"Hyung! Hyung wait!"

But of course, what Kris only did was the opposite. It didn't take him much time, or for any one for that matter, to realize that escaping the bouncy giraffe was any good. Yet, at that moment, that was the only thing he could do.

With how frantically Seohyun had left just a few minutes before, and with how awkward everything was as a whole, it just added onto baseless suspicion. Ever since then, Chanyeol had been eyeing him a bit too funny for his liking, and was just too distracting for him to even enjoy his food. Although rest assured nothing had happened...

He's got his own self to question. 

"I told you we should have knocked", D.O tugged onto Chanyeol's sleeve when he was finally able to catch up to him. Chanyeol shook his head in disagreement, and smiled smugly just recalling the scene they had just witnessed. "We might have a sister-in-law soon".

D.O quickly glanced at Kris and immediately punched Chanyeol on the arm. "Shh! What if he hears you!?" He stole another glance at Kris, who continued at his undeniably fast pace and couldn't help but wonder. "Still, that was quite unexpected."

He had to admit, Kris had been acting noticeably different recently. It wasn't anything drastic that a normal passerby would notice or find important. But he felt the other members may have secretly felt the same way. It didn't feel as pressurising being with him in the same room anymore, nor did he feel compelled to say anything to him to ease the atmosphere. On top of that, he even accepted the food he made for him from time to time. 

He watched Chanyeol make a blind spurt for the elder and tackle him from behind. Chanyeol was also another primary example and one of the most obvious. Even he had to admit it was difficult to ignore the tall building of a giraffe from time to time. Even his mere voice could be irritating. 

Chanyeol's annoying voice almost repeated in his head like a broken recorder, his undying momentum unbroken. "Kyungsoo-yah... Kyungsoo-yah...Kyungsoo-yah..! KYUNGSOO-YAAAH!"

He immediately shook his head and almost mentally swore at the giraffe. Even with his eyes closed, he could haunt him without a single word. 

D.O watched as Chanyeol immediately fell to the floor after being shoved away by the taller male before him. But ofcourse, it wasn't anything for Kris or D.O to worry about since they see it all the time. It was one of Chanyeol's classic gags that even D.O ignored as he passed him. He left Chanyeol to mourn in his overexaggerated tone, while he clutched his chest and outstretched his other hand for Kris. It was almost cringe-worthy that made D.O jog a bit quicker and away from the giraffe. 

"Hyung", D.O cleared his voice as he walked beside him. "I'm sorry about earlier"

Kris sighed and to D.O's surprise, responded. "Nothing happened."

It seemed Kris hadn't expected that kind of response from D.O either. Out of all people, maybe D.O was a bit similar to himself. A bit reserved and a bit of a by stander. But of course, he held an obvious vital maternal role in the group.

So maybe they weren't that similar afterall. 

"You'll do well", D.O responded rather out of the blue. "Hyung can sing. Better than you think."

Although it didn't show from his stone cold expression, Kris had secretly pieced out every single word. 

"Of course!", Chanyeol didn't fail to chorus right into their conversation and slung an arm over Kris' broad shoulders. "If you need any help, i'll give you some tips", he added smugly.

D.O scoffed and warned Kris almost a bit too generously. "Hyung don't"

Chanyeol ignored him and continued. "But really. We believe in you hyung. Don't be nervous."

"Since when did I say I was nervous?"

Chanyeol nudged him slyly, and , "Eyyyy. Why are you trying to act cute hyung? It's obvious you're nervous"

Kris immediately paused and glared at him. "Aren't you going to remove your arm?"

"Not really", Chanyeol replied almost innocently. He seized him by the arm and attempted to escape the elder's ever so bothersome glare. "Hyung! It's cold! Let's hurry! Kyungsoo-yah! Hurry!"

"H-hey!" Both D.O and Kris yelled out in unison as they were dragged arm in arm with Chanyeol like they were running for their lives. Chanyeol continued to scream as they ran, embarrassing the two as a few cars passed by. "WHOOOOHHHH! EXO IS THE BEST!"

"Chanyeol-ah! Stop!" D.O hissed. "You're embarrassing! And you're hurting my wrist! What if someone catches us!?"

"Yah! Let go!" Kris joined in but didn't seem as strong to shrug off Chanyeol's grip. "WE ARE ONE! EXO, LETS LOVEEEE!"

"Seriously", Kris and D.O grumbled simultaneously, as same train of thought crossed their minds. "It'll be your fault if we get caught!", D.O finally voiced out.

"Unnie", Seohyun whispered a bit absently as she watched Tiffany and Taeyeon fiddle with their nails in front of her. "Unnie, have you ever felt flustered when the sweet potatoes you cooked and sliced in the morning got mashed in the afternoon?"

Tiffany and Taeyeon turned towards their maknae in unison and raised a brow. "Seo Joohyun. Only you would be flustered about that." The two girls couldn't seem to take the younger seriously and broke out into a fit of laughter. 

"You can think of it as mashed potato" Tiffany called out. "American style"

"Right?" Seohyun seemed to agree, and nodded in a daze. "I can still eat it but I still get flustered. And it's not a big deal.."

Taeyeon seemed to calm down a bit and wiped the tear from her eye. She looked at her patiently and waited for her to continue. "What's this about?"

Seohyun looked up at her two unnies, realizing they were now directly staring at her. She shook her head lightly and sighed. "Nothing. I think i've been losing myself a bit lately. Maybe I should read a few books, I haven't read some in a while."

Taeyeon and Tiffany both knew that despite her strong, sharp image, Seohyun was still nevertheless, a maknae. She could be a bit random at times, do aegyo whenever she felt like it, and say things in such an indrect manner it was almost like a cryptic message. She had the knack of hiding things and they knew it. 

Tiffany shook her head and stopped Seohyun as she was about to get up. "Joohyun-ah." It was at times like these that they called her by her real name. At times when they felt she was a bit cornered or stressed. Or in this case, when she bottled something away that they didn't know of. 

"Has something been going on we don't know of?" 

Seohyun looked at her hesitantly but then shook her head. "No, I just need to get myself together." She didn't know why she felt so flustered. It was natural to, especially with the amount of things that has been piling up recently. But she somehow didn't like it. And for a fact, although she tried to deny so, it wasn't because of work.

"There's nothing wrong with the way you are right now Joohyun-ah." Taeyeon spoke out of her silence, as she immersed herself into one of her rare moments of seriousness. "It's not that you're losing yourself. You're controlling the will as to not lose into yourself."

"What does that mean-

"There's nothing wrong in being Seo Joohyun. Seohyun was formed from Seo Joohyun and Joohyun-ah formed Seohyun. You're thinking too much about Seohyun that you're trying to lock yourself away" Taeyeon expressed a bit with sadness, and held their maknae's hand. "I'm saying this because I know Joohyun-ah"

"Whatever the case will be, we'll be here", Tiffany hugged the younger, and smoothed her hair. "We don't know what you're going through, but we'll be here so don't worry."

Seohyun tried to control the tears that begun to well up in her eyes, but couldn't seem to hold out much longer. She hugged Tiffany, and muffled in tears. "U-unnie.."

That night, the three stayed up till 2 in the morning, and called their members one after the other. The nine girls ended up curled together in their small dorm living room, fighting off the cold yet laughing to their hearts content as they fell to sleep

Seohyun couldn't help but feel thankful for her unnies. She hadn't really talked to them like this in so long, and it felt good to just act like the maknae she was when she was with them. Others may not have understood, but they really like a diamond.

Strong, polished and indestructible.