“I’m really fine being on my own, JongIn. I don’t want to bother you or your friends. What would they say if I’m there all of a sudden? An outsider, in fact.” ByulHee asked while following JongIn to the cafeteria, her hand held by the boy. JongIn was practically dragging her along, as he knew that ByulHee would surely try to run away. Ever since he told her that she must join him and his friends during break earlier, ByulHee tried to give as many excuses as she could.

But of course, JongIn will not take ‘no’ as an answer.

“And I’m telling you again, they will not mind at all. Why are you so worked up about this? Chill, Sunshine. They’re a nice bunch of lads, I promise. Besides, you would want to meet my friend SeHun too, right?” JongIn teased and ByulHee shot daggers at him.

“I did not say that!” The girl protested as a rosy scarlet color spread over her cheeks.

JongIn chortled upon seeing her embarrassed face. “Okay, okay I’m sorry. But really, ByulHee, don’t worry so much about them. In fact, they’re keen to meet you too.” He guaranteed.

ByulHee raised her eyebrow in interest and asked, “Really? Why would they be keen to meet me? They don’t even know me.”

JongIn turned to her with a beam on his face as he answered, “Well, let’s just say that this is the first time I’m introducing my classmate to them. I’ve never brought any of my classmates or other friends to meet them before. Out of the six of us, I’m the only one who hasn’t had any other friends besides the five of them.”

They now reached the cafeteria and as much as ByulHee wanted to ask him more about his previous statements, she didn’t get the chance to do so. They entered the cafeteria and JongIn did a quick scan around the cafeteria for about five seconds before he found his friends.

Still with his hand holding ByulHee’s, JongIn led ByulHee to his friends’ usual table, which was on the other side of the cafeteria next to a large window. Even from afar, ByulHee could feel five pairs of eyes staring at her with both interest and question. She tried to hide herself behind JongIn’s tall frame but of course, JongIn knew what she was trying to do.

Upon reaching the table, five boys of her age greeted her with whole-hearted and genuine smiles, and it seemed that they were expecting her. ByulHee stood timidly beside JongIn and tried her best to return the smile too. She could somehow feel that they were sincerely smiling at her, and it appeared that none of them was feigning it. Maybe it was a bit too early for her to say that, but since JongIn said they were all nice, then they were.

And they’re all boys, ByulHee thought to herself. Being the only girl at the table did make her feel self-conscious. She wondered whether she could get along with them, and maybe she could if they shared the same interest. But it was quite a rare thing for a girl to like the same things as boys.

JongIn grabbed her a chair and ByulHee ended up sitting next to him, with another boy on her left. All of them started moving closer to one another to make space for the newcomer, and deep down inside ByulHee hoped that they wouldn’t think of her as a bother, since space was now limited for a table of seven compared to six.

“So guys, before we go and get our food let me make a quick introduction for my friend here. Her name’s ByulHee, and she’s new here. She’s also my classmate and seatmate, like I told you before.” JongIn said and the others nodded their heads, saying hello to her with a smile. Then, two of JongIn’s friends stood up and followed JongIn to get their meals, saying that it was their turn and leaving ByulHee with the others.

ByulHee’s eyes followed the three of them and her heart screamed. Why did you leave me alone with your friends here?!

To be honest, she couldn’t help but to feel awkward around JongIn’s friends all by herself. She didn’t know whether she should say something to start a conversation or not or maybe introduce herself again. But would his friends even be interested to know?

Before her were three other boys, and while ByulHee was contemplating with herself, one of the boys spoke, “So, ByulHee right?” Hearing her name, ByulHee nodded her head at the boy in front of her. He looked a bit mature compared to the others and had a very friendly smile on his face. Well, in fact, all of them did.

“My name is JunMyeon.” The boy said and held his hand out for a shake. ByulHee stared at his hand for about four seconds before slowly shaking it. “It’s nice to meet you.” ByulHee said, earning another smile from JunMyeon.

Then, the boy on JunMyeon’s right, whom ByulHee noticed had been staring at her as if she was a unique specimen, quickly reached for her other hand and started shaking it excitedly. “And I’m Park ChanYeol at your service! It’s nice to meet JongIn’s friend for the first time! I’m sure all of us can get along well!”

