pass the ball to Baekhyun but unintentionally pass it to Kai who is right behind him. And then Kai will pass it to Luhan and then our team will have another goal.” Lay looked behind and saw that Chanyeol was actually struggling with the ball and his eyes were set on Baekhyun. Kai was right behind him too. He looked back and forth between Hana and the field. She pushed him to go so he stood up and ran back but not before pecking her cheek.

It was not even ten minutes later than Baekhyun ran towards her direction, huffing and sweating like crazy. He collapsed next to her and she threw him a cold water bottle. He thanked her and gulped it down wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he settled next to her.

“Done playing?”

“Those guys are crazy! How can they even run around that much? I’m so done already.” He complained and Hana chuckled. The formation was equal now, there was one person missing from each team.

“How’s it going with Lay? I see you guys get all chummy more often now.” He cheekily grinned and Hana smiled out of embarrassment and hid her face.

“Shut up or I’ll hit you.” She threatened and he laughed. Lay glanced in their direction and saw them together. They were best friends and Baekhyun already made it clear to him already that Hana was just a friend to him. Lay thought that maybe it was natural jealousy that came with the girlfriend package. He tried not to think too much and focused on the game again. Kyungsoo was the second to plop next to Hana. She gave him a bottle and saw him pour the rest of it on his head.

“Damn your cousin is good. I knew about Minseok hyung but Luhan hyung is too good.”

“You guys are on ‘hyung’ basis already?” she asked and Kyungsoo nodded.

“He told us we could call him that.” Baekhyun said and Kyungsoo nodded.

“He’s so nice and friendly, I see humble genes run in your family.”

“In that case I think Sehun’s adopted.” Baekhyun added to Kyungsoo’s statement earning him a hit from Hana and laughter from Kyungsoo.

“Hanster, you know Lay’s leaving for Busan soon right?”

“Yeah…”

“Awww look how sad she is,” Kyungsoo cooed and squeezed her cheeks, “don’t worry darling we’ll take care of you.” She slapped his hands away and looked at him weirdly causing him to chuckle.

“He’ll be gone for almost the entire semester. You sure you’ll be fine?” Baekhyun asked, his voice had a hint of worry in it and Hana knew why.

“I’ll be fine Baek. I still have you guys right?” She smiled to assure him and Baekhyun smiled back.

“Hell yea! Who needs a lame boyfriend when you have two uber awesome friends like us! Right Hana?” Kyungsoo said as he laid an arm across her shoulder and gave his heart shaped smile.

“Right!” she beamed and high fived Baekhyun. She’ll be fine. It’s not like he was going forever. He’ll come back….unlike her parents…so she was satisfied.

“I’m surprised Jongdae hasn’t died yet.” Kyungsoo said as his eyes followed his breathless friend running with the ball.

“We should do this cheerleader type routine to cheer them on! WE CAN DANCE TO GENIE!” Baekhyun enthusiastically suggested but faltered when he heard two loud ‘NO’s.

“Speaking of cheerleaders, there’s always a cheerleading squad with every team you know. Hana you think you can handle it? Having your Lay away from you in a place with and entire group of pretty girls?” Baekhyun teased and wriggled his eyebrows.

“You idiot are you crazy? What the hell are you saying?” Kyungsoo protested and Baekhyun shrugged.

“Just saying.”

“I know he won’t do that to me.” Hana confidently said, making both males look up. She was smiling as she followed her boyfriend’s figure trying to steal the ball from Jonghyun. He was concentrating so hard and his serious expression made him look a little edgy. She liked it.

“He had so much time to go for someone else. I didn’t even talk for six months but he still waited. He could’ve moved to someone else, but even with all that he still selected me. I don’t think he’d dump me for a cheerleader when he could’ve dated one when we weren’t even together.”

Kyungsoo had a proud smile on his face and Baekhyun’s was more of a relieved one. He was worried this factor may disrupt her recovery, that maybe she’d become insecure or something and it will become a hindrance. If that were to happen, he wanted to know and inform Kris just as a heads up.

“You trust him that much? In just a few months?” Baekhyhun probed and Hana chuckled.

“He hasn’t given me a reason not to trust him. We’ve been dating for two but our friendship is almost nine months long. Throughout he’s been loyal and besides, you guys are his friends, you trust him, I don’t see why I shouldn’t.”

“That’s our Hana, the only level headed girl I know.” Kyungsoo patted her head and smiled.

