▼▲▼ “You are pretty too,” Chen said suddenly. 

Nara

Saturday morning found me lazing around in my room. I had the speakers of my computer on full blast as I lay on my side on the bed, staring at photos of Chanyeol that were looking down at me from the four walls of my room.

I tried my best to absorb myself in the booming music, but I failed miserably – I just couldn’t. For this few days, my mind was filled to the brim with Chanyeol – and his girlfriend Minah.

Yes, Minah – I learnt her name from Eunji a few days ago. She was blabbering on and on about Minah- Minah this, Minah that. It went like;”I can’t believe that Minah loves skating too!” “I can’t believe I’ve thought that Minah was a stuck up person before; she’s actually a nice person!”

Minah, Minah, Minah. Since she had got to know Minah, she couldn’t even stop talking about her. Everytime she opened , Minah was the word that came out first. I was furious but I kept it in; what is so good about Minah? Even Sooyoung sent me a fed up expression and rolled her eyes whenever Eunji started blabbering about Minah.

I gave a frustrated sigh. I was beginning to wonder what things would be like if Minah wasn’t around when my cellphone beeped.

From Chen:

Hi Nara! The time’s set – ten this morning. Do you think you can make it?

Ten o’clock? A frown crossed my face and I glanced up at the clock. It announced eight forty-five. Well, maybe I’ll have time to prepare. Then I’ll have fun today and get everything out of my mind. I’ll be free of all these troublesome thoughts.

Without hesitation, I typed something and hit ‘Send’.

From Nara:

Sure! Where shall we meet then?

From Chen:

Well, maybe I’ll come over to your house and pick you up? =)

My eyes widened, and instantaneously I typed in another sentence.

From Nara:

What?! How do you know about my address?

From Chen:

Well… I just found out about it…

From Nara:

You ‘just’ found out about it…? ==

From Chen:

Alright, I saw it in the year book! Satisfied?

From Nara:

Well, I’m satisfied. So are you really coming over?

From Chen:

Of course. I’ll look forward to seeing you!

From Nara:

 Ok then. See you!

I set my cellphone down on the dressing table and gave a sigh. Time to get ready.

Chen turned up about half an hour early, and I was still drying my hair.

He looked a bit embarrassed. “Sorry. I thought that it would be better if I set out earlier, but I didn’t expect to arrive that early-“

“It’s alright,” I interrupted. I gestured towards the living room. “Have a seat. I’ll be ready soon.”

Chen sat down on the couch, and his eyes journeyed about my house. “You are alone at home?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “My parents are out, and my brother is out for extra class at school. He didn’t do well in the last exams so the teacher literally forc – volunteered to give him extra class,” I added.

“You have a brother?” Chen’s eyebrows shot up.

“Uh… Yes, he’s younger than me. Oh Sehun.” I ran my fingers through my dry hair and reached for a comb, trying to tame it into shape.

Chen’s gaze went to the family photo that hung on the wall. “He’s quite handsome,” he observed.

“Good genes, I think,” I laughed. “He’s quite lucky he got my father’s genes. I don’t know what would happen if he didn’t.”

“You are pretty too,” Chen said suddenly.

I looked at him, surprised, and found myself blushing at him sudden compliment.

Chen realized what he had just said and coughed awkwardly, and struggled to explain. “Uh… Well, I mean…”

“Thanks,” I said with a small smile.

Chen looked down at the carpet. “Y-You’re welcome.”

A tension hung between us. Both of us stayed like that for a minute or two before I decided to make a move.

I busied myself with putting everything – hairdryer and all – back to their original places. I returned to the living room and checked my reflection in the cabinet glass. Satisfied, I turned to Chen. “Well, I’m done. So… are we setting off?”

Chen’s head snapped up; he looked surprised, but he quickly covered it with a smile. “Well, sure. Of course.”

I slipped into a pair of sneakers and exited my apartment with Chen.

“So… are we going there by foot or…?”

“We’ll walk,” Chen confirmed. “It’s not that far actually. Besides, an occasional walk won’t hurt, right?”

“Uh… Yeah.”

We lapsed into a companionable silence as we walked along.

“Your parents… are they seldom home?” A question popped out of Chen’s mouth.

I realized that he was trying to strike up a conversation, and silently appreciated it. “Erm, right,” I said. “There’s one thing good about it though; if they were at home when you arrived, you probably would have an hour long of interrogation waiting for you.”