ByulHee blinked at ChanYeol’s enthusiasm and couldn’t help but to smile. He was taller than JunMyeon -and ByulHee wondered how tall would he be if they stood side by side- and he had a very wide smile on his face, which made him look like a small child himself. It was contagious; ByulHee had to admit and by one look at Park ChanYeol somehow told ByulHee that he was a ray of sunshine.

“ChanYeol ah, you’re going to break her hand if you don’t stop shaking it.” The boy on JunMyeon’s left then said. ByulHee didn’t even realize that ChanYeol was still shaking her hand, had the other boy not mentioning it.

ChanYeol then let go of her hand with a sheepish grin, which ByulHee noticed was on his face all the time. Her attention then turned to the lad who spoke earlier, who without wasting any time introduced himself as well.

“Name’s BaekHyun.” He said shortly, face void of any emotion for a moment while holding out a fist at her. ByulHee looked at it in confusion, wondering what BaekHyun was trying to do and she heard a chuckle from JunMyeon. “You’re supposed to bump it, ByulHee.” He offered. “BaekHyun here always likes to bump his fist with other people. His way of saying hello, we think.”

ByulHee muttered an ‘Oh’ and then slowly bump her own fist with BaekHyun’s. A smile lit up on his face too and ByulHee had to admit that he looked adorable when he smiled. His eyes shrunk when he lips curved upward and ByulHee strained herself from actually pinching his cheeks, before mentally questioning herself for having such thoughts all of a sudden.

The trio who left to get food for them returned with trays in their hands. ByulHee rose from her seat and quickly helped JongIn since he carried three trays in his hands, though it sounded impossible but the boy managed it. ByulHee thought it could be due to his long arms that had given him the advantage.

JongIn thanked ByulHee for her help and set the trays on the table, before each of them began taking their seats again. ByulHee ended up being sandwiched between JongIn and another tall boy, while another short boy sat at the tall boy’s left.

Complicated, right? It’s fine, we’ll know their names soon.

“So, I assume you’ve been rather acquainted with my three friends here.” JongIn said to ByulHee while gesturing at ChanYeol, JunMyeon, and BaekHyun. ByulHee nodded her head, and while they all began eating, the tall boy who was sitting beside ByulHee introduced himself.

“My name’s Oh SeHun.” The tall boy said, reaching his hand out.

ByulHee almost choked on her food, and turned to look at the boy on her left. So this is Oh SeHun. Wow, he’s tall. As tall as JongIn, I think. It never crossed her mind that the Oh SeHun would be the one sitting next to her, and while she tried to appear as nonchalant as possible, she could feel that JongIn was holding himself back from teasing her again by busying himself with the food.

On that, ByulHee was grateful.

“Hello.” ByulHee said in a monotone, and accepting SeHun’s greeting. Giving her a curt nod, he returned to his food. Then, the one on SeHun’s left, a tad bit shorter than him, craned his neck forward so he could see ByulHee and said, “Hello, my name’s KyungSoo!” He said happily with his round eyes and a short wave from his hand.

ByulHee awkwardly waved back and they all continued eating in peace. But the peace though, was short-lived as then all of a sudden, BaekHyun exclaimed, “Park ChanYeol! Give me back my chicken!”

ByulHee lifted her head from her tray only to see BaekHyun and ChanYeol fighting over a chicken, with poor JunMyeon in the middle trying to ease the fight. Sitting in the middle of the two of them was a poor choice though.

“But BaekHyun you took my chicken last time, right? Consider this as a payback!” ChanYeol countered, lifting his hand that was holding the chicken higher so that it was out of BaekHyun’s reach. BaekHyun was trying his best to get his chicken back while squashing JunMyeon at the same time in the process.

The poor lad groaned but the two boys ignored his pleas.

ByulHee frowned to herself and thought; well with that kind of arm, surely, BaekHyun can never reach the chicken in ChanYeol’s grasp, and JunMyeon was simply being the unfortunate victim there. She scratched her head in confusion but couldn’t help but to smile at their behavior.

