Hayi was just about managing to keep herself awake as she listened to Rosé gushing over her upcoming date. She tried to muster up the energy to pay enough attention to know exactly when to nod her head at the right intervals and even go as far as adding her own input into the one-sided conversation.

 

But the love-struck girl seemed to be blissfully unaware of the inner turmoil being unleashed within her. Though, the auburn-haired girl couldn’t blame her, it was her own fault for staying up until ridiculously early hours in the morning to finish off an assignment. All she really wanted to do was to return to her bed and snuggle up into the warm abyss of her duvet.

 

“Oh, I’m so nervous Hayi-unnie. I don’t even know what to say to him? What if I mess up and just word-vomit comes out?” She suppressed a yawn, catching the latest sentence of the conversation.

 

“You’ll be fine. Of course, you’re going to be nervous, it’s a normal reaction to have.” She shrugged her shoulders with a tired smile. “But once you get pass that awkward stage, it’ll get easier from there.”

 

It was ironic really, someone like her—who had zero experience when it came to dating, giving advice to Rosé who was not short on admirers in the least bit and had been on a few dates in the past. Hayi could only rely on thinking of a logical response, not being able to fall back on recalling her own encounters.

 

The strawberry blonde girl leaned her head against her fist, letting out a sigh. “Thanks for being encouraging, unnie. But I don’t know…I can’t help but feel like this time, it’s different. Like, I really want to get it right, you know? If this is the one, then the last thing I want to do is scare him away by showing him how much of a dork I am.” With that, she placed both of her hands against her face in evident frustration.

 

Hayi could only look at her with sympathetic eyes. Rosé was someone who heavily relied on fairy tales, there was an air of naivety that surrounded her sometimes in that respect. But also, she emitted a warm aura that easily drew others towards her, like a siren of some sorts. The petite girl didn’t have many friends growing up, she was just generally awkward to be around and tended to prefer her own company.

 

But when Rosé transferred over to the university, moving all the way from Australia, she was an instant hit with the other students. Most were eying to become friends with her, the new shiny toy of the class. With her dulcet tones and beauty, there were no doubts in Hayi’s head that she would go on to become popular and maybe even become a famous artist one day. Even though she approached her first, with a shy smile and a request to sit at the table she sat on one lunch time, she was still surprised that out of the other students, it was her that she wanted to be friends with.

 

And so, they were pretty much inseparable since, even if their paths in life divided them when they started university. Hayi couldn’t even imagine her life without her.

 

“Why don’t you go on a double date instead? It might make you less nervous if you’re with someone you’re comfortable with. You could always ask your other friends if they’re free to come along?” Trying to come up with a suitable solution, she offered up her first thought. To which, she earned a beaming smile in response.

 

“That’s a good idea, unnie!”

 

And so Hayi’s thoughts drifted off course once again. She could feel her eyelids becoming heavier the longer she forced herself to stay awake. She inwardly hoped that her friend would be able to find someone so that would give her an excuse to leave while she was still somewhat conscious enough to get back to the flat.

 

“—so I don’t think they’d be able to make it. I’d hate to bother you unnie, but could I ask you possibly one of the biggest favours to come along with me tonight?”

 

For a second, she had assumed she had heard wrong. She didn’t just ask me to join the double date, right? The auburn-haired girl merely dismissed the thought as being absurd, Rosé had a generous supply of friends she had met on her course, she had even met a couple of them. And they were friendly, not to mention pretty.

 

“Sorry, I don’t think I caught that. What were you saying?” She tried to play dumb, to try and reassure herself that she was just hearing things.

 

Rosé blushed slightly, averting her eyes for a moment. “I was asking if you wanted to come along tonight for the double date.” Upon seeing the dumbstruck look that flashed across the older girl’s face, she backpedalled with a panicked expression. “But only if you were comfortable with that, I don’t expect that you would have been free, it’s stupid of me to assume really…”

 

When she puts it like that, how am I supposed to refuse? She inwardly wailed in her mind, wanting nothing other than to say no. She didn’t mind if it helped Rosé, since she had done more than enough to help her in the past. But she was even worse when it came to dealing with anything that was even remotely romantic.

