Δ

“Hello there, Byun Baekhyun,” the visitor said.

“Hyung!” Baekhyun beamed and took the other guy in a big hug. Hyung? Contrary to my liking, somehow I felt a pang of jealousy. I guess, at least he didn’t call him oppa. But why is my boyfriend giving him a hug?! And hey! Stop patting him on the head!

“Hyung, why’re you here?” Baek asked. The other chuckled. His mouth exposed perfect teeth every time he grinned. He had a small round face and piercing slanted ebony eyes which crinkled with his every snicker. His eyebrow game so strong, it could slice you with every touch. The specs sitting cozily on his nose and his neatly pressed button-down added an aura of intellect and respect to the boy. Only one name came to mind as soon as I saw the row of mechanical pencils tucked in his shirt pocket.

Minseok.

“Well, I felt bad about our short meeting earlier so I decided to come over,” he frowned. “Aaand due to my hasty decision, I forgot that the last bus to the city regularly leaves at 8pm. So now, I’ve got no choice but to sleep over.”

Mrs. Byun laughed. She clearly liked this boy judging by how she gobbled the presence of their guest.  Or maybe I was just overreacting.

Without warning, his eyes were on me.

“You must be the boyfriend,” he greeted, smiling. He extended his hand and I clasped it around mine. “Chanyeol, am I right?” I nodded. “I’m Kim Minseok, your boyfriend’s childhood friend.”

His handshake was firm and assured, pretty sure my hand felt like a noodle to him. “It’s nice finally meeting you. Just earlier Baek here told me lots of things about you.”

“Really?” he asked, a hint of curiosity leaping from his eyes to the smirk forming at the corner of his lips.

“Chanyeol!” Baek hissed.

I chuckled. “Good things. Just the good things.” And all of them joined in my laughter.

I didn’t stay long. It was getting late and I still had plans of talking to grandma before the night ends. To apologize about what happened that morning. Apart from Kai’s text asking for Kyungsoo’s number, my phone was basically silent, making me wonder why grandma hasn’t sent a single text yet.

Meanwhile, Minseok was going on about stuff we had to familiarize before the semester starts, like classes starting on Tuesdays instead of Mondays and consequently some having classes on Saturdays, where to get Baek’s uniform (since his course will require him to wear one), the best and cheapest places to eat, and the professors we should watch out for. He was midway when I excused myself, saying I had to go home. I shook Minseok’s hand once again and bid Mrs. Byun goodbye. Baekhyun followed me to the porch.

“So…” Baekhyun whispered as I was tying my shoes. I looked up to him with a pout.

“So… What?” I asked.

“So what do you think about Minseok hyung? Do you like him?”

I stood up and rubbed his chin. “Dude, he’s like a big brother!”  I shrugged as I fitted my coat. “And to think he’s helping us adjust with our freshman year, it’s so nice of him.”

Baekhyun let out a big sigh. “Thank god!” he muttered.

My brows automatically creased in confusion. “Wait, why? Am I supposed to not like him?”

“Idiot,” he crossed his arms. “To be honest, I thought you’d be jealous.”

“Jealous?” I scoffed. “Me? Jealous? When you hugged him as soon as you saw him? When he started patting your head? Jealous? No way!”

Baekhyun laughed. “Oh. So you actually are.”

“Uh uh. Right now, I’m just jealous that you got the chance to spend your childhood with this guy. He’s like a superhero or something.” He seemed really nice. Maybe I was just drawn to him because deep inside, I’ve been craving for an older brother all my life.

Baekhyun slapped my back. “Okay, okay. Stop spouting nonsense and go home. It’s getting late.” I smiled. He reached up to mess with my hair. “Give me a call or a text once you get home. Okay?”

My smile broke into a huge grin. “Yeah.”

I took him in a tight hug and planted a kiss on his head. His hair smelled of bubblegum and felt like satin in between my fingers. It seemed to reap an enticing feeling from within me, rooting me on the spot. I wanted to hold onto him longer – to fit his body into mine. For a split second I regretted going home. But then he broke from the embrace. My body automatically pulled away. Too late to stop now.

“Be careful,” he called after me as my heels hit pavement. I snickered, nodding my head repeatedly.

“I will.”

And then he disappeared behind the front door.

Δ

I was busy contemplating my apology on my way home, even managing a quick trip to the fruit store to buy oranges, her favorite. So imagine my disappointment when I arrived home to find that my grandma was already asleep. Just my luck. Maybe that was the reason I suddenly thought of not going home back in Baekhyun’s porch. Maybe I should’ve trusted my guts.

The house was bathed in darkness when I reached our front door. I fished the key from my jeans only to claw into an empty back pocket. Oh yeah, I was rushing to get out of the house that afternoon I forgot to bring my keys. Thankfully, I had a spare hidden under one of grandma’s plant pots, a testament of me sneaking out in the wee hours of the night. I was in no mood to climb up the tree next to my room. Besides, boyfriend doesn’t want me climbing that old thing ever again.

I found the key soon enough and I didn’t waste a moment before sticking it in the door knob. As soon as the door opened, I flicked the lights on and headed towards the kitchen, tossing the bag of fruit into the fridge. Grandma would love waking to orange juice for breakfast.

