BONUS .01

“Oppa, say ‘ah’,” I ordered as I held a spoon up to his mouth. Kai looked at us and rolled his eyes before setting them back on the TV on the wall. Baekhyun opened his mouth and I tipped the warm food in his mouth. His brows shot up and he nodded. “Is it good? You like it?”

“I love it,” he said, chewing slowly. He closed his eyes and hummed. “It’s amazing. Jjang!” He looked at me and the corner of his lips. “Nara-ya, you’re getting better and better at this. Are you sure we can’t just get a place together?”

I laughed but Taeyeon answered before I could: “Hell no. Nara’s moving in with me and Fany after summer, don’t even try to convince her otherwise.” Baekhyun shot her a scowl, which she returned with a raspberry. “She’s the only reason we’ll survive in college.”

“I can’t believe you’re choosing a bunch of girls over your boys,” Jongdae whined, pouting cutely. I giggled and scooted over to him, nuzzling into his frame. He threw his controller aside to put his arm around me.

“Yah, hyung! We were in the middle of a life-threatening mission!” Kai scolded but the older male ignored him, humming contentedly into my hair. Kai scoffed incredulously and lobbed his controller at Kyungsoo. The owl-eyed male flinched and somehow caught it before it hit his head.

“Yah, Jongin-ah, be careful,” I chided. “You could’ve hurt Sushi.”

“I wish I cared more,” he muttered, folding his arms in a sulk. I sniggered and stretched out of Jongdae’s arms. I turned to face him.

“Oppa, it’s not like you’ll never see me,” I said, clinging onto his arm. “We’re, like, glued together, the lot of us. We’re inseparable.” I shrugged a shoulder, “I just think it’s about time I spent more time with other girls, y’know?”

“We can dress up as girls!” Jongdae exclaimed. Baekhyun’s eyes flew to him and Kai pulled a ridiculous face. Jongdae went red and I laughed heartily, shaking his arm from side to side. “Nara-ya~~~”

“Oppa-ya~~~” I whined back. “Don’t be upset. You can come visit me all the time and I’ll visit you all the time, too. We’ll literally be living ten minutes or something from each other.” We were almost at the end of our first year of university and I was planning to rent out an apartment with Taeyeon and Tiffany.

Hyoyeon, Yuri and Yoona planned to rent out the apartment next to or opposite from us. Baekhyun, Kai and Jongdae would be getting a place in the same complex as Kris, though Kai would be paying the larger part of the bill. He’d originally planned to room with Sehun but since that wouldn’t be happening for years to come, he was settling for the other two males.

“Ah, ,” Kris sighed, getting up from the sofa. He was frowning at his phone. “I’ve gotta go. I’ll see you guys later.” He waved everyone goodbye and ruffled my hair on his way out. We watched him exit his apartment, leaving us behind to hopefully not burn it down.

“Ten bucks says it’s Jessica,” Baekhyun spoke up. Murmurs of agreement followed and I nodded. By some strange series of events, Kris had met Jessica a few months back on the shoot of a modelling campaign — Kris was the face of his family’s company’s new product — and they’d hit it off. How? I had no idea.

But fast forward a few months and they were now officially dating.

I shuddered at the thought of sleazy Kris making moves on ice-cold Jessica Jung. He might have been creepy at times but he was sweet. Jessica, on the other hand, was anything but sweet. But as demanding as she was as a girlfriend, Kris seemed to genuinely like her so, as one of his closest friends, I had to try to accept her.

So long as I didn't have to meet her again, I was fine with their relationship.

“He’s always with her these days,” Kai said. “I’d hate to have a clingy girlfriend like that.”

“It’s not clingy to want to spend time with the person you like,” Yoona said. “That’s the point of being in a relationship; you get to see your best friend all the time.”

“The plus side is that you get to kiss them all the time, too,” Hyoyeon added, grinning from ear to ear. She then looked at Kai. “You’re never going to get a girlfriend with an attitude like that.”

“It’s not an attitude, it’s my personality,” he countered, pulling a face. “Besides, I could have the personality of a brick wall and my face would still draw in all the girls.” He smirked lopsidedly and she audibly gulped, as did Yoona. “See? Too easy.”

I launched my spoon at him and it bounced off the side of his head. “Eyyyyy~ You need to put an ice pack on that swollen ego of yours, seriously. It’s not attractive.” He quirked a brow at me and I blushed, much to my dismay. “Okay, just so we’re clear, it’s your face. Not your awful personality.”

“Better than nothing,” he shrugged, shooting me a flirty wink. I rolled my eyes. “And just so we’re clear…I wouldn’t mind a clingy girlfriend as long as it’s you.” He winked again and Jongdae snorted obnoxiously.

“You’re cringey as and delusion,” he told Kai. “Delusion if you think any of us would ever let you date our Nara.”

“Wae, wae, wae?” the tanned male questioned with raised brows. “We’d look good together.” I scrunched my nose up at him, shaking my head. Kai was far too roguish for me, just like Luhan was almost too pretty for me — he was probably prettier than me, to be quite honest.

“Many reasons,” Baekhyun quipped, cutting Jongdae off. He grasped my wrist and tugged me away from Jongdae and into his side. He then enclosed me in his arms, ignoring Jongdae’s complaints. “First and foremost, if she’s going to date one of us, it’s going to be me. Second, you’re a playboy and we’re not letting you toy with our Nara.” Kyungsoo's cheeks went red, though I had no idea why.

“Amen,” Jongdae muttered. He then straightened up, “Oh! And you insult her more than you compliment her.”

“It’s our thing,” Kai argued. “We tease each other. You guys do it!”

“Teasing and borderline bullying are two very different things, Kai,” Baekhyun somewhat lectured him. Kai’s face reddened with embarrassment and I felt inclined to defend him.

“Ani, Jonginnie’s been nicer to me lately,” I said, not completely lying. Kai had been trying his best to not hurt my feelings these days. That didn't mean it didn’t happen — it just meant that he was trying to be a more refined version of himself. He was trying to be his own person, rather than a younger reflection of his father.

“Hardly,” Taeyeon scoffed. Kai shot her a lethal glare and she clamped shut.

“It’s just the way he is,” I said, “he’s rough around the edges but it’s one of his charms. It just means that when he says something nice, it’s more impactful.”

“Exactly,” Kai grinned.

I shot him a look, “Don’t push it, Kim Jongin.” He cleared his throat and looked away. I heard beeping coming from the kitchen and immediately jolted to my feet, out of Baekhyun’s arms. He pouted and I flashed him a somewhat apologetic smile. “Sushi, come help me in the kitchen.”

Kyungsoo nodded and threw the controller aside. He rushed over to me and we went through to Kris’ kitchen. It smelled of herbs and spices, as well as grilled meat.

“Here, taste this,” I said, grabbing a spoon, scooping up some food and shoved it in his mouth. “It’s chilli con carne. Europeans love it.” His eyes widened as he chewed on the food before swallowing thickly. “Is it okay?”

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