Months passed and Chanyeol was slowly—very slowly— becoming an integral part of Kyungsoo's life.

On the occassion of their school's eightieth anniversary, the school's management declared a holiday for all the students and staff. That day, Baekhyun was already seated in the kitchen of the Do residence by eight in the morning. Thankfully, Mr. Do had gone off to work or else he would've grilled Baekhyun with questions.

'Kyungsoooooo! Hurry up!!!' whined Baekhyun in an obnoxious voice, seated over the kitchen counter as Kyungsoo meticulously packed the picnic basket, 'Just throw all the food in and let's go!!'

'Jesus, Baekhyun! Give me some time, would you?' snapped Kyungsoo sharply.

'Sweetie! Don't be so harsh. Baekhyun just wants you to be early...' put in Mrs. Do sweetly from beside them.

'Mom, he's just being an overdramatic drama queen... Besides, Chanyeol's the last person on earth who would actually come on time.'

'Oh! Chanyeol's coming for the picnic, too? It's marvelous that you're making a new friend, Kyungsoo.'

'Well, we don't exactly know if Chanyeol's just a friend or... you know, perhaps something more?' suggested Baekhyun, with a wink.

'Shut up Byun Baekhyun! He's not my boyfriend!'

'But darling, no one mentioned anything about him being your boyfriend. All he meant was that Chanyeol could be your best friend, unless of course he is your boyfriend and you just accidentally admitted it!' came Kyungsoo's mother's witty response.

A shriek of laughter from Baekhyun followed while Kyungsoo fumbled nervously with the food.

'Kyungsoo has a boyfriend! A boyfriend!' sang Baekhyun.

'Chanyeol is her boyfriend! And my future son-in-law!' chanted Mrs. Do in the same tune, sharing a high five with Baekhyun over her daughter's head.

'Conspiracy, I tell you...' muttered Kyungsoo, as she finally heaved the basket off the counter, dragging Baekhyun by his collar from her mother's evil clutches.

And Kyungsoo was right about Chanyeol being late as usual. He got up late and took an hour to finish his bath. An hour and a half later, he had swept his jacket off the back of a chair and was about to step out when—

'Park Chanyeol! Where do you think you're running off to? Don't you have to study for that upcoming test in advanced calculus?' nagged his mother from behind him.

'But I've been called for an outing, Mom!' he barked back.

'And with which of your hooligan buddies?' 

Chanyeol resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his mother's snoopy questions and managed to say through gritted teeth,

'Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, okay?'

At that reply, Mrs. Park's facial expression turned from surprise to delight and then into something that Chanyeol thought looked nearly psychotic. With a toothy grin and a weird aura, she inched towards her son, making him step back with caution.

'Dear Yeollie! My sweet Yeollie!' crowed his mother in a sickly sweet saccharine coated voice, 'Why didn't you tell me before that you had Kyungsoo with you? You have my full permission to go enjoy yourself...'

'Uhh... yeah sure, mom... Now why don't you go take some medication for this bipolar disorder of yours?' he said, hurriedly putting on his shoes before bolting towards the door.

'GIVE MY LOVE TO KYUNGSOO!!!' screeched his mother, nearly crashing her face into the slamming door.

'You have got to be kidding me!' laughed Baekhyun, after Chanyeol recounted the morning's events, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

'It seems as though she likes Kyungsoo more than me, her own son,' complained Chanyeol.

'That's because your mother has good taste...' came a snide comment from Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol stuck his tongue out at her, as they walked through the forested tracks, with Chanyeol dragging his bike along slowly. Kyungsoo walked in between the two wheeler and Baekhyun, whose arm was casually linked with hers.

Despite standing at the extreme end, Chanyeol could clearly see that they held each other tightly and he couldn't help but feel jealous at their close skinship. The sensible part of his brain knew that they were just friends. But the emotional centres of his brain were filling him with envy over the fact that Kyungsoo was closer to Baekhyun. They did random lame commentaries and poked fun of each other, like what all best friends do. And now they were holding hands, as though they were rubbing it in Chanyeol's face to painfully remind him of what he was missing on. Chanyeol badly wanted to be the one holding Kyungsoo's hand, laughing with her, looking into her dark eyes, remembering every bump and contour of her face. And it tears him apart that some other guy gets to do that easily. Right now, he just wanted to wrench Kyungsoo from Baekhyun's grasp and have her for himself—

'Hey, Yeol!' chirped Baekhyun, jolting Chanyeol out of his train of thoughts.