The game ended and everyone came back. Lay and Luhan had a one on one at the end to decide the winning team but it still ended in a tie so they let it be. Hana saw Luhan conversing with Lay a lot more after the game. Seems like soccer brought them closer. They wished Jongdae one more time before everybody dispersed. The club house gang went together and the others left in groups of two. Suho congratulated Hana and Lay for finally getting together and left with Baekhyun. Kyungsoo and Kai left with Minseok and Tao. Luhan and Kris left since they made plans for later so they left as well. Sehun and Chanyeol volunteered to help Jongdae carry the gifts and cake to his house so the only ones left were Hana and Lay.

“This is the first time I had competition other than Minseok hyung and Minho. Damn your cousin’s good.” They were walking hand in hand on the street. They decided to hang about aimlessly for a while before he dropped Hana home

“He’s a soccer freak. I’m pretty sure if he wasn’t a lawyer he would’ve joined the national team or something.”

“I know right. He must have had a lot of girls after him in high school.”

“He did,” Hana chuckled at the memory, “they were so hard to deal with. Me and Sehun always had issues. Especially me, they would always glare at me.” she shook her head as she remembered those nasty stares she got from his fan girls.

“How about you? Don’t you have a lot of girls drooling over you?” Hana asked. Lay gave her a weird look and shook his head at her question.

“There were some but I didn’t pay much attention.” He truthfully admitted and Hana raised her brows.

“Then how come you paid attention to me?”

“You attracted it.”

“And how exactly was that?” she questioned and Lay bit his lip at her question.

“How do I put this….” he wondered and continued after searching for the right words.

“You…didn’t make me notice you by flaunting anything. In fact you didn’t even notice me noticing you. At first it was just plain curiosity that attracted me. I was honestly kind of happy when Principal Kim told us we’d be working with you. I was looking forward to it. You never called for my attention, it happened unintentionally.” He shrugged and let go of her hand to hold her by the waist.

“It’s weird honestly. I never imagined I’d look desperately for a girl I only saw once through a window. But I did. Aren’t I lucky I found you?” Lay beamed and Hana felt blood rushing ro her cheeks.

“I’m the lucky one.” She mumbled and leaned her head on his shoulder. They were on their way to get ice cream when suddenly Hana heard the most unexpected person call her.

“Oh my God Hana! What are you doing here?” Yuri exclaimed and Hana grew severely confused. Yuri never bothered to spare her a look but now she was being all friendly, what the heck is going on? Lay glanced questioningly at Hana and looked back at Yuri. He had talked to her before and it wasn’t very pleasant. He wasn’t experienced in dating but he knew when someone was flirting and she most definitely was.

“Yuri….?” It felt odd to have her name roll off Hana’s tongue after so long.

“I can’t believe it! What brings you here? Wait let me guess~ You came for ice cream right?” she was beaming and Hana was about to get a headache from her new behavior. She was pretending like nothing ever happened between them, and that they were still the best of friends.

“Yeah but….Yuri what-“

“Oh and Lay! So good to see you again! I haven’t seen you since the last day of school!” Yuri placed a hand on his shoulder and he felt a little uncomfortable. He still smiled politely though. Hana was a little irritated by the touch but she didn’t let it bother her much. Right now she just wanted to know what the hell was going on.

“You wouldn’t mind if I join you for ice cream right? All my friends ditched the last minute…” Yuri pouted and Hana had a hunch what was about to happen. She knew the girl too well to not know. Lay glanced at Hana to check with her but she was too busy trying to wrap her head around the situation. Yuri was waiting for their answer with the brightest expression Hana had ever seen on her since three years ago.  Lay shrugged in response and Yuri took that as a yes. So while they sat in the busy parlor waiting for their ice cream, Yuri struck a conversation.

“So are you guys dating?” that was the first question she asked and Lay nodded without hesitation. Hana was too stunned, she didn’t want to speak.

“Oh really? How long has it been?” no congratulations, Hana saw that coming. Lay glanced back at Hana.

“Three months almost.” Lay answered again. Yuri made an ‘o’ of her lips and nodded.

“How come you didn’t tell me Hana? I thought we were best friends?” Hana’s eyes widened slightly at her question. Well excuse you. Lay glanced questioningly at Hana. He knew Hana knew Yuri, but he didn’t figure she’d be her best friend, or ex best friend for that matter.

