He paused for a moment when he recognised a familiar figure stooping down, looking into his usual practice room. He raised a brow and was about to call for her attention when she suddenly turned around. 

He had to admit, he did not see that coming. His eyes widened a bit just by looking at her, and didn't even think about hiding his surprise. But from the looks of it, she hadn't even noticed it. 

Not that she looked like she would've anyway. She herself, looked as though she was preoccupied with her own thoughts. 

It was the first time he had seen her look so... distraught. She looked completely exhausted and seemed as though she would collapse at any moment in time. But what seemed to bother him the most was not the unnatural paleness of her skin, or how fragile she looked. No, it was her eyes.

Her eyes that always glared back at him with an unknown form of resolution. It was extinguished. For the first time. And it made her look so... ordinary.

And seeing her as ordinary when she clearly wasn't, made him uncomfortable. 

He watched her with trouble, as she rummaged for something from her bag, and held out his hat out to him. 

Then she smiled.

"K-Kris-sshi, sorry. I forgot to give this to you-"

He immediately snatched it from her fingers on impulse, and noticed her hands shake. He then caught her slightly flinch, and knew something was wrong. Apart from looking so weak and fragile, she somehow seemed overly sensitive. She was overworked but still smiled. 

And that bothered him even more.

"You can stop. You don't need to deliver anything to me anymore"

His tone turned out colder than he had expected, and immediately regretted it once he saw her expression. He knew she wouldn't like it. Wouldn't stand for it. But that was out of the question.

He turned away awkwardly, unsure of how he should handle the situation. But with every word he said, it was translated rougher and colder. But to his relief, she had finally left, and he immediately let out a deep sigh. He looked down at the small carton, taking out the little note.

"Chocolate is the best remedy! Fighting!"

He stood there a couple of minutes, until he cracked open the little carton. He leaned against the door, and sipped on it quietly. 

Kris closed the door behind him, and took off his shoes. He somehow found himself back in the dorm, not even an ounce of productivity taken back with him. He entered the living room, noticing that Chanyeol and Luhan were still seated on the coach, watching a soccer match.

His room was just by the wall opposite the TV, so he passed them and their noisy cheering to enter his room when he suddenly stopped. 

"Do you like chocolate?"

The two suddenly paused, unsure if he was talking to them. "Do you like chocolate?" Kris repeated, this time facing them. 

They immediately sat upright, and faced him with their full attention. "Yeah...", they chorused. They looked at him with confusion and a bit of surprise. It was an odd thing to ask coming from him, and it made it even more unusual since he never initiated conversations.

But Chanyeol, who felt a bit more comfortable with Kris, eased down the awkwardness with a bit of his cheerfulness. "Doesn't everybody hyung? Oh wait, are you planning on getting some for us hyung? But none of our birthdays are coming up-"

"Do you like eating it when you're tired?" he asked again. 

Luhan and Chanyeol glanced at each other questioningly, when Luhan answered. "Yeah. It's a little relieving to eat when you're tired I guess"

Kris nodded, and entered his room. 

As soon as Kris disappeared, Luhan immediately tugged on Chanyeol's sleeve, while gesturing towards Kris' room. "What's up with him?" 

Chanyeol shrugged, and scratched his head. "Maybe he's tired..?"

----

Kris woke up the next morning for yet another busy schedule. He began with an immediate session of practicing for the music festival, which was only well over one and a half weeks away. They practiced from early morning, until late in the afternoon, and immediately set off for another music show right after. It was exhausting yet routinely. And yet, he felt invincibly immune to any kind of physical exhaustion. Or rather, he felt he had to.

That night, he had an 'appointment' with KangTa. Yet another session of vocal training. He walked down the hallway and into the room, realizing that KangTa hadn't arrived yet. He was about to close the door when he noticed a familiar object on the ground. He slowly picked it up and read the note attached to it. "The deal's not over yet! >:("

He turned the milk carton over and ended up laughing. 

From the usual 2% chocolate milk she gave him, it changed to 1%.

"You can get sick of drinking chocolate milk everyday"

So she changed it.

He took note of himself still laughing at her little ploy and immediately pursed his lips into a thin line. But he found a small smirk escape his lips soon after, officially acknowledging how clever she was.

"Hey, you're early", KangTa called as he walked towards the younger. "Why aren't you heading in?" 

He realized the chocolate milk Kris was holding, which the younger immediately hid. "So a cool guy like you likes chocolate milk as well huh? That's quite unexpected"

Kris cleared his throat and entered the room. "Chocolate is is the best remedy.. Isn't it?"

KangTa looked at him a bit surprised but smiled. "It sure is"

Seohyun took a last glimpse of the building before entering the van. She looked up at the fourth floor and shook her head. "I won't stop until this is over"

She finally felt much better than yesterday, and would've stayed to argue with him if not for her late night practice. She rubbed down her arms, which were still a little sore, but better than the previous day. She had to thank her mom really. If not for her relaxing, therapeutic massage, she'd probably have had woken up grouchy and irritable that morning.

She arrived at the practice room she shared with her unnis, and immediately began with practice. She was alot better than she had been previously, and performed with life and enthusiasm. 

Something, they all showcased.

Even though it was just practice, it was evident that the girls enjoyed it just as much as the real stage. They ended their performance with perfection, and earned a round of applause from their instructors, as well as their small audience of managers and stylists. 

"I'm glad you look all better now Seohyun-ah", Hyoyeon called. "Now we just have to finish practicing one more number then we're done!"

The others squealed in agreement, and they immediately set off to start their last number. But just as when they were getting to it, one of their instructors suddenly stopped them.

"Seohyun-ah, you're being called to the company building"

Seohyun searched for her manager in surprise who nodded. "I just got a phone call", he informed her. Seohyun nodded and went up to him. "But what for?"

He shook his head and grabbed the car keys. "They didn't say"

Seohyun nodded, and turned to her unnis to bid them goodbye. "We'll see you tomorrow" they waved. She smiled and headed out the room. 

She suddenly felt nervous, and began fiddling with her nails. 

"Did I do something wrong?"

[UPDATE] Sorry guys,I felt unsatisfied with how this was written previously. So I edited it. I'm so sorry!

Truthfully, I was actually squealing while writing this chapter. As shameful as that may sound for me, the author, to openly admit my squealing to my own story, it is unfortunately true. I suppose it's because I can picture Kris and Seohyun doing their thing and I just go like 'EEP'. Mainly Kris. I'll give them more moments so not to worry guys!

Thank you for your support once more, which I truly can't tell you how much means to me, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Is it bad that I update more frequently than i'm supposed to btw? Thanks for everything guys and I hope you have a great day! <3