“Don’t! Don’t!” Haerin cracks up as Kyungsoo scoops her into his arms, carrying her from the car and into the house.  “Do Kyungsoo!” She squeals at the random gesture.  She had just said that she was tired from all the driving around today and he runs to her and carries her while he laughs along.

“You’re tired, aren’t you? I’m doing you a favor,” Kyungsoo nudges the side of her face with his nose.  “It’s time for a thank you,”

“In your dreams,” Haerin flails around as he gets through the door, squealing again when he threatens to drop her.

“Haerin-noona?”

The couple freezes at the stranger’s voice and turns to make eye contact with the one who turns out to be Oh Sehun.

“Sehun-ah!” She effectively leaps out of Kyungsoo’s arms and transfers herself into Sehun’s, pulling him into a hug.

“Ya!” Kyungsoo scolds and Haerin snickers in response.

“Someone’s jealous,” She grins up at Sehun’s jaw.  “What brings you here, maknae?”

“We’re just, you know, here,” Sehun shrugs with a smile.  

Haerin frowns.  “We?”

“Hyung, where have you been?!”

“We’ve been sitting here for hours!”

“Come on in, we have chicken!”

“Chicken bones, you mean,”

“Kkaebsong!”

And then some laughter that sounded much too familiar.

“Ah,” Kyungsoo scratches his head.  “I forgot to tell you that the kids are here for a sleepover,”

Haerin, feeling a sudden burst of emotions, rushes into the studio house and breaks out into the brightest grin she has ever worn in her life.  “KIDS!” 

“Noona?!”

“Haerin?!”

She nods excitedly and sits amongst them, asking them how they have been doing and so on and so forth.  They reply as excitedly as well, throwing jokes here and there and catching up to each other.

“But noona,” Baekhyun starts.  “Why are you here?”

“She lives here,” Kyungsoo grunts as he struggles to open the door with a tray of food in his hands.  

“Hyung!”

“Food!”

“What?!” Chanyeol backtracks.  “Wait, wait, wait, she lives here?”

Most of the other boys are chewing their food; so all they do is stare wide-eyed and raise their eyebrows at Kyungsoo and Haerin, unable to say coherent words.

“And they’re dating,” Sehun jumps in.  “Right?”

Haerin shrugs dismissively as she eats the food Kyungsoo made for her.  “Pretty much,”

“Heol!!” Kai finally gulps down his food with some water and points at the couple with his chopsticks.  “You’re dating and living together?!”

“Only for a while.  Another week, to the most, and then my brother and I are going to live in a place we’re renting,” Haerin proudly states, oblivious to Kai’s reason of surprise.

“Ah, noona, you have a brother?” Sehun asks.

“Oh, right, yeah, I do,” Haerin nods in response.  “He’s having pa-“

Ding-dong!

“Ah, that must be him,” She stands up.  “I’ll get the door and introduce him to you guys,”

The boys watch her walk out the door and notice how Kyungsoo has a smile on his face.  

“Hyung, you’re that much in love?” Kai teases, nudging Kyungsoo with his elbow.

“She changed,” Kyungsoo shakes his head.  “Became more open, in a way.  Back when I first met her brother, she was carefully gauging my reaction and looked completely anxious.  But now, she’s the one who’s so eager to introduce her brother to you guys,”

“Why would she be anxious?” Baekhyun asks, tilting his head in question.

“Guys,” Haerin’s head pops out through the door before Kyungsoo could answer Baekhyun, her face decorated with a grin.  “This is Yunjae,”

Everybody waves at him and Yunjae dips his head in a bow before waving back.  

“From the left to the right; Sehun, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Kai, Suho, and finally, the idiot,” Haerin introduces, smiling.  

“Ey, she’s not one for public displays of affection,” Kyungsoo says, shrugging nonchalantly. 

“Should we know what you do in private, hyung?” Baekhyun chuckles.

Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow suggestively at his girlfriend.  “Should they, Haerin?”

‘They totally have it going on,’ Yunjae signs and in reflex, Haerin kicks his shin, causing him to hiss in pain.

“We don’t do anything!” Haerin glares at her brother and then points at her boyfriend.  “Don’t start making things up, Do Kyungsoo,”

Kyungsoo mimics her with a mocking tone and dodges a flying chopstick.  

“Annoying!” Haerin lets out a frustrated cry.  “I’m getting Yunjae settled for homework, I’ll be back!” She curtly says before leaving.

“You don’t have to be back, baby!” Kyungsoo calls out and laughs along with everybody else when Haerin yells loudly. 

“That’s why,” He finally answers Baekhyun.

Baekhyun blinks, glances at Chanyeol and Kai, before nodding, as he understood.  “Her brother can’t talk, huh?”

Kyungsoo nods.

“Why is he living in your house, though?” Suho speaks up.  “And what happened with those bruises?”

Sehun nods along with the others.  “Yeah, what happened to her?” He wonders.

Kyungsoo scratches the back of his head, unsure of how to tell them anything about Haerin.  “The reason as to why she’s living here and those bruises; they’re related.  But why don’t we let Haerin tell you herself?”