 

Even the boys back in the flat don’t even see me as a girl. So, there’s no way that the other guy that I’d be ‘set up’ with would either. He’d probably just ignore me and focus on Rosé the entire time. That’s happened many a time, not that she’d feel annoyed at her friend. It was just something that she’d been aware of, the fact that she wasn’t really like other girls who took pride in their appearance to make sure they looked their best.

 

While Hayi on the other hand, just never felt inclined to wear make-up or to dress herself nicely. She was someone who always placed priority over comfort, but that was just her. She had always wondered what she would look like, had she ever gone and had a makeover, but that was just a simple fantasy that would never come true.

 

I guess though one night to help a friend out wouldn’t hurt, even if it’s going to be the most awkward hour of my life. Plus, the down casted look on her face was really the tip of the iceberg.

 

“…I’d be happy to help out—“ She didn’t even have a chance to finish her sentence before she felt arms circle around her tightly.

 

“Thank you, thank you unnie! You’re seriously the best!” Rosé squealed in excitement, removing her hold as she stood up with a determined look.

 

“We’d better get started on working on what you’re gonna wear, and I’ve always wanted to do your make-up. Oh, you’re gonna look so pretty when I’m done with you, unnie!”

 

I don’t even want to know what I’ve signed up for. Hayi merely smiled as she let herself be dragged, half-listening to her friend who shot off ideas that passed over her head. But at least, she’s happy.

 

---

 

I spoke too soon. I can barely even walk in these heels! She tried her best not to fall flat on her face as she walked up the stairs to her shared flat, she needed to pick up her purse and fill it with the essentials—flat keys, cash and her licence, in case the chance cropped up if she ever needed to prove that she wasn’t a kid. She had to be prepared for if the date turned sour and her doe-eyed friend wanted to drown her sorrows away.

 

Rosé had been in her element when she was helping her pick what to wear, eventually deciding on a black dress with long sleeves with frills on the end and that was split into skirt and a crop vest with a lace design filling in the gaps. She wore black tights with platform heels to finish off the look, it was by far the most daring thing that she had ever worn. She opted for natural make-up, not wanting to stand out more than necessary with the eyeliner helping to enunciate her eyes more. Even though she didn’t feel like herself, it was a pleasant change.

 

She was painfully aware of the stares that followed her around, no doubt coated in judgement over her attire. Whispers seemed to float around, the university building complex she lived in was technically classed as co-ed, though it was a rarity apparently that girls opted for that choice. Hayi wasn’t really all that bothered, being content as long as her flatmates weren’t annoying as hell. She had half the mind to go crawl under a rock, unaccustomed to the attention. Even with the nervous chatter to fill the air from her friend, she remained oblivious to the heads turning as she walked past.

 

Though, the petite girl was highly temped to chuck the offending shoes as far away from her person as possible, but she managed to suppress the urge. The auburn-haired girl let out a sigh of relief as she finally reached her floor with the flat in sight and away from the prying eyes, even as she opened the door she could hear the voices from within.

 

It was only when she walked into the flat that the noise all seemed to reside within the kitchen area that she realised what night it was. For a second, she frowned in thought but then shrugged it off. Every week since the start when all her flatmates moved in, there was an ‘agreement’ that there would be a ‘bonding’ session on a weekly basis. And that so happened to be tonight. But then again, it wasn’t as if she contributed to the conversations that they had, if anything it didn’t even seem like they noticed she was even there to begin with.

 

At least for a while before they did realise that she was there and included her once again, but they never treated her badly. If anything, they were relatively decent flatmates to live with. They were crazy at times, but they seemed to overlook the fact that she was a girl and just settled to talk to her as if she was ‘one of the guys’.

 

Again, she didn’t think that they would make a fuss if she missed one night. They already knew that she had deadlines this week and did not disturb her once during her time being locked in her room. Though, she did feel a slight longing that they would knock on her door and take her away from her work, but it never did happen. She didn’t know whether that was a good or a bad thing.

 

She turned the key on her door and walked—more like stumbled into her room. The insufferable click-clacking noise of her shoes was muffled by the carpet of the hallway and her room, thus somewhat hiding the fact she was even wearing them in the first place. But she was mildly aware that the noise levels did dull slightly once her door closed behind her, though she decided to pay it no need.

