Ga Young fell into a squatted position out at the veranda, wiping away the tears on her face. It was mostly tears from the recollection of her memory with Chan, but there were fresh tracks as well due to the surprise and fear she felt when Chanyeol screamed at her. She couldn’t blame him for being angry at her since she was the one who had gone into his room when she shouldn’t, but to her defence, she just wanted to revisit Chan’s old room which happened to be the idol’s room now.

She could hear the front door opening and footsteps approaching her on the veranda, and then there was someone squatting beside her. Ga Young refused to lift her head because she didn’t want anybody to see her face red from crying, but then she felt something warm cupping her cheek which made her freeze. That caused her to look up and she silently gasped at the sight of the big eyes staring down at her.

“Ga Young-sshi, are you alright?” Kyungsoo asked, voice soft and careful as not to surprise her.

“I–I didn’t mean to– I just…” Her eyes darted away, ashamed and upset. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s fine. You shouldn’t be apologizing. Chanyeol shouldn’t have screamed at you like that.”

She sniffled. “But I was wrong,” she let out in a whisper.

“I’m sure you weren’t,” Kyungsoo said with a smile. “Come on, let’s wipe your tears. Should we go for a walk? I don’t think it’s a good idea to let you go home looking like this. You parents might kill me.”

That made her laugh a little, and Kyungsoo’s smile widened. He loved hearing her laughter. It’s funny how they’ve just met and even still speaking formally with each other, yet he liked her presence and being able to see her smile or laugh could make him happy too.

***

Baekhyun barged into Chanyeol’s room and found him seated at his table, staring at something by the door. The former turned his head a little and saw a broom that had been placed there, probably when Ga Young had come into his room earlier.

“Why’d you do that, Yeol?” Baekhyun asked, closing the door behind him. He didn’t want Sehun, who had disappeared somewhere, to listen in to their conversation. “I know you’re upset about Suho hyung’s condition, but you didn’t have to yell out your frustration on the poor girl.”

Chanyeol sighed. “I don’t know why I did that too.”

“Sehun told me that she’s the new cleaning lady,” Baekhyun informed him. Chanyeol obviously concluded that already as he kept staring at the broom that certainly did not belong in his room. “She was just doing her job, Yeol.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” the other cried in exasperation. “I was just… surprised to see her. Do you know when’s the last time I saw her in my room? I just didn’t expect to see her in here again.”

Baekhyun stared at his best friend’s face, seeing the regret and pain there. Chanyeol obviously regretted his actions, but what’s done is done. Then he asked, “Did she spend a lot of time in here with you when you guys were kids?” Chanyeol nodded. “Maybe that’s why she was in here.”

Chanyeol frowned and finally looked up at his best friend. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, you specifically told manager hyung to inform the new cleaning lady not to enter your room, and she might’ve forgotten which one’s yours. But yet she happened to walk into this particular one when our rooms are right there. Don’t you think there might be a reason she came in here first?”

“I don’t get you.”

Baekhyun sighed at his clueless best friend. “What I’m trying to say is that maybe she misses her childhood friend. She didn’t enter this room because she was defying orders or anything. She was just… missing her friend.”

“You don’t know that. How would you know that?”

“I just feel like that’s the case with her right now,” Baekhun replied with a shrug. “Anyway, the next time you see her, apologize. She cleaned the bathroom downstairs too, you know. And the mess we left downstairs in the playroom. She deserves a ‘thank you’ instead of being screamed at.”

Chanyeol face-planted himself on his desk as Baekhyun left the room.

***

Ga Young sat by her window, leaning against the cushion while reading a book when the soft breeze coming in from the outside distracted her and made her turn away. Her gaze immediately landed on the opened window across from hers, and she imagined an eight-year-old boy leaning out from the frame, waving at her enthusiastically. But the imagination burst into reality when a figure moved pass the window, and Ga Young straightened up when she saw Chanyeol’s back figure.

He was moving about around the table, probably rearranging things on his desk before he circled to the other side and sat down. Ga Young could hardly see him from his new position, but she could clearly see his hands on the black keyboard he’s placed on his desk.

That’s when he began pressing onto the keys. Since it was a quiet evening with the wind blowing in her direction, she was able to listen well to the song he was playing. Ga Young smiled when she recognized it as a song by Yiruma, her favourite pianist. She leaned back against the cushion and closed her eyes, enjoying the music and she unconsciously swayed along to the tune.