Chen laughed. “Well, I think I was lucky then. Your parents do care about you that much.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, they sure do.”

“Hey, I’m being honest here,” Chen said. “What would they interrogate me for an hour if they don’t care about you?”

I shook my head and said nothing.

“By the way, you could explain to your parents that there is nothing between us if they do interrogate me,” Chen said, and winked at me.

“I’m sorry, but they’ll certainly do the same.” I couldn’t help but to suppress a giggle when I imagined my parents interrogating him. Assuming Chen’s personality, it would definitely be a comical sight.

We remained that way – talking, laughing and joking – for the rest of our walk.

I was enjoying an ice-cream while waiting for Chen to return. We were tired after going for numerous rides. Chen decided to get something for us to fill our stomachs, and ordered me to wait for him on the spot.

I spent my time looking about and observing people. Just then, I noticed two familiar silhouettes passing by. My eyes widened.

Isn’t that…?

 Chen’s advice was swept behind my mind as I went after those two people. Although there was quite a crowd, I managed to keep up with their pace. They stopped in front of a cotton candy vendor, and I sneaked behind to get a good view of those two.

Eunji and Minah.

A frown crossed my face. Didn’t she say that she was busy when I asked her to tag along with me last week, before Chen asked me?  Is this what she was busy with – spending time with Minah?

I scanned the crowd for Sooyoung, and I realized that she wasn’t with Eunji and Minah. This meant that Eunji didn’t tell her of this too. And it was abnormal of Eunji to behave like this.

Without realization, my fingers were curled into a fist. Before I could advance forward, someone tapped on me on the shoulder. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I swirled around instantaneously.

“Whoa! Calm down; there’s no need to be that shocked. Did I frighten you that much?” Chen raised his hands in front of him as if I would attack him any second.

I gave a frustrated sigh and said nothing.

“By the way, what are you looking at just now?” Chen ignored my sigh and asked. He tried to look behind me, but I blocked his view.

“Nothing,” I said, hoping that he didn’t notice Eunji and Minah. I would be in hot water if he discovered that I was following them both.

“Ah, really?” Chen sounded sceptical. His gaze returned to me, and he studied my face.

I blushed under his intense gaze, and opened my mouth to speak. “Y-Yeah.”

Great. Now I was stammering.

Suddenly, Chen burst into uproars of laughter. I blinked, perplexed. Did I miss something?

Chen noticed my confused face and started to explain, but before he could get a word out of his mouth, he doubled over and started laughing all over again.

I narrowed my eyes. “Chen! Stop laughing!” When he failed to do so, I stomped on his foot. Hard.

Chen doubled over once again, but this time it was because of pain. He winced and rubbed his aching feet. “That hurts!” He complained.

I grinned in triumph. “Now, do you mind telling me what is going on?”

“Alright, alright! I was just joking just now, and your reaction… Your reaction is just priceless!” He started to laugh again, but soon he subsided under my glare.

“You! You-You are just… just…” I felt like chastising him, but I couldn’t find a word to say.

“I’m just…?” Chen raised an eyebrow, amused.

“Just… Urgh! You are hopeless!” I groaned, gave up, and looked away.

“Yes, I am hopeless,” Chen said with a laugh, and shoved a bun into my hands. “Eat up; I know you get grumpy when you are hungry.”

Before I could find a suitable answer to shot back at Chen, he said something that nearly made my heart stopped.

“Hey, isn’t that… Eunji and Minah?”

I froze and turned around just to meet Eunji in the eyes. Eunji seemed as shocked as me when she saw me.

I was planning not to say anything, but my mouth opened and a word came out, as if it was in someone else’s control. “Hi.”

Eunji looked at me unbelievingly, as if I had three heads. “N-Nara? What are you doing here?”

“I think it’s me who should ask you that,” I said, arching an eyebrow.

“I…” Eunji started to stammer, and sent Minah a look that clearly said Help me.

“We are just hanging out,” Minah explained, coming to Eunji’s aid. Wow. So now they could decipher each other’s look?

“I thought you said that you have something coming up today,” I went on, ignoring Minah as if she had never said anything.

Eunji was about to answer, but Chen interrupted her. “You both are here too? When did you come? I should’ve seen you both earlier…”

Eunji’s eyes grew even wider when she saw Chen, and she cast a look at me that said: What is he doing here?

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to explain. I knew this sound childish; but right now, I could assume that my dislike for Minah had up-leveled to hate. She had earned my dislike by dating Chanyeol, but snatching Eunji away – that was unforgivable.