 

It was bound to return in full swing anyway, like it always did. Hayi pushed it to the back of her mind as she focused on finding her purse instead and picking up items along the way that she needed. Rosé had said that she would wait for her downstairs and they would just share the taxi fare, so she didn’t want to keep her waiting. She was already in a bumbling, nervous state and she didn’t want to go and make it worse by making her wait.

 

So, she didn’t wait any time as grabbed her clutch purse, cursing inwardly when she couldn’t find her driving license—no doubt one tried to hide it in one of their attempts to coax her out of her room—as she walked towards her door. Well, that saves me from having to hypothetically drag her drunk home. Was the thought that ran through her head as she opened her door, just in time to notice a hand reaching out ready to knock on it.

 

It was only after a moment that she realised that it was Johnny, his gaze flickering over her face, seeing it lower slowly over her fitted dress before snapping back to her face. As if suddenly aware of his own actions, a blush crossed the bridge of his nose—something that was usually unlikely for the out-going male, but Hayi didn’t take seem to notice.

 

She blinked, unsure of how to respond. “Um, hey? Sorry, was there something you needed? I was just on my way out.”

 

He shook his head, averting his eyes away from her before meeting hers. “I was going to ask if you were still studying to have a break and join us, but it looks like you’d be slightly overdressed for movie night.”

 

Don’t make me feel bad, don’t make me feel bad…She bit her lip, trying to muster up a smile albeit it being somewhat uneasy. “I’m sorry, I ended up agreeing to do a favour for my friend and I completely forgot about tonight.” Shifting slightly from one foot to the other, she debated on how to end the conversation to leave.

 

“Listen, I’ll try to pick up some food on the way home to make up for not being able to stay, but don’t tell the others. You know what they’re like, I’d have a long list of orders to get otherwise.” Hayi attempted to grin, to wave off the somewhat tense atmosphere. There was something about the look in his eyes that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

 

After a second, his expression lightened up slightly as he nodded his head understandingly. “Don’t worry if you end up not having time to do that, I think we can manage with trying to do some good old home cooking—“

 

“Hyung, what’s taking so long with getting Hayi noona—Whoa…” Sicheng just so happened to halt by the kitchen door, his face froze as he took in the scene before him.

 

Inwardly, she felt her resolve disappearing as her exit quickly left in that split second.  But that didn’t mean that she was going down without a fight—at least, if she took off the ridiculous heels, then maybe she’d still have a shot to get to freedom—a girl could only hope.

 

“Sorry, can’t stay. Got places to be and all that—“ She stepped away from Johnny and attempted to speed walk to the front door, only to find that it was futile thinking she could get away so easily as the male easily caught up with her. Damn these stupid heels.

 

“Sicheng-ah, what’s going…on?” Hayi had realised that she just had to let these reactions of surprise and shock come out before she could be allowed to leave. She was vaguely aware that there was a sudden crash, Donghyuk somehow ended up falling backwards in his seat with a slightly dazed look etched on his face. She was about to check if he was okay, only for Mark to beat her to it as he pulled his friend up with a shake of his head.

 

Hayi felt almost like a pet being paraded around the flat. While she could understand the pure bafflement that crossed their faces when the ‘transformed’ version of her was being dragged into the kitchen, as she hardly ever put an effort into her appearance, it made her question what they were really thinking.

 

Without a shadow of a doubt, she knew that none of them saw her as a potential girlfriend—that’s something she was absolutely fine with. It meant there was no awkward pauses or unnecessary emotions getting in the way and making everything uncomfortable. But there was something in the swift changes that she noted on their faces, almost as if they couldn’t even recognise her for a second.

 

Or they were trying not to laugh her appearance and to avoid mocking her for trying too hard. Either one really could have been the case.

 

Sicheng seemed adamant on holding onto her hand for some strange reason. She glanced at him to see he was smiling shyly. Then, she shifted her gaze onto the rest and decided to end the silence before it got even more uncomfortable than it already was. Feeling like she needed to acknowledge the elephant in the room, almost as if the topic was suffocating her, since she was sure they weren’t as hell going to bring it up.

