The spring weather was coming to an end as the sun floated above the horizon longer than the past couple of weeks. The hot weather was kicking in with crisp linen shirts drenched and stuck uninvitingly on to skin, hair frazzled by the hot wind blowing around and the cheeks of pedestrians painted bright red indicating exhaustion.

Do Kyungsoo was no different as he made his way home from school with his closest friends. Kyungsoo was lagging behind the group while some frustrated mumbles of the heat entered his ears. Sehun’s ears had perked up when he heard a child’s giggle from nearby. His eyes instantly zeroed on to the little girl holding a chocolate ice-cream in her tiny hands. The sprinkles on the ice-cream were slowly sliding down the sphere.

Sehun turned his head to his favourite hyung, Luhan, and tugged on his shirt. Luhan ignored the maknae as his frustrations of the day increased with the increasing temperature. Sehun did not give up and continued tugging. Luhan’s eyebrows knitted together and his eye twitched in annoyance. He turned his head and shot glares at Sehun. Sehun, although fazed by the gaze, did not back down without a fight, he gave a gaze as piercing as Luhan’s. No longer willing to have a stare down, Luhan sighed, “What?”

“Can we get ice-cream?” Sehun asked while pointing to the shop across the road. Hearing the word ice-cream, most of the guys looked up at the shop then turned to Joonmyun, the one to most likely treat the cold dessert. Joonmyun sighed and gestured to cross the street. Sehun’s expression brightened up and elatedly crossed the street and swept through the doors of the shop.

As they entered the shop, sounds of approving sighs chorused around. The shop was air-conditioned to keep the hot wind out while keeping the shop cool for the desserts served at the counter. Sehun’s nose found its way to the counter and was deciding on the flavours as his eyes scanned the tubs and tubs of wonderful treats. Kyungsoo thought their maknae was extremely cute and looked like a puppy begging for food. It was known around school that the boys have a deep and strong friendship. It was also known that although they were close, they were also interested in the opposite despite some girls’ fantasy of otherwise.

Knowing the favourite flavours of the guys, Joonmyun went up to the counter and ordered the desserts while everyone else gathered around some tables. Sehun tugged on Joonmyun’s sleeve and looked pleadingly into the other’s eyes while pointing at the chocolate fudge tub of ice-cream. Joonmyun only shook his head and responded, “I’ve already ordered it for you. It’s hard to forget that your favourites are chocolate related,”

Sehun smiled sheepishly back and wandered back to the others while Joonmyun paid for all. As they all waited for the dessert to be delivered to their table, a blast of hot air came through with an exhausted looking girl who looked much like the tired boys before they settled down. The girl with dishevelled hair glanced around the shop, taking in the interior designs before making her way to the counter.

Kyungsoo watched curiously as the girl ordered. He was about to voice out his statement when someone else beat him to it. “She looks new. Must be the house next to yours Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun pointed out.

The house next to Kyungsoo’s has been empty for a couple of months already. The previous owners of the house were a family of five: 2 sons and a daughter. They moved away due to their father’s promotion to another country. Kyungsoo was sad to see them go as he got along with his neighbours quite well. He wasn’t quite sure if he’ll be a good neighbour for the new people moving in but he’ll definitely try his hardest to become friendly.

Another blast of hot air entered the shop again as two new customers ran in. The boys hardly got a glance of the new customers as the two zoomed past, they only saw a blur of red and blue that tackled the girl ordering at the counter with the ferocity of tiger. The words of “unnie” and “noona” swirled around the shop. The girl only glanced at the two that tugged at her legs before she paid for what she ordered.

“Did you get mint choc?” both asked her simultaneously.

“Yes I did. How could I forget?” she replied good-naturedly. The three siblings took a table not too far from the boys and gave the boys no notice while the boys curiously stared at them. Their attention was broken when the treats were served to their tables.

The boys rambunctiously dug into their ice-creams earning weird glances from the two younger siblings. They giggled and pointed at the boys while their older sister was occupied on her phone. However her attention was soon directed to her siblings who were tugging on her shirt and poking her sides. She frowned at her siblings and reprimanded them of their rude behaviour. She then turned to the boys and gave them a small bow and an apology on her siblings’ behalf.

The boys replied with polite remarks that kids will always be kids to which the girl only smiled while her younger brother proudly stated, “I’m not a kid. I’m a man,” The boys smiled at the younger, “Of course you are. Look at those strong muscles and that tall stature. Who can ever mistake that you are a child?” Baekhyun praised the boy that only boosted the boy’s ego and he inflated his chest to look larger than his size.

