The next week went by quickly. You’re classes were going well since midterms were over and Jinhai was staying far away from you. You think he had finally gotten the hint.

“What are we doing this weekend?” You asked the guys as you all watched TV in the living room.

“I’m going home early.” Xiumin said, followed by “me too’s” from Tao, Sehun, Kai, and Chen.

“I’m leaving tonight to get my girlfriend then we are going home.” Lay said simply.

“What about everyone else?” You asked, looking at the rest of the guys.

“I’m working this weekend.” Kris said, glancing away from his video game.

“We’re all around.” Luhan said, gesturing to everyone else.

“We should do something tomorrow.” You smiled.

“Like what?” Suho asked.

“Maybe we could go to a karaoke bar? I haven’t been to one yet.” You suggested. It was like crickets were let loose in the room. “What?”

“We don’t sing.” Chanyeol said.

“Neither do I. We can drink and sing and laugh and just have a good old dorky time!” You exclaimed. “Trust me, it’s going to be fun!”

“Alright I guess…” Kyungsoo said. “It will be fun!” He faked a cheer.

You hit his arm. “It will be. You guys don’t understand how great karaoke can be.”

Lay got up suddenly, “I have to go, my ride is here.” You looked out the window to see headlights in the driveway.

“Have fun.” Kai said, winking at Lay. He just nodded and said goodbye to everyone. You waved to him and turned back to the rest of the guys.

“So why are almost all of you guys going home early?” You asked.

“Why not?” Sehun laughed, “There’s nothing super exciting going on here so we might as well go home and see our families.”

“Very true.” You laughed.

“What about you? Aren’t you gonna see your brother over the holidays?” Chen asked.

“She’s actually coming to my house.” Chanyeol intervened.

“You’re gonna have a wicked time! His house is awesome!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “And that way you will be there for the Halloween Festival.”

“Baekhyun is my neighbour.” Chanyeol said. “We’ve known each other since we were born.”

“Awh, that’s so cute!” You cooed.

“That’s right!” Baekhyun shouted, and rested his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“Ah, !” Kai exclaimed, looking at his phone. “I should start packing.”

“Why what time is it?” Tao asked.

“It’s ten.” Kai replied.

“Yea, we should all start packing, we’re headed to the train station at nine.” Sehun said.

You said goodnight to all of them and headed up to your own room, Chanyeol following you.

“Can I ask you something?” He said as soon as your bedroom door was closed.

“Yea, sure.” You said absentmindedly, taking off your makeup.

“Well…I was just wondering…” He suddenly got really quiet and bashful.

“About my brother?” You asked.

“Uh, yea.” He replied slowly.

“We haven’t talked in a really long time. Almost four years.” You said simply.

“Four years?” He gasped. “Wow, that’s a long time.”

“Yea, it is.” You took a seat on your bed. “It’s not really his fault though…when I think about it a lot. It’s our mother’s.”

“We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.” He said.

“No, its okay. It will be nice to get it off my chest.” You got him to sit down beside you and you told him about why you were in Korea.

“So, my dad died when I was really young, I was eight. And my brother was fourteen. His name is Jason, my brother I mean. And so my mother got really sick after, and she had to take all of these medications. She got addicted and she always treated my brother very poorly. He stayed through high school, and into university, but he really couldn’t take it anymore. He promised he would never leave me with her, but he had to go. Him and his girlfriend moved here, because that’s the only place out of the country he could live. So, when he left I was left alone with my mother. When Jason was gone she just transferred all of her anger to me.” You took a breath and looked at Chanyeol to see if he was processing everything. When he nodded you continued, “And that’s why I’m here too. Jason taught me a lesson when he went to school in a different province: mom could still make his life miserable. So I skipped going to a school in Canada and just came straight here. That way I could start over again without her.”

“So does your brother know you’re here?” He asked.

“No, I don’t think so. Even if he did, we haven’t spoken for so long I doubt he would try to contact me.” You said, not sounding hurt at all. It was cruel, but it was something you had lived with for so long that it didn’t bother you anymore unless you thought about it for a long time.

“When he first left I thought that he was going to come get me and take me with him to Busan.” You admitted.

“I’m so sorry.” Chanyeol said quietly.

“It’s okay. I’m here now, and I’m happy.” You smiled at him and gave him a hug.

“Have you ever thought about contacting him?” He asked.

“Sometimes, I guess.” You shrugged, “But I don’t want impose on his life. He must be a lot happier now.”

“I’m sure he would be really happy if you talked to him again.” Chanyeol said.

“Yea, maybe.” You replied. “I try not to be too worried about it. He’s all the way in Busan anyways.”

“Well we’re going to Busan anyways.” Chanyeol said.

“What do you mean?” You asked.

“That’s where I live.”  Chanyeol laughed hesitantly. “Is that a problem?”

“No, it won’t be.” What are the chances that I would see him anyways?” You sighed.

“Exactly! Think positively!” Chanyeol smiled. “And just look forward to tomorrow, cause I’m pretty sure the only person that’s going to have fun singing karaoke is you.” He chided.

“Whatever, you guys will love it.” You nudged his arm.

* * * * *

The next day you slept in late, waking up at two in the afternoon. You showered and got ready, not knowing what time everyone would want to leave. As you walked downstairs you noticed everyone sitting in the living room.

“Hey guys!” You said cheerfully.

“It’s about time you got up.” Luhan said.

“What do you mean?” You asked,

“It’s three thirty.” Kyungsoo said.

“Yea, I thought we would be going out tonight though.” You laughed, “You guys should have woken me up.”

“Chanyeol told us not to.” Baekhyun piped up.

“He did?”