 

Knowing she was going to be the one to break the ice, consciously aware of the time at the back of her mind as if a miniature Rosé was trying to pull her to leave. “…So, as you can tell, I’m dressed up like a girl today. Nothing to worry about, I’m not some doppelganger or whatever. I’m going to be out tonight and…I guess I’ll see you guys later?” She nudged the younger boy’s shoulder and motioned to her hand, which was still being held captive.

 

Instantly, he blushed as if he didn’t even realise he did not let go. Slowly, he released his grip and increased the distance to hide behind Taeyong. The latter always had an intense look in his eyes, but they were never usually focused on her. It did feel unnerving feeling his gaze on her, but she merely dismissed it for a judging look.

 

“Have you been hiding a man in your life from us all this time, I’m appalled that our cute little dongsaengie didn’t want to share this nugget of information.” Ten tilted his head to the side, a pout tugged on his lips. 

 

Hayi blinked in surprise, unused to the rare endearment term from him. The Thai male wasn’t one to shy away from skin ship in the slightest, but she had gotten the impression that he felt uneasy with her around. He would clam up whenever she walked into the room or make an excuse to leave, so for some reason unbeknownst to her, there must have been something that just pissed him off about her.

 

Deciding to go along with it, she shrugged her shoulders with a feigned disappointed look. “Oh, looks like you caught me. And I had been doing so well with sneaking around too.” From the narrowed gazes and surprised looks suddenly melting into darker expressions, she released a weary sigh as she batted their unneeded concerns away.

 

It seemed as if they all turned a full 180, though she wasn’t sure if she welcomed the change or not. “…Just kidding. Well, long story short, my friend’s nervous for her date tonight…so I’m just taking one for the team and joining her for a double date.” She merely shrugged her shoulders, as if it couldn’t be helped.

 

Suddenly the thought of her missing ID popped into her head. “Oh, while I remember, which one of you idiots took my driving license?”

 

Unsurprisingly, it was Doyoung who piped up. He was one who liked to help her out when the others pulled pranks. “…It should be in the cupboard on the left.”

 

“Oh? Do you know this guy then, noona?” Mark pipped up after a while, his eyes widened in thought. He was one of the youngest in the group and like Johnny, was fluent in English. She vaguely recalled the time she had asked if he could help her brush up on the language and watched as his cheeks reddened, mumbled a few words then made a break for it.  

 

Hayi turned around and opened the wooden cupboard door, noting in distain that it was visible on the top shelf. Those buggers. She moved onto her tiptoes and reached up as she tried not to fall into the counter in front of her, it took at least two attempts before she could grab it. Distracted by her task at hand, she missed the sharp intakes of breath and nervous gulps throughout the room.

 

Once she pivoted on her heel to face them she shook her head to answer Mark’s question, not really paying any heed to their flustered faces. “Not personally, he’s a close friend of Rosé’s date. But I had a chat with him earlier, he seemed friendly enough.” Upon seeing the exchange of looks that were shared amongst the group—they weren’t as subtle as they thought they were. “But it’s not like this is a serious date for me, I’m just staying for moral support than anything else.”

 

“What’s his name?” She was mildly surprised to hear Taeyong speaking directly to her. He was almost like the self-appointed leader of the flat—slash mother—minus to her of course—since she wasn’t exactly part of their little clique. Though, she knew that beneath the cold façade that he showed to strangers, he wasn’t all bad to be around. He had warmed up a couple more degrees towards her than when the pair first met.

 

The auburn-haired girl folded her arms over her chest with a slightly defiant look. “Why do you need to know?”

 

Taeyong’s lips were pulled into a straight line as he kept himself in check. “Is there something wrong with wanting to check if this guy’s safe for you to be around? We’re flatmates, after all.”

 

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. “For heaven’s sake, I’m not going to be meeting my betrothed or anything. He’s just a guy, who I probably won’t even see after the date. End of discussion.” Hayi could tell that he wasn’t done with his integration, she shot the deadliest glare that dared him to utter another word. He scoffed, grumbling under his breath but otherwise complied.  

 

Johnny, usually the carefree one of the group, was clearly testing the boundaries, as he extended an arm over her shoulder. He was normally overly friendly with the guys, but not usually with her. For once, she felt somewhat relived that the heels added to her short height—something that he often relentlessly for. “Don’t take it the wrong way. We’re just looking out for you, little fairy.”