“Let Haerin tell them what?”

The boys jump at Haerin’s sudden entry.  She narrows her eyes at Kyungsoo, quickly setting him as target.  “What did you tell them?”

“Why is it me all the time!” Kyungsoo protests.

“You’re the one who knows anything about me,” Haerin shrugs and then chuckles shortly after.  “Okay, okay, I’m sorry,”

“We were asking him about why you were living in his house and what happened to you, noona,” Sehun initiates.  “He said to let you tell us by yourself,”

Haerin raises her eyebrows.  “What makes you think I’m going to tell you guys?”

At her sentence, Kyungsoo glances at her and sees Haerin pulling herself back from the group, ready to shut them out.  As expected, he thinks.  She’s not ready to-

“We’re friends, aren’t we?” Chanyeol states as-a-matter-of-factly, stretching his arms into the air.  “Friends help each other, even if it’s just listening to your problems,”

That took Haerin aback.  “Friends?” She frowns, blinking repeatedly.  “We are?”

At that moment, everybody in the room looks at her in bewilderment.  “Noona, did you hit your head or something?” Sehun starts chuckling.

“Why wouldn’t we be friends,” Baekhyun follows after, clapping his hands as he laughs.

“Kkaebsong, that was kkaebsong!” Chanyeol and Kai push each other as they both crack up.

“No, no, I thought it was just me!” Haerin can’t help but join in the laughter.  “I must have sounded mean,”

“We were like, we wanna help you, and then you went ‘Sorry, I don’t think we’re friends,’” Baekhyun reenacts, throwing everybody into another fit of laughter.

“We’re friends, Haerin-ah, don’t worry,” Suho says in between his own laughter.  

Haerin looks at Kyungsoo to seek confirmation.  He nods at her, grinning at how she could wonder if they all were friends or not after the times they’ve spent together.  “They’re good people,” Kyungsoo assures her, ruffling her hair.

Haerin lets out a smile as the laughter dies down.  “All right, I’ll tell you, but bear with me, because it’s going to be a long story,”

“Chanyeol-ah, grab me the pillow,”

“Hey, hey, turn off the lights,”

“Blankets, blankets,”

“Do you wanna die?” Haerin threatens playfully, gritting her teeth at them when they guffaw altogether.  

And so Haerin begins her story.  All the way from her parents’ death, Yunjae’s sickness, to living with her uncle, up to the point where she blew her top at her uncle and left the house, and came to Kyungsoo for help.  The kids were quiet, throughout the whole story.  The first to break the silence after Haerin finished her story was Baekhyun.

“I wonder how you don’t cry after you tell us all that,” He quietly says.  

Chuckling, Haerin waves her hand subtly in denial.  “I’m not the type of person to cry when I’m sad.  I cry when I’m angry or frustrated.  When I’m sad, I become quiet and I don’t talk much,”

“Ah, that’s Kyungsoo’s opposite,” Suho points out.  “When he’s angry, he curses, like a lot,”

Kai starts laughing again.  “That’s right, that’s right! Kyungsoo-hyung will be like ‘Aish this bleep! Really now, don’t bleep around with me!’”

The group chortles and cracks up again as Kyungsoo denies the facts firmly, even though he knows that he really does that sometimes.

Haerin felt strangely at ease.  Mr. and Mrs. Do, Kyungsoo, Sehun, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kai, and Suho; more people she had opened up to.  The fear came strongly at first, but as she slowly learned to trust people with her heart, she had finally found its convenience.  She finds the burden of having to give back to them lessen, and felt that it was a relationship without price.  When they can help, they help.  When she can help, she’d help.  That’s all there is to it.  Leaning on each other, having each other’s backs, and keeping each other safe.  It’s endearing how the boys shared a group hug with her at the center, as she was about to leave the studio house.  She let out a quiet “Aww,” when they did, immediately sharing personal hugs afterwards.

“Thanks, guys,” Haerin waves by the door.  “See you tomorrow,”

Kyungsoo stands beside her and puts an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close as he walks her back into the house and up the stairs.  

“They’re really nice,” Haerin yawns, looking at the time.  “When I live alone, you guys have to come over all the time, okay?” She snuggles into the crook of Kyungsoo’s neck as he hugs her, savoring his warmth.

“Okay, we’ll bring lots of food, too,” He chuckles, swaying her back and forth.  “Go sleep, we’ve got school tomorrow,”

“Just a minute longer,” Haerin clutches at Kyungsoo’s shirt and the latter chuckles into her hair.  

“Aigoo, our Haerin did well,” He squeezes her tightly, feeling her shoulder shake as she lets out a light laugh.  “We need more private time,” He sighs.  “You’re so distant with me when we’re around people,”

“We do, don’t we,” Haerin agrees.  “I like hugs, because you’re warm,” She grins up at Kyungsoo and lets him peck her nose.  

“Good night,” His hand lingers in hers as she enters her room.

“Night,” Haerin smiles, squeezing his fingers before letting go and closing the door behind her.

8 people made it into her heart, that night.

And Son Haerin is completely at ease.