Is it safe to tell you everything?

"You add the eggs last and don't forget the milk." Kyungsoo reminded with arms crossed as he watched Rina fumble around clumsily in the kitchen with hawk's eyes. Jiyoon begged him for almost an hour before he finally relented to her pleas of helping Rina out. Kyungsoo wasn't surprise that she wasn't good in the kitchen since she was a young heiress who probably never stepped in the kitchen. He spent most of the time guiding her through the right steps trying to stop her from randomly adding a bunch of ingredients and ruin the strawberry shortcake.

"Okay, what's next?" Rina chirped, looking at Kyungsoo with bright eyes. Her unnie hasn't failed her and here she was, in the EXO's dorm with Kyungsoo coaching her. It was a dream come true, worth the efforts she put in for her unnie's race.

"Then you hit this-" Kyungsoo pushed himself off the counter and pressed a tiny grey button. The stand mixer came to live and started to churn and beat the batter that smelled of vanilla.

Rina blushed at their proximity but it only lasted a few seconds before Kyungsoo stepped backwards again. She coughed lightly, muttering a 'thank you' only to earn a nod from Kyungsoo. She always wondered how it would be like to look at him from upclose instead of being across the dormitory buildings or far away hiding behind Junhee. Though he didn't speak much except instruct her to do this and that, it was more than enough.

"D.O oppa-"

"I was wondering," Kyungsoo cut her off. "Why do you call me D.O?"

"Because of that bracelet." she answered truthfully, even pointing at the silver band clasped around his wrist to emphasize her point. "Don't you remember me? You used to deliver milk to my house. You dropped the bracelet once and I picked it up, I didn't know your name at that point in time so..."

"Mhm." he pressed the button again to stop the machine and dipped his finger into the batter, tasting it. They were engulfed in silence as Rina watched him attentively, from transferring the batter to the baking pan and shifting it into the oven. There was a slight uneasiness on Rina's part because it was obvious how unfluid Kyungsoo's movements were and there was a small wasteful drop of batter on the marble top. He never wasted batter in his culinary club and had always been emphasizing that. He was lost in his thoughts, she could tell.

"Rina." he called, snapping her out of her thoughts. He turned towards her in all seriousness, removing his blue apron that revealed the black sweater he was wearing. 

She gulped, but replied him nonetheless. "Yes?"

"How old are you again?"

"Sixteen."

"That's awfully young-" Kyungsoo sighed. "You see, I don't think you should be spending so much time on me."

"Huh?" Rina blurted in surprise.

"I see flashlights from Treetop sometimes." he said, pointing to their balcony. "And I'm seeing you more than I should considering the fact that you are a year one. I'm not a really nice person and I don't deserve your liking for me."

"I-" her black orbs wavered slightly, part ashamed from being found out and the other of what Kyungsoo was about to say.

"Study hard and spend more time with family when you have the time. Make more friends."

"But they don't like me... and I-" her voice softened to a whisper and she looked down on her feet, unable to meet him in the eyes.

"Find people who do. I'm sure they are around somewhere and you haven't found them yet. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"I want to be like you!" 

He froze, dropping his handwhip. "You don't want to be like me."

"You don't want to see all the things I've seen."

"You said something?" Rina bent down to pick up his handwhip feeling strange because he usually didn't make such mistakes.

He spun around and patted her head affectionately which made her head lower further in embarrassment. "I said you can come over sometime and I can teach you how to cook."

She looked up at him with expectant eyes, "Really?" 

"Provided that you stop those little antics of yours." he frowned.

"Yes! Yes of course! Promise?"

Kyungsoo slowly grew fonder of this girl though he still found her rather spoilt. His heart-shaped lips tilted upwards at the tiny girl that didn't reach his shoulders. "Promise."

"Can I continue calling you D.O oppa then?"

"If you like."
 

"What's your favourite colour?

"Favourite food?"

"Any sports- oh wait you don't play sports."

"Anything besides culinary?"

"Which university are you planning to go? Course of study?"

"Best friend? Please don't tell me it's Chanyeol."

"Are you really on a scholarship?"

"Do you have any pets?"

"We used to own a farm in the suburbs of Seoul." he patiently answered all the questions she shot at him. "It was a tiny town and there were less than ten households. The church was where all our lessons are held and our Father was our teacher. The farm my family owned was huge. We had cows, sheep and chicken. The green fields behind went on and on, you can't even see the end of it. After school I'd spend most of the time playing on the empty fields, picking dandelions and hot afternoons rolling on the cooling grass. Back in those days, it was really fun."

Rina listened attentively and took in each and every word Kyungsoo uttered, trying to imagine how it would be like to see him playing in the fields, living the life the carefree life of a farmer's child. Speaking of his childhood memories made him brighten up and he spoke more unlike the short answers he gave previously.

"Where is it now? Can I visit it someday?"

It was evident to her that she asked the wrong question. His eyes darkened and he turn away from her, checking on the strawberry shortcake. The cake was a fluffy golden brown and Kyungsoo sliced the cake into two expertly, smoothing whipped cream and strawberries on it before putting on the top layer. Rina bit her lips anxiously, thinking that she might have made him angry and she didn't want things to go back to the way they were, when he ignored her.

"It's gone."

"Gone?" Rina asked carefully.

"It was sold."

"Oh." she heaved a sigh of relief. That must be the reason why he was here in Seoul instead of the suburbs. "Then are you going to Chanyeol's birthday party?"

His ears perked at the last sentence and he followed her gaze to the white invitation card pinned on the refrigerator by a magnet. It was intricate with gold designs and black bold wordings stating the date and venue of the party, inviting all his beloved friends as mentioned. "Maybe."

"Then I'll be going as well-"

"Don't go."

Rina frowned in confusion, "Why?"

"I don't want to see you there." he blurted.

He spun around, missing the look of disappointment on Rina's face as she muttered a tiny 'oh'. She thought things were changing for the better but he still hated to have her around. She always knew that Kyungsoo was some