It turns out that the only sucess that had come from the sleepover was the slight bonding. You woke up on the couch the next morning stiff as a board. You didn't know how many of your bones cracked while stretching. Breakfast was just a quick bowl of cereal and you found yourself reading the nutritional facts on the side of the box.

Luhan and Xiumin had left a note for you as they had some expo to attend. You didn't want to spend the entire Sunday in their dorm, so you figured you may as well go out. While finishing off a bowl of stale Cheerios, you heard the a knock on the door. It was Lay and Chen. 

"We came to see if you're still alive," Chen greeted, stepping past you and into the apartment. Lay waited for you to gesture him in before doing damage control of Chen, who was raiding the fridge. 

"How was it though?" Lay inquired, giving up on a persistent Chen and turning back to you. 

"Better than I thought it would go. I mean, I now know them as Luhan and Minseok," you said a bit proudly. 

Lay's eyebrows rose and Chen spoke up, "Hah! See. . there was no reason to be worried." He then turned back to inspecting the cupboards, only to find a pack of stale o-reos. Lay glanced at the note that Luhan and Xiumin left behind while you were thinking and decided to talk. 

"Lay. . .can I spend the night at my own apartment tonight?" he looked up at you, facial expression asking 'why'.

"I really can't sleep on the couch again; it's really uncomfortable. And if anything happens in the building, I can just run down to Luhan and Xiumin's dorm. Please?" 

It occured to you that you shouldn't really have to ask Lay if you could stay at your own dorm, but you were guessing he would be the one to decide in the end anyway. He seemed to agree with the idea and Chen offered to help you bring your things back to your dorm. You also took Candy with you as you didn't really trust Luhan and Xiumin with a dog or Luhan around dog food. 

As it happened, Chen was only so adamant about carrying your things back because he was hungry. You threw him a pack of ramen and made a note to buy more food. He sullenly took the pack with reluctant 'thanks' and Lay pulled him towards the door. 

"Tomorrow afternoon, we're picking up Tao and Kris from the airport. Should I get you from your last class?" you didn't really understand what he said, so you mumbled 'sure.' It was after he left that you realized you had just volunteered to pick up someone you barely knew, from the airport. You were about to text Lay 'no' but figured it would be more awkward to explain why not, than to just tag along and stay quiet. Besides, Tao would be there, and he always lightened a mood. 

~

The rest of the day was spent bathing, walking, and feeding Candy and then getting groceries. You had to admit that having a dog was nice. The way she would sit on your lap, or snuggle against you; it was nice having constant company. You were just cleaning up dinner, which had just been a store bought salad, when you heard the Skype jingle resonating from your laptop. You knew it was either Jaejoong or Bo-ah, and that had you running for the laptop as fast as you could. 

You clicked the 'accept call' button, and watched as Jaejoong's face apperaed on the screen. Joyful greetings were exchanged and the usual barage of questions before Jaejoong spoke. 

"You seem a lot more pleasant lately," he looked really thoughtful, "Even from the short phonecalls we have from time to time. Have you made friends?"

You proceeded to tell him about everyone you had met and the time you were spending with them. And despite leaving out a lot of details, Jaejoong still seemed extremely pleased,  

"I knew you would do well," he praised, "Aigooo~ I can see it from her