When the song ended, Chanyeol began playing another tune before she could feel the disappointment and again, she recognized it as Yiruma’s, the song that was featured on one of the Twilight series. She completely abandoned her book, choosing to drown in his music instead.

This guy is good, she complimented inwardly with a smile on her face.

“Noona!” She opened her eyes with a startle when she heard Kwang Soo’s voice and to her annoyance, he was standing by the door, obviously entering her room without knocking. “I’m going out, okay? Mom and dad will be home late too so tell that them I went out with my friends, okay? See ya!”

“Yah, Moon Kwang Soo!” she yelled, completely forgetting that her window was opened and anybody could hear her with such volume. “How many times do I have to tell you to knock!?”

She huffed, frowning deeply as she heard Kwang Soo’s distant laughter before it disappeared altogether, meaning that he’s left the house. Ga Young shook her head to herself before standing up, and she belatedly noticed that the music had stopped. Turning her head, she was surprised to see Chanyeol standing by his window, staring at her.

***

“Kyungsoo-sshi, why did you decide to become a singer?” she had asked Kyungsoo when they were walking around the neighbourhood.

The other had his mask covering the bottom half of his face, but when he spoke, she could still hear his words clearly. “Well, I’ve been singing since I was a kid. I love singing, and when I got the opportunity to audition one day, I took it.”

“Did you ever regretted your decision?”

“Nope, never. It’s something that I love, so I don’t regret it.”

“You must be a really good singer then.”

Kyungsoo had snorted, and Ga Young could tell that he was amused. “So you really don’t listen to our songs, huh?” he asked, and she quickly denied it.

“I listened to your famous ones like Growl and Wolf, but I don’t pay attention much. I told you I’m more of a Super Junior fan, remember?” Kyungsoo nodded at that. “I didn’t really have the time to dwell on K-Pop and celebrities like the other kids, to be honest. I just wanted to graduate from college and quit studying, so I gave most of my attention on my studies instead of the other things.”

“Wow, that sounds harsh. But now that you’re free, why don’t you listen to our songs?” Kyungsoo suggested, and she gave him a playful look.

“Are you trying to turn me into an EXO fan now?”

He chuckled. “I’m just doing my best as an EXO member to promote our songs, Ga Young-sshi. If you do turn out to be a fan, I’ll be happy with it too.”

“And what if I start screaming and professing my love to you guys like the other girls?”

“For some reason, I don’t think you’d do that.”

“You don’t?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“Because… we’re your friends. And I don’t think you’d ever put your friends in uncomfortable positions like that.” When he saw the look of surprise on her face, he smiled. “We are your friends, aren’t we?”

Ga Young smiled. “Of course.”

***

Ga Young picked up her phone which lay half-hidden under her pillows before scrolling through her contacts on the Line app, grinning to herself when she found the name she was looking for. Quickly, she typed in a message.

[doyeon-ah, can u suggest some few exo songs for me?]

The reply came not a minute later. [what is this? Since when do u listen to exo?]

[omg… just suggest something for me]

[fine. I’ll send u a list.]

A list?! Ga Young frowned at the words on the screen, and five minutes later, she received a list of songs from her previous roommate in college. Written under the list was Doyeon’s message.

[yah, if u’re planning to become a fan, check out my sehun oppa first. He’s hot!]

[sehun is younger than us, dummy. How is he an oppa?]

[I do what I want.]

Ga Young rolled her eyes at the reply and read the list. “Growl, History, Angel, Baby Don’t Cry, Wolf, XOXO, Black Pearl, Peter Pan… damn, why so many?” she grumbled. Still, she got up from her bed and started searching for the songs online, and she decided to pick the recently released song which happened to be Call Me Baby.

The song was catchy for her, and she find herself moving along to the music. When it ended, Ga Young searched for its music video and was immersed in the powerful dance moves. She was really surprised when she saw Kyungsoo though. He looked nothing like the innocent neighbour she knew. And he could dance quite well too. But the member that really caught her eyes was Chanyeol.

He looked really cool and full of charisma as he danced and rapped. During his solo rap where he stood at the very front during the dance formation, Ga Young felt her jaw drop at the sight of him. Chanyeol’s hair was currently dyed brown (and not to mention always unkempt), but in the music video, his light purplish-silver hair had been styled very nicely and the colour seemed to pop more as he danced and showed off his charisma.

“He looks really cool,” she mumbled and then scoffed. “But that anger management issue he has needs to be fixed first. Seriously, why can’t you look like this in real life too? Handsome, charming, and very charismatic. Stupid Park Chanyeol.”