“JUST GIVE ME BACK MY FREAKING CHICKEN!”

“NO! YOU TOOK MINE LAST TIME SO NOW WE’RE EVEN!”

“Guys, please. Simmer down.”

“NO!!!”

JongIn sighed and leaned towards ByulHee and whispered, “As you see, this is what we have to deal with most of the time.”

ByulHee turned to him with interest and asked, “Do they fight over a chicken all the time?” SeHun chuckled at her question and answered, “Well, not just chicken. They fight over many things most of the time but usually the subject they’ll be arguing for is chicken. Don’t worry though; they’ve never fought for anything more serious than that. Usually they’re just being silly.”

ByulHee nodded her head and only watched as JunMyeon put his hand on BaekHyun’s head, the boy now crossing his arms while puffing his cheeks and ChanYeol was now happily munching on the chicken. It looked like victory belonged to the taller boy.

Seeing how wounded BaekHyun looked, ByulHee took her untouched chicken and put it on BaekHyun’s tray, causing all of them to look at her with widened eyes. Even KyungSoo’s wide eyes enlarged some more, if that was even possible.

ByulHee looked at all of them questioningly. “What?” She asked, noticing that they now all looked at her in muteness. “He looks so sad. Besides, I don’t feel like eating any chicken today, so it’s fine.”

“Thank you, ByulHee! You’re such a lifesaver. I’m so hungry today but idiot ChanYeol doesn’t understand that.” BaekHyun exclaimed, a grateful smile played on his lips. ByulHee only nodded and continued eating, as if nothing had ever happened. One corner of JongIn’s mouth lifted in amusement as he only watched her actions and shook his head. He looked at her tray and noticed that she hadn’t touched any of her tomatoes.

He chuckled and said, “Looks like someone doesn’t like to eat her vegetables, eh, Sunshine?”

Knowing that he was referring to her, ByulHee shook her head at his question. “I don’t like tomatoes. But I do eat some other vegetables, though. It depends.”

“Well, more for me then.” JongIn said and took the tomatoes from ByulHee’s tray. “Do you want to change them with my carrots? I’m not so fond of carrots but I can see that you’ve finished yours.” He asked and ByulHee immediately nodded, agreeing to take the carrots in exchange for her tomatoes.

“Carrots are fine. I love carrots.”

“Oh, awesome. Here you go little rabbit.” SeHun said and put his own carrots in ByulHee’s tray after JongIn gave her his own carrots, causing the girl to look at him with a frown. “Hey hey, I’m really going to become a rabbit if you guys keep putting your carrots on my tray.” She said, and saw that BaekHyun and ChanYeol’s hands froze in midair, attempting to put their own carrots on her tray as well.

JunMyeon laughed and pulled BaekHyun and ChanYeol’s hands back, telling them to eat the carrots on their own. “Come on, you guys. Stop bothering her and eat your own greens. I know that the two of you, BaekHyun and ChanYeol are just trying to find an excuse not to eat your vegetables, right?”

After finishing their meals, with a couple of nuisance once in a while, they all stood up and headed back to their classes. Before they parted ways, all of them waved ByulHee and JongIn goodbye before each of them entered their own classes. ByulHee went to her seat with JongIn, and while waiting for the teacher, ByulHee said, “Your friends are a joy to hang around with. They’re funny and cheerful.”

JongIn grinned and said, “Well, you forgot noisy and childish, especially BaekHyun and ChanYeol. But don’t be surprised; sometimes even KyungSoo and SeHun are like that too.”

ByulHee nodded her head and then suddenly remembered about MinJi and her friends who hadn’t showed up during recess. It was unusual as they always managed to find her especially when break time came. They always had something for her to do and it was surprising that they didn’t bother her at the cafeteria.

Could it be because she was with JongIn’s friends? And that SeHun, who JongIn claimed feared by MinJi, was at the same table? It could be the reason, though. Since JongIn mentioned earlier that MinJi was scared of the sight of SeHun.

The teacher then came and started the lesson for that period. And throughout the lesson, ByulHee unknowingly noticed that she was still smiling, remembering the funny things that happened while she was eating with JongIn and his friends.