It was a silent ride home from the hospital. Suho had left Natasha’s room shaking his head, saying that she was fine and would be out by the end of the day. I might have seen a touch of worry cross his features as he turned away from me.

 

I was worried too, but for completely different reasons. Now that Ahmad was here, things were going to change.

 

A jolt from the van shook me from my thoughts. The boys had barely managed to squeeze into the vehicle when we left the hospital. I had been able to grab a seat thanks to an absent member.

 

Minseok.

 

“Hey guys,” I called out, feeling timid. “If you don’t mind me asking...where’s Minseok?”

 

Tao turned to me, surprised. “He didn’t tell you? Minseok left Seoul. He’s going to be a guest on some show with Luhan...just some EXO-M business.”

 

I cursed under my breath. He didn’t even get to say goodbye.

 

“He’ll call,” Chen murmured quietly. He had read my mind.

 

When the van pulled up to the dorm, I was surprised to suddenly find Kyungsoo and Suho at my side. “Come on, we have a surprise for you,” said D.O., latching onto my arm.

 

I looked at him, momentarily losing myself in his stare. “What kind of a surprise?” I asked, blinking.

 

Hopefully he had forgotten the unfortunate events from two days ago. I bit my lip again, grimacing at the memory.

 

“The members have prepared for Natasha’s arrival from the hospital. We, however, are taking you to the Winter Carnival,” replied Suho, wrapping an arm around me. “I’ll treat you. We all need some cheering up, don’t you think?”

 

I sighed. “You’re right.” I needed a distraction. “Oh, and thank you,” I added, hugging Suho back. He was the closest thing I had to an older brother.  

 

Kyungsoo started the van. “Let’s go.” He threw me a smile.

 

I couldn’t help but let my eyes linger on D.O. as he pulled away from the dorm. It’s true that he was the first EXO member that I had interested myself in when Natasha had introduced me to the band. Now, however, things had changed. No matter how long I trained my eyes on Kyungsoo, I couldn’t feel my heart flutter as much as it had before.

 

12 days ago.

 

12 days ago, he was just another member. He was no different from Lay, Luhan or Tao. 11 days ago, my eyes were indifferent towards him, only searching for Kyungsoo. 12 days ago, he hadn’t crossed my mind even once. 11 days ago, he was just Xiumin.

 

Now, things had changed. Xiumin had become Minseok.

 

And I couldn’t stop thinking about him.

 

I leaned towards the window, my eyes drifting over the passing scenery once again. “No matter what, I’m not going through the haunted house,” Suho was saying.

 

“You have to! What kind of a guardian angel is afraid of such petty things?” Kyungsoo argued, laughing. “What about you, Jessica? You should come with me.”

 

“Sure,” I agreed, suddenly grinning for the first time since yesterday. “Let’s see who screams first.”

 

Three hours later, D.O. stumbled out of the haunted house. “Dear god, that was horrific,” he gasped over my hysterical laughter. I passed him my bubble tea as he caught his breath.

 

“You owe me 30 000 won,” I reminded him. “I told you that I don’t get scared easily.”

 

Suho ran out behind us, sprinting for the nearest trash can. “Oh crap,” I said, my laughter dying down as I chased him. After Suho finished retching, Kyungsoo gave his leader the rest of my drink. “Aw, you poor thing,” I lamented. “I feel so guilty for making you follow us.”

 

“I should’ve seen this coming,” panted Suho as I patted his back. “Kyungsoo has a tendency to ditch his partner when travelling through haunted houses.”

 

D.O. smiled. “Potato sticks, anyone?”

 

Coming to the carnival had been a good idea. My mood had considerably lifted, and I had almost forgotten about Minseok.

 

Almost.

 

“Suho--” I began, before Kyungsoo interrupted me.

 

“Wait,” he interjected. “I forgot to give you this.” Reaching into the knapsack that was slung over his back, D.O. pulled out a small container. I took it from him.

“What is this?” I asked, carefully opening the lid. A perfectly sliced piece of butter cake stared back at me.

 

D.O. watched me carefully, a small smile working through his features. “I hadn’t gotten the chance to give it to you.”

 

“You made a cake?” asked Suho.

 

“Oh, Kyungsoo...” I faltered. The cake was so beautifully decorated. How long had he taken to make this? “I’m sorry about what I said, before,” I mumbled. “I was being stupid.”

 

“No, you weren’t,” corrected D.O. “You were being straightforward. Besides, it’s true how I’m way too quiet.” His smile grew wider. “Give me some time. I’m working on it.”

 

I grabbed the spoon that he held out to me before digging into the cake. “Wow, it’s really good.” I paused, absorbed in the taste.

 

Suho broke off a piece of the cake. “Wow, Kyungsoo, you really did work hard on this.” He nodded in approval. “I can feel it in the taste.” Suho swallowed his bite, turning to me. “You were saying?”

 

I opened my mouth, but it took a minute before I spoke. “You guys don’t think that I’m scheming to ‘further involve’ myself with EXO or anything, right? That article…”

 

Suho caught on quickly. “Ah, the one concerning Minseok?” He turned, and we began to stroll through the park.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Of course not. After you left us yesterday, we realized that we might have spoken a bit too harshly. We’re not telling you to give up on him.” He stopped briefly. “But if you decide to enter into a serious relationship...it will be hard on both of you. Very hard.”

 

I looked at a rollercoaster in the distance, watching it dive and twirl through loop after loop. “It depends on how much we’re willing to put into the relationship too,” I said, pointing at the ride. “It depends on how tightly we’re willing to grip onto the rollercoaster. Whether we’re willing to ride it until the very end, or if we’ll end up being thrown off while riding down a hill.”

 

Suho nodded solemnly. “I trust you, though. I know you’ll make the right decision.” He wrapped an arm over my shoulder. “Ah, I’ve always wanted a younger sister. Someone like you,” he said fondly.

 

“Hey guys, I’ll be right back,” Kyungsoo blurted out. He had remained strangely quiet during the entire conversation.

 

Suho and I watched him leave. “You know, Minseok isn't the only one who’s changed since your arrival,” Suho observed.

 

I glanced at him. “What do you mean?”

 

“Kyungsoo’s been acting a little too generous lately. He’s always been asking about you and Natasha too. Where you are, what you’re doing…”

 

I grinned. “He must really care about us. That’s too cute.”

 

Suho stopped in his tracks. “No, Jessica. He seems to really care about you. A lot.” He chortled. “I swear, this is perfect movie material.”

 

I shook my head in disbelief. “I really don’t think it’s what you think it is,” I replied slowly.

 

Suho’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, but it is,” he replied. “I think he likes you.”