 

Hayi easily shrugged off him off with a feigned annoyed look. “I’ll have you know that I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself.” With an exaggerated flex of her arm, she allowed a small grin to form on her lips. “I’m tougher than I look!”

 

There was a chuckle that broke into the air, Yuta being the culprit. While all they were all flower boys in their own right—but don’t tell them that, in fear of their egos being bruised at the thought of being called anything other than manly—there was something that caught her attention about the Japanese male. It could have been that there was no beating around the bush with him, he’d be the first one to speak if something bothered him.

 

She knew not to hold unrealistic expectations of guys, especially after living in the co-ed flat, not all were the gentlemen type who acted like princes. That would be the first mistake to assume such naïve things. The petite girl liked to think, while she wasn’t really all that close with them, that they would at least be honest with her.

 

“I don’t doubt that, Hayi-ah. You throw one hell of a punch,” He shot a grin at her, to which Johnny took it as his cue to clench his arm with a feigned pained expression. She nearly snorted, briefly recalling the time she unleashed hell on him for being the undeniable flirt—and not-so much of a closet ert—that he was.

 

She returned the gesture, tossing part of her long hair over her left shoulder. “And don’t you forget it!” At the back of her mind, the last thing she wanted to do was seem like she was fishing for compliments. That wasn’t it at all, she was aware that she wasn’t the prettiest girl around—especially with having friends like Rosé who was practically the epitome of beauty itself.

 

But, there was also that part of her that wanted to know that she wasn’t making a fool of herself, even with the younger girl’s reassurance that she looked good, she struggled to believe that she was could pull this dress off. Because self-esteem was such a fragile concept, and there was nothing wrong with wanting to be validated in how she was feeling.

 

So, throwing caution to the wind, she turned to glance at them. “Honest opinions now guys, I won’t get mad—“ Upon seeing the wave of disbelief that appeared on their faces, she rolled her eyes and reclarified. “Alright, I’ll rephrase, I won’t hit any of you then.”

 

After a moment of agreement being voiced out on their part, she took a deep breath and felt her cheeks starting to warm from embarrassment. “And even if you think my question is funny, try to find it within yourselves not to laugh…but I thought I’d ask a second opinion here, since I’ll be out in the public for everyone to see me.” She blew a stray strand of hair away from her eyes, unintendedly puffing her cheeks in the process.

 

“I noticed that I had odd looks when I was on my way here—I mean, they probably weren’t looking at me, who wouldn’t stare at Rosé right? If you’d seen her, you’d probably be awed at her too…” After an awkward pause, Hayi pulled the stubborn strand of hair behind her ear, averting her gaze as she could feel herself stalling. “I’d appreciate some honesty here guys. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do I look like I’m a try-hard right now?”

 

Silence was all that followed and Hayi’s gaze remained on the tiled floor. She didn’t know why she placed such importance on what they had to say, because right now their lack of opinions spoke more volumes than if they had openly called her ugly to her face.

 

Taeil, the quietest of the group, was the first to speak. He cleared his throat, causing her to look in his direction. He smiled at her in that kind, reassuring way that came natural to him. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re in sweats or a dress, Hayi-ah. You look pretty, especially when you smile. You’ll knock your date’s socks off for sure.”

 

The awkward member Doyoung jumped right in after him, holding up two thumbs up. “Right…what hyung said.” Was all he said, shuffling in his seat as he struggled to maintain eye contact with her.

 

“What happened to our sassy, cute fairy? She didn’t give a damn about what other people thought of her,” Johnny leaned closer to pat her head with a knowing smile.

 

“What everyone’s really trying to say is that you look smoking hot, just be confident in yourself Hayi-ah.” Yuta winked as he remained unfiltered, his infamous healing smile aimed at her that never failed to get those fangirl’s hearts racing.

 

Hayi pretended to cover her cheeks, hiding the growing smile. “You’re just humouring me, but I appreciate the effort.”

 

After a period of silence, unlikely from the youngest, Donghyuk placed his fingers against both sides of his face, a pout taking up the vacant space on his face. “I don’t know about the others, but I’m really jealous of your date, noona.”

 

The Thai male’s hand shot up like a rocket, nodding his head in agreement. “I second that.” Mark merely rolled his eyes as he flicked Ten’s forehead, earning a groan for his labour.

