“Uh, thanks?”

“No, that’s not it at all…” Molly threw her head back against the tall bench. The man across from her groaned and pushed his hands forcefully through his thick blonde hair. “You have to sound genuine about it, okay? You can’t respond like you’re answering a question. You have to be congenial with a humble ‘thank you’.”

“God, this is so annoying…” Sehun grumbled. He brought the hot coffee to his lips and took a sip. The headache he was battling was growing steadily worse, and the brunette chatterbox across from him wasn’t helping at all. Usually, Molly was calm and clearheaded but at eleven o’clock in the evening, the lack of caffeine was slowly getting to her. While Sehun eyed his sixth refill, she hadn’t even touched her first cup. Molly was currently banging her head on the plush seat with her eyes closed and nose towards the ceiling. Sehun quirked one of his brows in her direction.

She looked like she was possessed.

“Yo, you’re freaking out the other customers,” he mumbled into his coffee.

“I don’t care, damn it.”

“You should.” He rolled his eyes and set down the mug, crossing his arms over his chest while trying to hide his face by staring out the tinted window to his right.

“I’ll start caring when you stop acting like a conceited prick,” Molly piped. The maknae glowered across from her, not even bothering to hide the fact that his cheeks were steadily growing red. She knew he was getting irked by her strained behavior, but what she didn’t know, was the reason he was now trying to conceal his flushed cheeks behind his calloused fingers.

Sehun gave a mild growl and leaned back into the booth seat, extending his legs beneath the wooden table between them. One of his boots bumped against Molly’s foot and he merely responded by averting his gaze and crossing his arms over his chest.

What a total space case.

He’s like a walking enigma, Molly thought to herself. She dropped her chin onto her palm and directed her own gaze towards the window. The coffee in front of her hadn’t been touched—she had always preferred the liquid at a room temperature, which often earned her the chiding of the groups she toured with. The boys of EXO were a great group to be around all together but individually was when they all stood out the most.

When you divided the group into individuals, the entire “concept” broke apart. She often found it odd that some of the guys would even get along in such a stressful setting as that of a professional band. With the exceptions of Yixing and Minseok, who could get along with almost anyone, the rest of the guys were complete opposites. Jongin prefers girly things like ballet and plushies, who's current goal was to get Chanyeol the giant to work on his dancing instead of shutting himself in his room with his guitar and keyboard. Suho preferred playing soccer and watching the sports updates on the company’s television. There were Baekhyun and Jongdae, who were currently obsessed about bodybuilding, and Kyungsoo who'd rather die than step foot in a gym.

And then there was Sehun.

The only things Molly could even recall about him was that he liked hot coffee, smoking outside on cold days, that he preferred cowls to scarves, and that, outside of scripts, he was horrible at socializing for a handsome guy constantly in the public eye.

And that was the main reason she was sitting with the maknae in this expensive coffee shop filled with pretentious customers. The locale made it popular along with the location. It was situated on the rooftop of one of the popular malls which, in turn, was the reason she was dishing out ten US dollars each time Sehun had his cup refilled. Neither of them was from money, but the difference between them now was that the bleach-haired male had all the doe he could possibly want to blow on expensive coffee… and instead, he was spending hers. While she had said it was her treat, he was clearly not aware of a “gentlemanly” decline…

“You’re basically drinking my paycheck, you know…” she mumbled into her palm. Sehun didn’t bother turning his head. He simply lifted his gaze to look at her before shrugging. That really pissed her off. But she wasn’t the only one.

This isn’t how I wanted things to be, Sehun thought indignantly.

While he knew the way he was acting was upsetting her, he couldn’t help it. Molly was being one exceptional today. Usually, she was reserved and quiet around the group, though she had her moments. That’s what he liked about her. But when she had to deal with his cold personality, it was like she suddenly got fed up with everything she suffered from the band and unleashed it on him. Yeah, he should have offered to pay for the coffee, and yes, he knew she was here to help him, but he didn’t want her help and he didn’t want nor care to fix his rude demeanor. It was all an act anyway. He didn’t want to put forth the effort to show her how he really felt; how he really perceived the world…

He really did want to look cool in her eyes, he really did, but—

“You know…” Molly began. She tapped the porcelain sides of the mug. The coffee was still warm, not cool enough just yet. Sehun watched her fingers idly before closing his eyes. Molly sighed, “As a stylist, I was always taught to get to know my clients. I should be able to pick out their styles based on their personalities and preferences. I basically know everything I need to know about Jongin, Baekhyun... Jongdae, Suho, and... a little more than I want to know about Kyungsoo…” She paused and noticed that he was actually looking at her now. “But it kind of bugs me… that I now almost nothing about you.”

“Hm.” Sehun's gaze flickered back to the window. Molly just smiled and pushed her brunette bangs behind an ear. She softened significantly, smothering that edge she had sharpened earlier, which made him relax slightly. It was like she was finally reverting back to normal. But with that saddened distance in her eyes, Sehun was teetering towards the desire to bolt from the booth.

“I’ve always dressed you in black,” she chuckled softly.

Sehun watched how her shoulders bobbed like they usually did when she’d laugh. And then he realized that in the entire year they had been acquainted, he had never been the one to make her laugh like that. He festered on the thought.