She repeated the video when it came to an end and sighed when Chanyeol’s part came again.

“But then again, his life would be boring if he’s living so perfectly like this.” Ga Young said to herself and her gaze flickered to the window. She could see that the house next door was pretty much in the dark which meant that the boys were not at home, probably having a schedule somewhere. “Living as a celebrity is stressful after all.”

But why am I thinking of this guy?, she wondered and shook her head. Ayy, might as well listen to something else.

***

Chanyeol walked into the dance studio, ignoring the loud music and the sound of the members playing around or the sounds of their shoes squeaking against the floor as they jumped about. He padded over to the corner of the room and picked up his water bottle before sinking down onto the floor, resting his back against the wall mounted mirrors.

He heard Baekhyun’s laughter then, and he looked up to see him imitating Tao who was red in the face, probably due to embarrassment. Sehun, Chen and Kai were seated on the couch, Baekhyun and Tao on the floor near their feet, while Kyungsoo, Xiumin and Yixing were leaning against the mirrors, their attention on Baekhyun who was still imitating Tao’s hilarious Korean accent.

Despite the pain in his chest at the reminder, Chanyeol has grown used to seeing the group without their certain two Chinese members, but it felt weirder when he couldn’t see Suho’s face around. He sighed and tilted his head up, making the top of his head bump against the mirror behind him as he closed his eyes and swallowed hard.

This is all my fault, he thought bitterly to himself.

“Chanyeol-ah!” a familiar voice called out to him and he opened his eyes before slowly lowering his head to look at Chen. “What are you doing, sitting there all by yourself? Come here!”

Chanyeol shook his head. “Nah, you guys have fun. I think I’m going to leave first,” he said as he slowly stood up again.

“But we’re going to visit Suho hyung after this,” Tao protested, frowning deeply at him. “Aren’t you coming with us?”

“…not tonight, maknae. I’ll just call him tomorrow morning, okay?”

“Why not? Are you in pain, Yeol?” Xiumin asked. As the eldest, he was always concerned of the younger members and took great care of them. Especially now when Suho was not around to do so.

“Do you need to go to the hospital? Should I call manager hyung?” Yixing asked, his words jumbling up in his hurry. Chanyeol could tell that the Chinese guy was really worried about him.

“No, I’m fine. Just tired. I’m going to head back to the dorm first.”

He caught Baekhyun’s eyes then and his best friend seemed to look disappointed although the guy made no move to stop him from leaving. After waving s goodbye, Chanyeol walked out of the dance studio and slowly made his way to the elevator, fixing the strap of his bag as he does so. He heard footsteps heading towards him then and briefly glanced over his shoulder to see Kyungsoo approaching him.

“Yeol, wait up.” He stopped walking and turned to face the younger. “What’s going on? You’ve been acting weird lately.”

He sighed. “I’m fine, Soo. I’m just tired, that’s all.”

“But can’t you come with us to see Suho hyung just this once? You didn’t come with us the previous time, or the time before that. Why are you avoiding him?” Chanyeol’s jaw tightened and he looked away, but Kyungsoo managed to see through him and sighed. “Do you really think that it’s your fault Suho hyung is in the hospital right now?”

The taller whipped his head so fast to look at him that Kyungsoo thought he was going to snap his neck, but what really got him nervous was the guilt in Chanyeol’s eyes. “It was my fault he’s there right now, Kyungsoo. If I were a little bit more careful, then it wouldn’t have happened. Suho hyung wouldn’t have fallen and twisted his ankle so badly like that.”

“Chanyeol–”

“And that all happened after I lost that necklace, too.” he added quietly.

Kyungsoo frowned. “What? What necklace?”

He sighed. “Nothing. Just… go back inside, Kyungsoo. I’ll see you guys when you get back.”

Kyungsoo was unable to stop him from leaving this time and he watched helplessly as walked off, looking like as if he’s bearing the world’s burden on his shoulders. Kyungsoo might be the one who always wished for Chanyeol and Baekhyun to be quieter and less active so he could have his peace, but seeing the former like this was too weird and saddening for him.

And what necklace was he talking about?

so my brother is leaving to further his studies soon, and i'm sad bcs our siblings (there's 4 of us) had never been separated before. and today, our parents arranged for an outdoor family photoshoot. i'm all dressed and now just waiting for the others to be ready lmao

also, to those who are celebrating, Happy Chinese New Year!!

thanks for your time ♥