Hyoyeon crawled onto the peak hour train, in even more agony than she was in this morning. 

"You did great!" Sooyoung patted her head, a little condescendingly but mostly comfortingly, "you even managed to make a few baskets."

Hyo didn't even respond. In fairness she couldn't.

She listened to the two siblings talking passionately about tactics for the game in less than a week away, with complete disbelief. How did they both still have so much energy given the early start, the full day of school plus the two hour after school training? 

"Are you guys aliens?" She whispered. 

They ignored her. 

It was the Sejong Boys stop and Hyo groaned as she got squished even more when a number of students, presumably also heading home from after school activities, piled on. 

"You alright Hyo?' Sooyoung called out after the train started moving because the siblings were slightly separated. 

'Yup I'm good.' 

Hyo just thanked her lucky stars that the boys seemed to have done the world a favour by showering, in fact a pleasant scent of soap and deodorant was surrounding her. 

The train lurched at that point and Hyo, exhausted from her long day, lost balance. She tried to grab hold of the pole but missed. 

"Sorry!" She whispered, to the person who she'd grabbed.

She looked up and groaned. 

It was Panda Eyes a.k.a. Tao. He looked furious when he recognised her, but suspiciously, also very very red.

"I'm so sorry," she said again, as she tried to distance herself, only to be squished against him again when the train jolted.

He didn't respond, instead choosing to scowl straight ahead.

It was sooooo awkward, Hyo wished she could be anywhere else. This was turning out to be such a ridiculous day.

When they got to the next station, there was a momentary relief between passengers getting off and the new set coming on - from the Namwon Girls stop of all places. She could see Tao's face change to what she could only call a "battle face" and quickly tried to decide how to escape from Panda Eyes' vicinity when she felt herself be pushed (or pulled?) into a little nook where she was only up against one human.

And it wasn't Tao, in fact he didn't even look like a student, with a pullover and a cap pulled low over her eyes. 

Hyo was instantly on guard -- if this was a ert she needed to figure out how to grab Sooyoung or Chanyeol's attention.

But before she could even formulate her plan the guy looked up and her breath caught.

It was Luhan!

Luhan who was trying hard not to be noticeable, which confused her until  she heard the school girls cry out, "what? Why isn't Luhan-oppa here?! We timed it perfectly for the basketball club practice to finish!!"

Now that she thought about it Tao and some other tall guys were blocking them from view. 

"Can you stop stalking him?" She heard Tao ask.

"Hey this is public transport! We're not doing anything illegal!" One girl bit back.

"You're a public nuisance."

"Shut up Panda Eyes!!" She retorted and Hyo couldn't help but snigger. Apparently it was a far more used nickname than just by her. 

Her little snort brought Luhan's attention back to her and she noticed that his eyes widened with realisation about who she was.

Hyo couldn't breathe.

Man this guy was even prettier up close. His skin looked absolutely flawless and his eyes were just so BIG. He would've been a pretty girl...

He opened his mouth (his very pretty mouth) to say something but then -

'Hyo, let's get off here and get dinner!' She tore her gaze from him and saw Soo craning her neck over their human barricade, 'I'll treat you!'

Hyo's stomach grumbled and she felt goosebumps on her arms when the sound of Luhan's amused laughter hit her ears.

'Excuse me,' she bowed to him. 

He let her pass with probably the minimum amount of space allowance, meaning she had to brush up against him somewhat and caught that freshly showered scent again.

It would take her heart rate awhile to get back to normal...

She was reluctant to have gotten off, even with the promise of a free meal, wondering what he intended to say to her but then she realised something.

That's right, she would see him again next week at the friendly basketball match.

She suddenly was looking forward to the match m.

Something she never thought she'd say.

++++

A/N: I know this chapter was mostly Luhan and Tao, but can we just take a moment to pause and reflect on how perfect Exo and SNSD's comebacks have been? 

If you haven't seen the dance practise video of Exo's The Eve, you need to get on that. You will thank me. I thank SM each day for this video.