His twin only giggled, “Silly oppa. Soohyun doesn’t have any muscles. He isn’t tall like you,” Soohyun glared at his twin.

“Noona, Sooyun is lying. I am strong right?” he looked pleadingly into his sister’s eyes. The eldest looked at the two amusedly, “You’re always the strongest in my eyes. OK? Sooyun, stop making fun of your brother,”

It was then that their ice-cream was served to their table which led to some squeals from the youngest two while the elder introduced herself to the boys, “Hello. We’re new to the area, please take of us. I’m Song Soojin and this is Soohyun and Sooyun, they’re twins. Excuse their rude manners and I hope to see you guys around,” the boys looked flustered with the formal introduction and all stood up to bow back and introduce themselves.

At the end of their introduction, Soojin looked quite baffled with the amount of names she should remember. Kyungsoo recognised the look and replied reassuringly that the others won’t mind that she won’t remember their names yet. She let out a smile of relief.

Chanyeol, being the welcoming happy virus that he is, invited the three siblings to sit with them. The twins cheered while the elder looked concerned with the amount of noise the whole group will make but relented after seeing that the shop itself was unusually empty.

Soojin settled down next to her siblings who were already enamoured with the handsome boys. The boys asked the twins a number of questions ranging from their age to where they have moved from while Soojin listened quietly and observed her companions. They seemed pretty harmless and Soohyun and Sooyun both seem to enjoy their company.

When everyone had finished their desserts, the group started packing up their rubbish and reluctantly leaving the store. They all said their goodbyes while splitting up and heading towards their respective homes. It was then that she realised three of the boys were following her, specifically, two tall boys and a shorter one. She briefly remembered the tallest one was Chanyeol.

“Oppa, what’s your name?” Sooyun asked unabashedly at the tallest while tugging at his pants and Chanyeol’s grin stretched to his ears and responded happily. Sooyun then moved on to the next tallest and peered curiously at him which made him smile widely as well.

“That’s Jongin oppa to you,”

“Oppa is so handsome,” Sooyun voiced in wonderment to which he laughed it off and ruffled her hair. Sooyun gave a pout while fixing her hair. Her twin decided to finish her quest by asking the remaining older male for his name.

“It’s Kyungsoo and I will be your neighbour from now on. Come over and play whenever you want,” he spoke warmly to the siblings. Soojin found herself staring at her new neighbour thoughtfully. His warm love-heart-smile could be comparable to sunny spring day. They walked for a few minutes with constant chatter among Chanyeol and the twins while Jongin watched in amusement. Soon, Chanyeol and Jongin turned off and only Kyungsoo was with them.

Sensing that Kyungsoo wasn’t really a talkative person, the twins proposed to race home leaving no thought for their elder sister who was currently stuck in an awkward silence with the male. Soojin could only watch their traitorous backs running ahead while trying to come up with a conversation starter. Thankfully, Kyungsoo beat her to it.

“So when will you be attending school?”

“Umm… In two days, I think. I still need to help out with organising the boxes and furniture. I’m hoping I won’t be too behind in school work and hopefully make some new friends along the way,” she replied back with determination to keep the silence at bay.

“You can hang out with us if you like. The boys can be loud and boisterous but they’ll keep you entertained. I’ll also understand if you would rather ignore us and make female friends,” he stated nonchalantly while watching Soojin for her reaction. He was definitely not disappointed when he saw her flustered expression and cute mumblings.

“I’m… uhh flattered but I’m not too comfortable in large crowds and I like to keep to myself. It’s not that I don’t like you guys. You guys seem cool and fun but it might be uhh… too much energy or excitement? I will try to find some friends who are more like me perhaps but thank you for your offer,” she mumbled out while staring her very interesting flats.

“Hey, it’s fine. I’m not offended. Just ask for help from any one of us if you ever need any. Better yet, just ring my doorbell any time you need some sugar,” he smiled at her sweetly. Soojin could only conclude that his smile was one very dangerous honey trap, luring her in slowly with tempts of sweetness and comfort, all things leading to a very sticky situation if careless.

Kyungsoo turned away from her and noticed they were now in front of her new house, “This is it. I’ll see you around,” he gave a final wave and smile before continuing to walk past her house and into his own. Soojin watched him until he was out of view and it was then she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Placing her hand on her heart feeling the rapidly thumping muscle. She reprimanded herself for feeling like a love-struck teenager towards a stranger she just met. Her thoughts soon got disturbed when Soohyun rushed out the house to pull her back in to set up the TV so he and Sooyun could watch Poporo.

 

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Inspiration: Goodbye Summer - f(x) ft. D.O.

Hope you've enjoyed the first chapter.