“It’s funny to think that in all of these months, I don’t even know what your favorite color is,” Molly smiled weakly and pushed around the ceramic mug. “I can tell you how to make Yixing’s perfect blend of tea, about Chanyeol’s secret tattoo, Baekhyun’s obsession with pedicures and even the person Jongdae lost his ity to. But I can’t even answer the simplest questions about you.”

The silence between them was filled with the idle hum of fellow customers and the whir of the espresso machine. The maknae steadied his chin in the junction of his thumb and forefinger.

Was Molly actually interested in him? She really wanted to get to know him? Even after his long effort of trying to shut her out, she still wanted to be around him? He fought the urge to burst forth with elated giggles; to conceal the ecstatic grin behind a stoic façade.

The girl across the booth stared off dreamily. Her blue eyes were focused on the still surface of her coffee, and her fingers cupped the olive porcelain loosely. Her teal-colored nails scratched against the glazed glass—one of her adorable nervous habits. Sehun sighed and felt his hardened exterior melt away. He still fell subject to her absolute charm.

And Molly had a point.

Sehun knew he kept his secrets locked tightly away, but he thought that she at least had a basic idea of what he liked and didn’t like. He knew almost everything there was to know about her even though he never got the information straight from . It often came from other sources like his band mates. Jongin was the one who told him that Molly participated in an ice skating competition in high school, and also had an affinity for maple syrup. Minseok had been the first to tell him that her favorite pastime was going to baseball games with her father who had died early last year. Kyungsoo was the one to reveal that Molly’s favorite color was purple and that she was one of the worst cooks on the face of the earth. And Jongdae… well, he was the one who discovered Molly had three older brothers who were professional weightlifters and personal trainers back in the States.

Sehun knew these things about her while she didn’t even know his favorite color? Even to him, that seemed unfair.

“Black.”

“What?” Molly’s eyebrows quirked up on her head which caused a smile to breach Sehun’s stoic barrier. He gave a minuscule chuckle and leaned into his palm nonchalantly.

“Black is my favorite color and how I like my coffee,” he answered. But he didn’t stop there. “I love caffeinated things ‘cause I never get much sleep. So coffee is my go-to drink. I also have this weird craving for gummy things. Candies, bubble tea pearls, sweets—it doesn’t matter as long as it’s chewy. I enjoy being on rooftops. For some reason, most of my most memorable moments have happened there. And for some reason, when it gets cold outside or I’m drunk, I get the sudden desire to listen to and or sing English Christmas jingles—Deck the Halls, in particular.

“I was born and raised in the burbs around Seoul in a house where my parents still live. I have an older brother who is going for his Doctorate, who's stupid cat still lives back with my parents. And while on the subject, I really hate cats. My cousin had one when we were little who used to scratch me to hell every time I got too close, and I’ve never liked them since.

“I had to get stitches on my elbow when I was in second grade. I got into a fight with this younger kid who was picking on my brother, and he pushed me in the gravel. I cried like a baby.” Sehun laughed reminiscently and drank in the sound of Molly’s giggles. He watched how she tried to hide her smile by sipping her lukewarm coffee. “You probably already know this, but I hate compliments. I don’t know why, but it’s probably because I’m not used to them. When I was still in elementary school, people used to say I got everything cause I was so handsome, so that’s probably when it started.

“In middle school, I went on my first date with this girl who really liked puffy scarves, so I tried knitting one myself. I used this really god awful tie-dyed yarn that got fuzzy all over my clothes. Needless to say, the scarf was ugly as hell, but I was proud of it. So when the girl made fun of me, I cried for a week. My mom still teases me about that too.

“And when I was in high school, my friends and I snuck into the girl’s locker room and stole all of the uniforms so they had to wear their swimsuits during gym. High school’s also when I lost my ity to some girl at a party. I was so smashed I can’t even remember who it was, which I’m not proud of at all, but what happened already happened. On the lighter side, on the day I graduated, I waited until I got into the car and just started bawling. I don’t know why. I’m just a big cry baby I guess… that’s why I act like this now—like the ‘cool guy’.

The guitarist paused to take in the girl across from him. Molly sat there, mesmerized by all the words that had leaked through his mouth in the past few minutes. She had never heard him talk so genuinely for so long in the past year than she had in those last five minutes. The corner of was pulled upwards into a minuscule smile that exposed a sliver of her white teeth. Blue eyes glittered towards him with a vast amount of intrigue that made his body feel like it was set on a heated burner.

“I like that song, you know.”

“Hm?”

“Deck the Halls,” she sang. “Fa la la la la, la la la la.” Her voice was small, but it was light and airy. Sehun rolled his eyes at her.

“You’re teasing me now,” he joked.

“It’s only fair, I guess.” Molly nodded to herself. “I’m trying to think of things about me that I can tell you.”

“What is there that I don’t already know?”

“Are you teasing me now?”

“Not really. You do kind of talk a lot.”

“Well then, I’ll say something and you can tell me if you know it already, or not.”

“Okay. Start then.”

“Hmm…” Molly tapped her chin before placing her palms flat on the wooden booth. She pursed her lips before beginning, “I’m from Oregon State in America.”

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