[Year 23]

On the peaceful morning shy of my twenty-fourth birthday, I flipped more than a page of the book I was supposed to finish. And no, I'm not referring to pancakes, or my heart-shaped patties. (Though, I could be referring to Chanyeol-hyung or Jongdae-hyung… because they annoy me on a daily basis as if they were born with such a mission.)

But, I swear, I didn't, really didn't mean to flip more than just pages of my book. I mean, come on, it's perfectly normal and okay for a person to flip another person in self-defence. Yes, I flipped a person; and the possibilities of the person being either Jongdae-hyung or Chanyeol-hyung are actually pretty high.

Fortunately for the two same-aged friends (plus another one of the ninety-twos), it was neither of them. Unfortunately for me and my shattering heart, it was her.

“Why am I the one hurting when you're the one who’s lying on the bed?”

Said lying-on-the-bed person glances up from her twiddling thumbs to give me a shrug, the bob of her shoulders causing her to wince and grunt in pain. I quickly, but gently, placed both hands on her shoulders, stopping the action and she flashed me an amused smile. The smile didn't last long.

“It must be your lucky day, Soo.”

I groaned, “My birthday’s tomorrow, so maybe that's why I'm not lucky today– But– Ugh!” My hands gestured in all directions and an amused expression formed on her face. “Why did I even– Why did you even try to scare me from behind...”

Her expression turned thoughtful, and she seemed to be thinking. “I'm fine though...”

“An aching back from an over-the-shoulder flip is no joke–”

“Well, I'm okay, aren't I!” She exclaimed, clearly getting frustrated with my lack of understanding towards her words. “And besides, my shoulder is fine. It's not dislocated, and also, my buttocks are fine.” I gave her the look. She returned the favour.

“If you're that worried, you're most welcome to check.”

I choked then, but soon yelped when Jen sat up at the speed of light and thumped my back. My saliva was lodged in my throat, and I know that I wasn't breathing in any air but I still attempted to force her back down into her back with gurgled godowngodowngocoughcoughackkkkk which caused her to laugh. But obviously, she's a tough nut with insane strength (not that I can't overpower her; I just chose not to) and immense amount of determination to stay upright.

Which led to an awkward situation of us facing each other, arms tangled in a still-humanly possible mess between our bodies, and our faces flushed with exhilaration and competitiveness. Also, I think I should mention that, um, well… she's sitting on me.

“You're heavy.”

She gave me a blank look, then deadpanned, “Wow, way to break the mood, Soo.”

Mood? What mood? There is no mood. Zilch. I can't feel any mood. Not at all. Nuh-uh.

“Don't our mothers say that we shouldn't lie, especially to ourselves?” She tilted her head and her eyes were half-amused, half-quizzical. She's definitely mocking me. “And yes, Soo, you did just say your thoughts out loud again.”

.

“If you need to, the toilet is just down the hallway.” Her eyes glinted with mischief.

Oh my god.

“Aren’t we all freethinkers, but yeah, you really ought to stop thinking and just do something already, Soo.” And the moment the endearment slipped past her lips, I felt her breath on mine. The playfulness in her orbs had vanished, replacing it was an emotion I've seen countless times. She's directed it to the rest of the boys, such as Yixing-hyung when he dozes off at the dining table, or when Suho-hyung becomes the target of Sehun and Kai’s harmless teasing (which she sometimes join in). I've even seen it when Zitao comes back with bags of clothes he's amassed from sales in malls, and mind you, Jen’s very particular when it comes to Zitao spending more than his salary.

But frankly, I don't think I've been the target of this gaze yet. Maybe I have, or could have been. So when the emotion tried to pierce through me with my chest beginning to stir and something churning down south, I didn't know what to do. And when you don't know what to do, you'll always do the first thing that you know by reflex, by instinct.

Flee.

“You can't hide in the kitchen forever, Soo.”

I shot Kris-hyung a glare dripping with the pathetic amount of malice that I could gather within a split second, but of course, pathetic equals to weak and the giant burst out into deep laughter, clearly unaffected by the murderous intent I had intended to give off. A large hand rested on my shoulder and his long fingers gripped it firmly, though soft. “Finish this dish, and go out.”

“And what? Leave the rest of the dishes to you?” I scoffed, ignoring his mock scandalised expression that, unfortunately, only looked good on that Huang Zitao’s face (don't tell him that, he'll never let me live it down). “We’ll be dead overnight.”

“You're small but your words hurt people real bad, Soo.” Kris-hyung pouted, long fingers still gripping my shoulder but it didn’t hurt. Kris-hyung has always been a softie; a prime example of how one should never judge a book by its cover. “Lighten up, and no, we won't die by tomorrow because I managed to get Jongdae and Yixing to support my cause.”

And speak of the devils (maybe only Jongdae), they popped up next to me and I almost lost the finger I've been using to flip more than pages and pancakes these days. Don't ask me about it, but long story short — being a working adult , a lot.

“Chef Jongdae reporting for duty!” He did a salute, and Yixing-hyung followed suit. I stopped slicing the meat and turned towards them. Their faces had plastered on hopeful expressions–

“No,” I said immediately. “Get out of my kitchen.”

–which vanished and in an instance, I had a whining devil on my arm. “Why!” Jongdae-hyung whines, hands through my arms and alarm bells rang when he began to shake them and–

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