I was just about to climb up the stairs when my phone started ringing. It was Suho. Quite a rarity to receive a call from him at this hour. Without further thinking, I accepted the call and pressed the phone to my ear –which, I learned, not long after, was a very, very, very big mistake.

“WHO THE IS KAI AND WHY IS KYUNGSOO TALKING TO HIM AT THIS HOUR?”

His breaths were like gusts in the speakers. The moment his voice boomed out from my phone, I knew he was drunk. Suho doesn’t scream. Suho doesn’t swear. Suho doesn’t get angry with people to the point of cursing them. This wasn’t Suho like. Except with the help of alcohol at least.

“Dude calm down,” I whispered, practically gliding through the flight of stairs, careful not to wake grandma. “Where are you?”

“At the garage,” he breathes. “I’ve been staring at dad’s collection of wrenches and hammers for the past hour and all I could think of is bashing Kai’s skull with them.”

Jesus Christ. “Tell me what happened.”

And then he talked about Kyungsoo staying after we all left. Suho claimed that he looked as if he was itching to talk. But he didn’t get the chance to say anything since the manager was looking for him. The moment Suho came back, Kyungsoo was gone.

“I was worried,” he said, “And curious, but mostly worried.” He sounded as if he has calmed down. I continued on listening even as I reached my room. I put the phone in loudspeaker the moment the door closed behind me and tossed the phone to the bed as I went on to do my business.

“So I decided to call him. I knew he was asleep by that time. But I won’t get a wink of sleep unless I found out what he wanted to say. So imagine my surprise when he cried out for Kai’s name the moment he picked the call!”

“What exactly did he say?” I asked. I couldn’t tell him Kai asked for Kyungsoo’s number earlier. I felt like I was part of the blame.

“Well it was along the lines of him skewering Kai with a stick if he ever calls again.”

My mouth broke into a sudden snicker as I took my clothes off. “Whoa, I didn’t know your boyfriend was into some pretty .” I commented, and proceeded on ing my pants.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” he sounded hurt. Not your boyfriend, eh? “And, for the record, he was annoyed, angry even.”

“That’s not surprising,” I said, grabbing a towel from my closet. “Kai could be an annoying piece of .” I slung the piece of cloth on my shoulder and walked towards the bathroom only in my undies.

“Why are you even worried?” I asked as soon as I entered. “It’s not like they sounded as if they were having phone .”

“But why would Kyungsoo answer a call he thinks is from Kai in the middle of the night? He’s not the type to stay up late!” His voice felt like a grenade exploding as it bounced off the walls. For a moment, I thought I was gonna get deaf.

“Dude, he was angry. He was shouting profanities. Do you think he enjoyed his call? I don’t think so.” I paused. The other line was silent.

This was my cue. I just want to end this call. I wanted to shower so bad.

“You know what, go to bed. Drinking won’t help. You’re a mess when you drink. Let’s talk in the morning,” I offered, wishing he’d take the bait.

“But I’m not drunk!” Another round of grenades in my ear.

I sighed. “Exactly, which is why I’m asking you to stop drinking because heaven knows what you’ll do once you are.” I took the last piece of clothing from my body and turned the shower on. Inches away and yet I could already feel the coziness of steam gushing all over the tiled floor.

“You should hang up,” I continued.

“But-“ But he wouldn’t give up.

Okay, son, I don’t want to use this on you but you’re forcing me to.

“Hang up or I’ll wake Kyungsoo and tell him about this breakdown,” I said.

The silence from the other line was deafening. “You’re such a good friend,” he grumbled. “Bye.”

“You’ll thank me for this,” I said as finality. “Good night.”

When the call ended, I put my music list in shuffle. Troye Sivan’s Wild started playing as soon as the first droplets of warm water hit my skin. The moan that escaped my lips was shameless. It felt bad being nonchalant with my friend’s worries. But, then again, I had a long day myself. I deserved this.

I mean, who can resist a warm shower and good music, right?

Δ

Somehow I dozed off as soon as I went out of the shower. I didn’t notice it at first but I was actually so tired. And it was surprising that I needed that shower to make me realize my exhaustion. I didn’t even dream. Or rather, I don’t remember dreaming. Gone was the nightmare that haunted me for days. And so let me just say that I woke up the next morning refreshed still with my robes on and nothing underneath. Pretty much sums up how busy my day was.

And oh! Remember Minseok? He decided not to go home yet that Sunday morning. How and why? I had no idea. My curiosity was too much it seemed because the moment I read Baekhyun’s text, I was up and about, ready to bolt and head towards my boyfriend’s house.

However, after getting out of the shower, I received another text from him saying they’re heading out to Minseok’s grandpa living nearby. It felt rude to come with since I didn’t really know them. So I decided not to go to his house once and for all, and instead just start reading my mangas. (Especially since I found out that the latest chapter came out last night gaaah! I was so torn between reading it online or ordering the manga. Anyway…) I texted Baekhyun to take care in the trip and thought about visiting the comic store.

But first, the grandma apology.

“Good morning, Channie!” she beamed as soon as I went downstairs. She was all smiles. I felt bad in ruining her mood so I smiled back. And that’s when I noticed the pile of oranges now on the kitchen counter.

“Good morning,” I said as I settled in my seat.