Chanyeol whipped his head in their direction and they were looking back at him with concern.

'You okay? You seemed like you were battling an inner demon of sorts...' stated Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol was lost for words but thankfully, he spotted a clearing in the middle of the forest a little way ahead. He immediately suggested that they settle there and they agreed. Chanyeol leant his bike against a tree and came up to where the checkered picnic blanket was laid out. He had brought a huge bottle of fizzy ginger ale and Baekhyun got sandwiches. But the major portion of the contents of that basket was prepared by Kyungsoo herself. Kimchi fried rice, lasagna, stir fry vegetables and mango mousse cake.

'God, Kyungsoo! This is amazing!' cried Chanyeol, helping himself to the kimchi fried rice.

'Everything K'soo makes is amazing! Try some of that stir fry— it's divine!' beamed Baekhyun.

Most girls would've blushed at that compliment. But Do Kyungsoo wasn't like "most girls". Instead, she pulled on Baekhyun's ears hard and hissed,'Don't you dare say anything like that again!'

'No but he's right,' mumbled Chanyeol, chewing on the food,'This is divine.'

'Shut up Chanyeol. Don't encourage him,' muttered an embarrassed Kyungsoo while Baekhyun sniggered in the background.

Since they had breakfast hours ago, the food vanished almost immediately after it had been laid out. Breathing a sigh of content, Baekhyun got up and dusted the back of his jeans.

'I'm just gonna walk around for a while,' he said, squinting into the distance.

'Make sure the serial killer doesn't get you,' teased Chanyeol. Pat came the reply,

'The only serial killer here is that dwarf sitting by your side.'

'And Baekhyun...' started Kyungsoo.

'Yeah?'

'Don't go around picking mushrooms. They could be toadstools for all we know.'

Patting his chest in assurance, Baekhyun set off into the midst of the trees. Now Chanyeol was left with Kyungsoo. Alone.

Resting on the blanket, he glanced at her and secretly let his eyes roam over her form. She was reading 'Pride and Prejudice', sitting with her legs tucked underneath her. She wasn't in her usual Wednesday Addams attire. Today, she wore a pretty, breezy cotton sundress and had her hair tied into a high ponytail. She wore no makeup yet she glowed. Her feet looked so delicate that Chanyeol felt the urge to touch it. Her slender exposed neck was driving him mad.

'Do you have something on your mind?' she asked out of the blue, eyes still fixed on the book.

How can I possibly tell you that you're the one who's always on my mind? thought Chanyeol wistfully but decided to ask,

'Why do you write fanfiction?'

'I guess it brings out my creative side?'

'Or does it bring out your true desires and fantasies?'

Kyungsoo chuckled at his cheek and put her book down. She looked at him in a way that froze both time and space for Chanyeol.

'You've got some nerve,' she said at last, 'But the truth is that it keeps me from being lonely.'

'You don't have to be lonely. Go shopping, buy makeup, gossip— well, that's pretty much what my sister does on a daily basis...'

'I'll rather have my brains and innards eaten out by roaches.'

'Okaaayyy. Then how about you go get your bike and ride down to meet Baek and me?'

'Oh that...' she whispered, redness rising in her face,'I just don't know how to ride a bike yet...'

Chanyeol's jaw nearly hit the ground.

'What!?' he yelled, making Kyungsoo wince, 'You don't know how to ride a bike? How come?!'

She grinned at his surprise and answered,

'Frankly, I'm pretty jealous over the fact that you get to ride a cool bike and all. I've always wanted to as well but I guess my dad has his reasons for not letting me have a bike...'

'Kyungsoo,' breathed Chanyeol, slowly clasping her forearm and pulling her down beside him,'I hope you don't mind me asking but... why doesn't your father let you do anything?'

