After more than ten minutes of Donghae just patiently waiting for Nicole to talk to him, she finally spoke up. His face lit up when she spoke.

   "You have such a beautiful voice! How come you've been hiding it from me?" He looked at her with sad eyes, almost trying to guilt her into talking more.

   "Haeng, you really need to stop. Your making me and Chanyeollie gag from how cute you're acting." Eunhyuk scolded him. Donghae just flicked Eunhyuk's foot multiple times before turning back to Nicole.

   "I've just been a big fan for years and it's hard to believe that your actually here, in front of me, talking to me." She spoke softly and slowly.

   "Well you could have believed it sooner if somebody, namely Chanyeol, had introduced us sooner."

______

   Chanyeol had been long gone to leave Nicole to freak out on her own. He knew he would hear their entire conversation when she recalled it at home. He also desperately needed some air with over 20 guys and 1 girl in the same room. The practice room was big, but he felt so surrounded by all the noise.

   Chanyeol was sitting on the balcony of a private room, overlooking a place that fans didn't have access to. He was stuck in his thoughts, which kept multiplying the longer he had alone time. He pulled out his phone to text Kris, asking him to come outside so they could talk. No more than two minutes later was Kris outside, putting his hand on Chanyeol's shoulder, turning him to face him. Chanyeol very rarely texted Kris in a normal way, so he was worried that Chanyeol was thinking of doing something drastic.

   "Whatever you need to talk about, you know I'm here for you." Kris let Chanyeol collect his thoughts.

   "I haven't told anyone this, but ever since Nicole and I started living together, it obviously makes sense that feelings would develop. I really liker her, hyung. It's not love yet, but there's a gnawing feeling in my gut that isn't going away. And believe me, it isn't just jealousy that she doesn't freak out with Exo. I've accepted that already. But seeing her always freaking out about Donghae hyung, it just really worries me that her feelings haven't developed like mine have, and that if hyung shows any interest, I'm gonna lose her; not like I had her anyway..."Chanyeol trailed his eyes back to the spot he was staring before. Kris remained silent for a bit before sighing.

   "I know the feeling. My feelings have faded, almost completely, buy I felt the exact same way about her and seeing her with you. She looks at you in a way that she doesn't look at anyone else, not even Suju hyungs. With them, she has the fangirl look: the big doe eyes and dumb, hidden smile, and also avoids eye contact. With her being such a big fan for so long, I don't think she'll ever see them as anything more than her oppa's. So stop worrying. Enjoy the time you have with her." Kris always gave advice, even when it wasn't asked for. But Chanyeol always appreciated it. He always finds Kris' advice to be blunt, but also cheesy and endearing. He only says what he sees and what he thinks about what he sees.

   "You can stay here and sulk a bit. I think Siwon and Suho agreed to tag-team buying food for everyone so I'll save some for you if you don't come back before it's here." Kris was starting to walk away when Chanyeol joined him.

   "I'm okay. That's enough sulking for the day. Time to be the happy genie for everyone." Chanyeol put on a slight smile that Kris could tell wasn't forced, but also wasn't genuine. It confused the hell out of him, but he let it slide, knowing that Chanyeol knew what to do.

_____

   After Siwon and Suho returned to the room, each with about five bags in their hands, mostly everyone quickly rushed to start eating. Leeteuk pushed everyone back away from the food.

   "We have a guest here and you guys haven't been respectful of that. Nicole-ssi, please come up first. You get first pick of the food." Everyone turned to stare at Nicole who appeared miniscule next to all of the guys. She was no more than 160 centimeters, so everyone towered over her. Her eyes rounded from the pressureof everyone looking at her.

   "No, please, go ahead. I don't like being the center of attention." She whispered the last bit to Chanyeol who was standing next to her. He knew she hated pressure, so he quickly helped her out.

   "How about we just line the food up, everyone sits down, and then we all grab food at once. She still isn't used to the Korea way of eating in a group, so how about we just act natural and help her if she does something wrong?" Chanyeol looked down at her, who just gave him a small smile. She knew she had a lot of thanks to give him when they got home.

   "That sounds like a good idea. But I call sitting next to her!" Donghae chimed in. He put a giant grin on his face, and effectively made her hide her face and stand behind Chanyeol.

   "Alright, that sounds fine. Chanyeol-ssi, you sit on her other side." Leeteuk agreed and then helped Siwon and Suho spread out the food.

   Everyone moved to sit in a large circle, Exo and Super Junior members scattered throughout each other. There weren't any large clumps of members from the same grup, as everyone had had quite a while to become close with someone from the other group. Everyone was chatting amongst themelves, including Donghae, Nicole, and Chanyeol. Donghae would ask a question and Nicole would do her best to act normally, and Chanyeol would follow up with a story or a follow-up question.

   "Do you have a boyfriend?" Donghae randomly asked, but quietly as not to draw attention to them. Both Nicole and Chanyeol got wide-eyed. She almost choked on the bit she took seconds before he asked the question.

   "Umm...no, I don't." She managed to croak out.

   "Why haven't you and Chanyeollie dated?" Donghae asked innocently.

   "I don't know. We just haven't." She gave a half- answer that unfortunately was also true. She didn't know why her and Chanyeol hadn't dated while they've been living together.

   "I think we both silently agreed to make our living together be as normal and platonic as possible. But I really don't know." Chanyeol had turned away from the conversation to join in Baekhyun and Sungmin's conversation, yet he still kept an open ear in the others talking.

   "If it's not too personal, have you had any boyfriends before?" 

   "Yes I have. Until now, I've had two boyfriends."

   "Why did you break up?" He scooted slightly closer to her, listening intently.

   "The first one was just because of school. We didn't have time. It ended smoothly. No drama. But the second is a little too personal. And honestly, it still stings to talk about." She looked down at her hands. She didn't want to start crying in front of her favorite celebrity on the first day they met.

   "If you don't want to tell me, I won't prod. I just want to get to know you more and make sure there aren't any guys I have to hurt for hurting you." He joked with a sad smile. She laughed slightly

   "Believe me, I've already hurt him. I punched him and kicked him where it hurts most on guys." She laughed a bit ahrder when she saw the scared look on Donghae's face.