“I…uh…”

“I understand why you didn’t tell me though. I wouldn’t either if I did what you did to me.” her words stabbed the sensitive area of Hana’s heart and tears immediately stung her eyes. Why was she doing this? When she hadn’t even heard her side of the story?

“Yuri we need to talk.”

“Oh I’m not sure if I want to. Besides, my order is here.” A waitress placed their orders in front of them and Yuri paid enough for all three of them.

“My treat.” She smiled and left with her ice cream leaving Hana in turmoil of emotions. She was hurt, sad, angry, guilty, all at the same time. Lay grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

“What was that all about?” he asked but then he saw the crestfallen expression and the threatening tears. He didn’t push it further and took her out of the parlor with their order. Hana became quiet after that. She didn’t even eat much of her ice cream. Lay wanted to know what Yuri meant but that wasn’t important right now. They were almost at her house and Lay wanted to leave with a smiling Hana.

“If you don’t eat your ice cream, I will.” She silently pushed it in his direction. Lay pushed it back to her and made her stop. He looked worried but Hana couldn’t help herself. She didn’t want a misconception from her past ruin her perfect present and possible future.

“Lay…do you trust me?” she asked in a low voice and his brows knit together. He wondered why she’d bring up such a question.

“Of course I do.” He nodded without hesitation and stepped closer so he could look at her face. Her nose was slightly red and her eyes were still a little glassy.

“You’ll believe me no matter what right?” she asked and he stared into her eyes for any clues as to why she’s behaving this way. The only thing he saw was fear and a reflection of hurt. He nodded again.

“Promise? Promise that if anything unfortunate ever happens, you’ll allow me to explain and listen to my side of the story as well?” He was confused why she’d ask something like that, maybe it had something to do with Yuri but he wasn’t sure. Did their friendship break because of a misunderstanding?

“I promise.” He said and Hana pulled him for a hug. He hugged her tight, ensuring her he was there for her, “I’ll be there whenever you need me ok? Don’t worry.” He pulled back and pecked her forehead. Hana smiled with what he said. He interlaced their fingers and continued their way; Hana finally her ice cream.

“You and Yuri were friends?” he asked and took a bite of his strawberry ice cream.

“Best friends actually…..not anymore though.” She answered and he nodded.

“I’ll tell you the reason some other time…..I don’t really like talking about it.” she added later and Lay didn’t probe further. He saw Hana’s face contort after she her ice cream. Yuri accidentally, or on purpose, took Hana’s cone, and Hana absentmindedly grabbed the lemon one Yuri had originally ordered.

“You don’t like your ice cream?”

“Uh….not really. I guess I accidentally grabbed hers instead of mine.” She explained and he nodded.

“Wanna switch?”

“No it’s fine.”

“Want to try mine?” he offered. She stared at the tiny pink mountain and took a small bite. It was sweet and obviously, tasted like strawberry.

“Aaa~ it’s so sweet. And fruity!” she smiled and Lay chuckled.

“See your boyfriend has such good taste.” He teased and Hana scoffed.

“Yeah, right.” Hana rolled her eyes and took a huge bite of her ice cream. The bigger bites she takes, the sooner she finishes it.

“Gimme a taste of yours.” He gestured for her to bring her cone closer. She brought her cone closer to him, lesser lemon for her to eat now. Her eyes went huge when she saw the size of his bite. She wanted less lemon, but she still wanted some ice cream.. Hana was still gaping at him when he leaned away.

“It’s a bit too sour if you ask me.” he commented after tasting it and Hana hit him hard on the arm.

“Ouch! What?!”

“How can you do that?!”

"Do what?"

“Do you see the size of your bite?!"

“Oh cmon! I helped you out!”

“Lay!”

“Fine fine, I'll make amends.Hana I’m about to take away the rest of your cone.” He announced and snatched her cone. Her surprise lasted only for a few seconds and he immediately ran away leaving Hana unsure of whawt just happened.

“Race you ‘til the lamp post!” he shouted and Hana became alert with the sudden challenge.

“Hey! No fair! I wasn’t ready!” She shouted as she ran after him. Even though he clearly had the advantage of a head start and Hana would surely lose even if he didn’t, she was still laughing. Lay succeeded in his task, to make Hana smile before he left for his house.

-

i completely understand if you guys want to punch me for not updating for so long. i just started university....i'll try to be quick from now on so....hehe 

longer chapter because i felt like a jerk.