Placing her head beside his shoulder and conveniently hidng her face from his sight, she began,

'He just wants to prevent me from going the way my brother went. You see, I have an older brother who eloped with this girl from college and it broke my father's heart completely. A few years later, my brother contacted us. He told us he was in Switzerland, working for a company there. He called to inform us about the arrival of his newborn son. That kind of sorted things out but my dad's still as paranoid and untrusting as ever. So I can't do anything without his permission— no bike, no art class, nothing!' stated Kyungsoo with a bitter smile, only to suddenly cover her face and mumble, 'Gosh! You must be wondering what kind of a sappy, overdramatic family mine must be!'

But all that Chanyeol felt was a wave of sympathy for this girl laying beside him. Silently suffering without a complaint, when she missed out on all the fun she could have but instead being obliged to obey her father. How her brother's actions were punishing her.

'Kyungsoo...' whispered Chanyeol and Kyungsoo raised her face to meet his gaze. Their noses were a hair's breadth away from each other. The close proximity caused heat to radiate through Chanyeol's body. He wondered if Kyungsoo's lips were as soft as they seemed. Perhaps he should try it and see—

'Chanyeol?' came Kyungsoo's hushed voice, 'You were saying something?'

Taking a deep breath, Chanyeol answered, 'One day, you'll learn to fly on your own and I'll be there by your side. And then we'll meet whenever we want to and we'll make sure we're together forever.'

'Yeah. I'm waiting for that day too. Someday, maybe...' was the vague answer.

Turning his eyes up to the canopy of leaves above, Chanyeol pondered over why Kyungsoo was like the way she is. Why mustn't she ever question her father's orders? Will she be willing to spend the rest of her life in supressed unhappiness? His mind raced with different questions but he decided it was best not to ask her. Because the more she answered, the more questions arose in Chanyeol's mind.

Such was the enigma that was Do Kyungsoo.

A beautiful enigma.

While Chanyeol was busy pushing away the unanswered questions from his mind, Kyungsoo slowly leant her head into Chanyeol's chest. The scent of her peach shampoo filled his every intake of breath, bringing a warmth to his heart. Without disturbing her, he pulled the novel from under her arm and watched as her chest gently rose and fell.

Soon, the rhythm of his breathing matched hers perfectly and they dozed off on the cool grass, waking up only when Baekhyun returned with mushrooms that entirely resembled toadstools.

'BYUN BAEKHYUN!!!!!' yelled Kyungsoo, lunging at her frightened friend's throat, 'How many times should I remind you that these are poisonous? The toxin might seep through your skin and kill you! Get that through your thick head for once!'

Before any major harm could be done to poor Baekhyun, Chanyeol grabbed Kyungsoo by the waist and set her off to one side.

'Kyungsoo, calm down! Toadstools can't kill you just because you touched it. Hey! Don't tell me you're going to cry... Baekhyun's alright now! The truth is that you could've killed him a few seconds from now had it not been for me...'

Kyungsoo managed to break out into the smallest smile at that, much to the relief of Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Getting back his cycle, Chanyeol began walking back with the other two. But this time he was elated. Kyungsoo was walking right next to him while Baekhyun walked by the farthest end. They walked in silence for a while, listening to the sounds of nature, when Baekhyun suddenly grabbed the bike and sped off.

'See ya, losers!' he screeched, cackling madly as he took off on the bicycle.

'That rascal! He's had an eye on your bike for a while now!' commented Kyungsoo with great amusement.

'He just had to sneak upon it like a rat!' joked Chanyeol, looking at Kyungsoo shaking her head at her friend's antics.

But what he didn't expect was Kyungsoo silently taking his hand in hers. Her fingers felt cold as they wrapped around the back of his hand, sending  millions of tiny shocks up his arm. Chanyeol was left dumbfounded but he quickly regained his senses. Take that Baekhyun, he thought haughtily, only to slap himself mentally at his immaturity. Not wanting to miss the moment, he tightly held onto her slender hand, promising to never let go till she did. And she finally did, but only after an hour, when they had to separate at the usual junction.

An hour that might seem ordinary for anyone else.

An hour of bliss for Park Chanyeol.