“Yea, he said you’ve had a long week with school and dance and to let you sleep in.”  

“Awh, that was nice of him.” You smiled and walked into the kitchen.

“Hey!” Chanyeol greeted.

“Hey! What are you making?” You asked him, peeking over his shoulder.

“A smoothie, do you want one?” He offered.

“Yea that would be great. Are we all going to leave soon?” You asked.

“I’m assuming so, everyone is ready if you are.” He laughed.

“I am.” You took the smoothie and went back to the living room. “Lets get a move on!” You shouted to everyone, drinking the whole glass in two gulps.

Everyone moved slowly towards the door.

“Stop being such spoil sports! It is going to be great!” You patted Kyungsoo on the back.

You all walked down the street to the bus stop and waited with a group of people. The bus came a few minutes later, but there were no seats left for your group. You couldn’t reach the poll running across the top of the subway so you just stood in between Chanyeol and Baekhyun. The bus started down the street and you were able to steady yourself, but when it stopped you flew right into Chanyeol.

“Are you okay?” He asked, looking down on you worriedly, checking you over.

“Yea, I’m fine.” You sighed, “I just can’t reach.” You pointed up to where his hand was holding onto.

“Oh!” He chuckled and wrapped his arm around your shoulder, pulling you close to him so that you wouldn’t fall again. The bus started again. “Is that better?”

“Yea, much.” You looked up at him and smiled. It felt nice to be held, even though you were standing in the middle of a bunch of strangers.

The ride on the bus was long, as you guys were going all the way to the subway. You had decided that none of you had the money to pay for taxis and that it was better to take the bus but all of you were regretting it as it kept filling up.

You could feel Baekhyun pressed up against your back, and you could hear him whispering something. You looked up and saw Chanyeol mouthing something back at him, then pointed down.

“What are you guys talking about?” You asked him, interrupting his sentence.

“Uh…nothing!” He quickly answered, staring at Baekhyun.

You looked towards him, but he shook his head, “Nothing.” He replied, and put his headphones back in.

You gave Chanyeol a suspicious look that he returned with a cute smile. You gave up trying to figure out what they were saying and rested your head on Chanyeol’s chest for the remainder of the trip.

When the bus came to your stop, you hobbled off, wobbling as you touched the ground from bracing your legs the whole trip. Chanyeol caught you as you staggered to one side.

“You look drunk.” Baekhyun said mockingly.

“Gee, thanks.” You scowled at him. “Come on its right down here.” You pulled Chanyeol and Luhan and everyone else followed in suit.

You opened the door and ran in excitedly. “Hi! Could we get a room please?” You asked pleasantly.

“Sure, how many?” The girl asked.

“Just the six of us.”

“Alright, up the stairs to room four.” She handed you a key card after you paid and you took everyone upstairs.

As everyone entered they sat down awkwardly.

“So since this was your idea you have to go first.” Baekhyun said quickly.

“Alright. I need a partner though.” You said, scanning the room for someone who would volunteer.

“Chanyeol will do it.” Kyungsoo said, snickering.

“Uh, alright.” Chanyeol laughed, “I’m just warning you that I’m no good.” He said, holding up his hands.

“That’s okay. It’s just for fun. Lets pick a song.” You handed him the book and waited while he skimmed though it.

“What about Ace?” He asked.

“By Taemin?” You asked, hopefully.

“That’s the one.” He said, handing you back the book.

“Great! I love this song!” You programmed the track into the player and waited for it to start, handing Chanyeol a microphone.

You started singing first:

At the end of a moment
I have found you, yoo hoo
I mindlessly move a little bit closer
Your wet lips are like honey, oh yeah
I only imagined this, my boo, oh yeah
Yeah, I want you
 

Chanyeol started singing when you finished the verse. He picked up so naturally that it shocked you a little bit; you weren’t expecting his voice to sound so smooth.

He sang:

You say I look like I don’t know women?
That I look like a little prince who doesn’t know love?
I just laugh, oh yeah
If you believe in that, you’re a fool, oh yeah mm
The stars are disappearing
The moonlight hides in the clouds
Everyone is asleep on this street
 

You cut in with the last half of the bridge before the chorus:

The only thing that shines is you
Oh if I let you go like this
It’ll be the craziest thing in the world
 

And together you sang the chorus, it perfect harmony with one another.

I want to be your only Ace
All the passing by guys who were just so-so
I am a bit different from them
Baby what you want
What you’ve wanted, what you dreamed of
Ace Ace Ace Ace

 

As the song ended you looked towards him. You hadn’t made eye contact the whole song and you were nervous about looking at him. The lyrics were quite passionate and you didn’t know how he was reacting. You blushed as he smiled at you, everyone else had their heads down, clearly feelings that there was a moment happening, even though you didn’t quite know what that moment was.

“That was great.” You smiled, taking the microphone from Chanyeol. “You should sing more. You are really talented.”

Chanyeol laughed, “Not as good as you, you blew everyone away with your voice and harmonies.”

“Would you stop complementing each other and let someone else have a turn?” Baekhyun snapped. You turned quickly towards the others, face turning an even darker shade of red and you hurried to your seat, Chanyeol following, but sitting a few seats away from you.

The rest of the time spent at karaoke you were in a daze, looking towards Chanyeol every few minutes to see if he was looking at you. And he was. You both smiled at one another but you didn’t sing together again.

In those three minutes you were singing together something had changed. 

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Thanks guys!

I finally feel like I am back on track with the story! I am going to get another update this weekend then my next week is super packed with school so I probably wont get the chance to put another chapter up. The good news though, is that I have my spring break the week after next and I will be updating loads I imagine.

love you guys!

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