Chapter 4

Minae was back in her apartment, sitting rigidly at the sofa, hands folded neatly on her lap. Chanyeol was sitting two seat away from her, sulking and leaning against the armrest. Minae peeked at Chanyeol at the corner of her eye. He was glaring at the coffee table, hugging a cushion tightly. Minae sighed and sidled up to him, putting an arm over her shoulder. Chanyeol tried to shrug it off unsuccessfully.

"Come on, where's my happy virus?" Minae said in a overly-cheerful-voice, nudging Chanyeol. Chanyeol tilted his head further, staring fixedly at the wall.

Minae frowned at his reaction. However, she knew that she was at fault. Had it not been for Chanyeol and Kai, she would have been beaten up like a punching bag. She hit herself in her mind for being so reckless. That was so unlike her. She glanced apologetically at Chanyeol.

"I'm sorry, okay? I knew that I made a huge mistake back in school," Minae muttered, eyeing Chanyeol.

"Well, you should think first before volunteering to be beaten up!" Chanyeol yelled, whipping around to glower at her. Minae shrank back.

"You really shouldn't have done that. Standing up to the bully? That was the stupidest act I've ever seen." Chanyeol said, his tone softening.

"I know and I am very sorry for troubling you. I should have thought better. Luckily you were there to 'save' me." Minae said, though she did not mention that Kai was there as well — she noticed how annoyed Chanyeol was when Kai grabbed her as well. However, she still did not get why Kai would help her, a girl whom he barely knew.

"Okay, okay. Just make sure you never repeat the same mistake again." Chanyeol demanded.

Minae sprang up and held up a hand. "I know I'm wrong and I hereby swear that I will never ever do something so unbelievebly foolish and dumb like that anymore. Happy?" She said in a joking manner.

Chanyeol sighed and ruffled her hair. Being such a cheerful person, he could never stay angry for a long time, it was like torture for him. Besides, he and Sora were so good friends that their longest quarrel lasted for only an afternoon.

Seeing that Chanyeol was no longer angry at her, Minae turned to look at him in the eye and said, "Anyway, today, a classmate is coming to my house. So you better be on your best behaviour. Don't embarrass me in front of her okay?"

Chanyeol blinked several times and looked at her unbelievingly. "A friend?" He asked, in an incredulous voice. He then brightened up and his huge grin returned. "That's great! Who is she? Aish, why didn't you tell me earlier?" He asked, punching Minae on the arm lightly.

Minae made an indignant face. "Well, just now you were sulking there and acting all—"

"RINGGGGGGGG!" The doorbell rang. Minae stood up, her eyes shining in excitement. It's Sora! She's here! Minae jogged to the door and fished out her keys from her porcket, with Chanyeol bounding after her.

Sora stood patiently outside Minae's apartment, staring up at the door in anticipation. The door opened, revealing Minae with a welcoming smile.

"Hello Minae! Wait, who's that — Chanyeol?" Sora asked, stunned. Chanyeol was standing behind Minae, his hands on her shoulder, his head tilted. Why was Chanyeol doing here?

"You know my name?" Chanyeol asked, puzzled. Sora nodded her head. Of course she knew, of course. How could she not know? How could she forget?

"I'm Park Sora. Nice to meet you." Sora ignored his question and reached out a hand. Chanyeol had to bend down to shake her hand. Their difference in height was astonishing. Sora barely reached his shoulders. She then walked into the apartment, bowing slightly towards Minae before taking off her shoes and socks and following Minae into the living room.

Chanyeol stood in front of the two girls who had already sat on the sofa, hands behind his back. He chuckled silently at the sight of Minae and Sora sitting awkwardly, not meeting each other's eyes.

"You guys do whatever you have to do, alright? I'll just be there sitting. No worries, I won't be of any nuisance to you, just sitting there, doing whatever I'm doing." He said, petting Minae's head. He then backed towards the chair next to theirs and sat down, staring intently at them. Silence ensued.

Sora shot an uneasy glance at Chanyeol and clapped her hands once. "Let's get started, shall we?" Sora asked in a bright voice, attempting to break the silence. Minae nodded and sat down in front of the table beside Sora, helping to take the books and files from Sora's bag and place them on the table.

Chanyeol grinned contendedly. Minae was putting in an effort to strike a conversation with Sora while Sora was smiling politely at her. Soon, like a miracle, the two of them were chatting away like old friends, gesturing animatedly. Chanyeol stood up and headed to the kitchen for a snack. They seemed to be fine without him.

Noticing that Chanyeol had left, Sora leant in and whispered to Minae a question that she was bursting to ask, "Are you and Chanyeol, you know, in a relationship?" Minae stared at her. She then broke into a laugh a few seconds later.

"Never! We are just good friends. Best friends, in fact." Minae replied, breaking out into a huge grin. Sora nodded, still feeling a bit skeptical about her reply. However, she felt a little relieved, only a little — like a tiny rock had been lifted off her chest. She immediately felt confused. Why was she feeling that way? Was she still...

She waved that thought off. Impossible.

"Are you thrirsty?" Minae asked apologetically., "I should have offered you a drink when you arrived, it was rude not to do so." Sora's throat was parched but she made no comment about it. Instead, she offered to go to the kitchen for a drink herself.

"The juice is on the top section of the fridge!" Minae yelled after her. Sora nodded and walked into the kitchen. Chanyeol was still in the kitchen, concentrated on peeling an orange. Sora pulled the fridge door opened. Where's the juice... Ah, there it was. Right at the top section of the fridge. Sora stood on tiptoes, straining her arm up to reach the juice. Her fingers were clutching at the air, nowhere near the bottle of juice. She could feel Chanyeol's gaze on her as she jumped to reach the bottle of juice. After a few unsuccessful attempts, Sora's face turned beetroot red. Why must she be so short?

Chanyeol stood up, abandoning his orange on the table and walked towards Sora. He reached up and grabbed the bottle around its handle and passed it to Sora with an amused grin.

"There, here you go." Chanyeol said as he passed it to Sora, towering over her. Out of instinct, he reached out his hand and ruffled her hair. Immediately, he retracted his hand, as if it had been slapped, and cupped it in front of his mouth. The both of them stared at each other, frozen. Sora widened her eyes, making her already huge eyes seem abnormally big. The both of them could feel the heat radiating from their faces.

"Thanks for helping." Sora said timidly, ducked her head and ran out of the kitchen. She touched her face - it was steaming. What had just happened?

Minae peered at Sora as she sat down quickly, her cheeks flushed pink. "What happened?" She asked curiously. Sora shook her head lightly and smiled feebly. Minae shrugged and returned to her work. If she say so.

Chanyeol recovered from his stupor and raised his hand to cover his face. It was warm. He rushed to the toilet, the tap and splashed water onto his face. Wiping the water away from his face with one hand, Chanyeol stared at his reflection. His cheeks were flushed, like he was having a fever. Ruffling someone's hair — it was something that he did to Minae only. Then why did he do it to Sora? Why was his heart thumping against his chest so wildly? Chanyeol shook his head. It must be due to embarrassment, it must be. It was impossible for him to feel that way about Sora. Impossible. He only liked Minae and it there would be only her in his heart. No one else. He remembered Sora's face which was as flushed as his. Poor girl, he thought as he walked out of the bathroom, wiping his wet hands on his pants, I have scared her so badly, she must be so terrified of me right now.

Little did he know that her heart was beating as quickly as his. Beating for him.