“Let them have their fun,” I told Chen. “Come on, there are still rides that we haven’t try.”

Eunji’s jaw nearly clanged to the ground. She sent me another look: We’re going to talk later.

Of course we were going to have a talk. It was not only about me; it was going to be about her and Minah too.

I sent her a look: Yeah, of course we are.

The sunset casted its orange glow on us as we strode home.

“So, what’s just now about?” Chen asked.

“Just now?” I echoed, confusion crossing my face. “What do you mean?”

“There’s something between you, Eunji and Minah.” Chen implied.

I was immensely surprised; I never thought that he would notice that. I put on a puzzled expression. “There is?”

Chen fixed me a stare that indicated that he was serious.

I gulped nervously. “Well, I’ve never expected Eunji to turn up with Minah. As you can see, she would usually tell Sooyoung or me if she’s hanging out with anyone, but now…” I trailed off before realizing what I had just said. I immediately clamped my mouth shut and cursed myself mentally for being so careless.

I expected Chen to laugh at my childishness or whatever it was, but to my utmost surprise, he sent me a warm smile. I nearly choked on my own saliva.

“To be honest, I understand your feeling,” Chen said. “I had the same thought when I was just beginning to be friends with Chanyeol and Baekhyun, but soon I realized I was wrong.” He paused for a while and stuffed both of his hands into the pockets of his black jeans before continuing. “Well, I think that you should give Eunji a chance to make friends with someone new. Besides, I think that Baekhyun and Chanyeol will go on double dates with their girlfriends. You won’t want them to give each other a cold shoulder every time they meet, do you?”

I gave him a wan smile. “You’re right. Well, I’ll try.”

We stayed silent as we walked on. Chen looked about the street. “Your house is just round the corner. Do you want me to send you to your doorstep?”

Hearing that, I paused in my steps and gave him a mortified look. “Oh my goodness” was all I managed to say.

A puzzled look crossed Chen’s face. “What?”

“You can’t,” I managed to croak out. “My parents are particularly home by this time, and I had forgotten to mention or leave a note to them that I was going out.”

 “Oh, wow.” Chen said, amused.

“I’m going to be so dead,” I moaned, and buried my face in my hands.

“Yes, I think you are,” Chen replied, and smiled as I glared at him furiously. “So, do you want me to send you to your doorstep?”

“No,” I turned and look at him, “unless you want an interrogation session with my parents.”

“Oh.” Chen’s shoulders sagged, and I wondered why. “You see, it’s going to get dark and it’s dangerous for a girl like you to go by yourself.”

“I know how to self-defense,” I rolled my eyes.

Chen laughed. “Self-defense? You mean pepper spray?”

I glared at him and kicked his leg. “You want me to use that on you?”

“Ouch,” Chen winced, but his smile never left his face. I was beginning to wonder why I was spending my time with him.

I arrived at the bottom of the block of apartment with Chen who was still laughing, but silently this time.

“Well, I got to go. Thanks for today.” I said.

“You are welcome,” he said, and waved. “Goodbye. You better be fast though; you have angry parents to face.”

I sent him a smile and entered the building. Normally I would use the stairs, but this time I decided to use the elevator. I inhaled deeply when the elevator dinged as it arrived at the eighth floor.

I wiped my palms on my trousers, preparing myself to face the wrath of my parents that lay ahead of me. They were probably on a rampage now. Hopefully I would survive.

Here's a special chapter for you all! And enjoy some Nara-Chen moments! It's the longest chapter I've written. 

I'm quite glad to receive a long comment. A billion thanks to you for telling me your opinion! To be honest, I think Nara needs help too; she will receive help but not now. And yes, she is definitely a scary person. However she didn't quite know she is wrong; sometimes she feels guilty but she didn't know what she is doing isn't right. I ship Chen and Nara too. Besides, you are half right about the Nara-Eunji-Sooyoung thing. XD

I might not be able to update until January after this as I may not be able to update for the rest of this month. And starting next year I also won't be doing frequent updates as I would be busy with studying.

I just got my results for my public examinations today and it was not as bad as I expected, but it isn't that good either. I'm hoping that I won' be transfered to another class though... *knocks head on wall and screams hysterically*

Here's INHUMAN by my friend Exoticexotic and me. Do check it out!

I'll look forward to some more comments too..

Happy Winter Solstice for those who are celebrating and an early Happy Christmas to you all!