 

“…You're really pretty, noona.” It was rushed and she almost didn’t catch the blond’s words at first.

 

Hayi’s eyes softened, not expecting in the slightest the reactions that she had got. She had the assumption in her head that they would have been brutally savage and tore her self-esteem to shreds. Though, she wasn’t betting on Taeyong saying anything, since interaction with him has always been limited to a minimum.

 

The male in question could feel several gazes boring into him, pressuring him to say something. He released a sigh as he looked over to the petite girl, dressed up in the most suggestive thing he’s ever seen her worn. He knew that the rest had a soft spot for her, even if some didn’t openly show it. But even though they didn’t have much of a friendship, she still had enough respect for him—and no fangirls had found their way in yet, much to his surprise since she often used that threat.

 

“…You look good, Hayi-ssi.” He coughed once her attention was directed towards him, moving to scratch the back of his neck sheepishly. It was strange to see the usually charismatic leader act so unlike himself. Immediately he could feel elbows ribbing into him and the embarrassment suddenly came up tenfold.

 

The girl in question felt her spirits rise with the extra confidence boost, knowing that was as good as she was going to get. Though, just she remembered at that very moment that Rosé was still waiting for her, her phone started to ring as if voicing out her friend’s distress. She went to remove her heels, knowing that she wasn’t going to get very far while wearing them and started to backpedal out of the room.

 

“And on that high note, I’ll be taking my leave to probably the most awkward date I’ll have in my life. If I’m not back until the morning, the worst-case scenario will be most likely that I’ll taking care of my friend. Don’t wait up!” She hollered, directing the latter part towards the motherly Taeyong, before she made a beeline for the front door and hoping that her friend didn’t already have a nervous breakdown waiting for her.

 

“Yah, we haven’t stopped showering you with compliments, Hayi-ah~” She heard calls after her, shaking her head with a smile. “Wait, let me come with you—“ There was a scuffle behind her as the voices meshed together but she didn’t stop as she powerwalked to the front door, meeting Jaehyun along the way holding a bag of groceries in one hand and was trying to bat his way with his other hand through from the gathering of boys near the door.

 

“—Geeze, what’s gotten you all so excited—oh.” Jaehyun grumbled loudly, trying not to drop anything until he glanced back to see Hayi and suddenly all the pieces seemed to align in their rightful places.

 

“Sorry, won’t be able to stick around for your cooking, Jaehyun-ssi. See you later, the others will fill you in!” She waved at the dazzled boy, the small group congregating in the hall parted like the red sea as she walked through with her heels in one hand and her purse in the other.

 

She recognised Jungkook in the small crowd of faces and waved at him with her heels dangling from her outstretched hand. “Hey, we’re still on to work on the group assignment next week, yeah?”

 

Automatically, his cheeks exploded with colour as he shyly nodded his head at her with a small smile. She was brought back to reality at her insistently ringing phone as she slipped it out to answer.

 

“I’m literally on my way now…What? The taxi’s here already? Say no more, I’ll be there in less than five!” Without further ado, she tried to run as quickly as she was able to in her fitted dress, apologises streaming from as she passed by other residents along the way, making several heads turn in her wake.

 

The blond was just about to reply when he was shoved back to see the rest of his flat piling out to follow the girl. “Hayi-ah, wait! I’ll give you a lift over!”

Jaehyun blinked a few times. After a moment, it was only then he could process what had happened as he tossed the bags inside, relieved he had only bought snacks—knowing that Taeyong would have yelled at him for leaving out perishable food that needed to be refrigerated—as he jogged after his flatmates as he shook his head. Why is it always me that misses out on these things?

 

Under five minutes later, Hayi was trying to bat their hands away as they tried to drag her away from the taxi—with the driver looking on in exasperation and Rosé smiling at the scene. She was mildly aware of what it must have looked like—hopefully it didn’t seem like they were all her admirers, that would have been ridiculous.

 

“Guys, I have to go. I’m late. Go back inside and I’ll see you later.” She pointed towards the main entrance of the building with a stern look. After much grumbling and puppy dog looks, they were somewhat placated. It was Taeyong who glanced at Rosé, the first acknowledgement that any of them gave to her when they arrived. “Make sure she gets back in one piece, I’m leaving her in your care.”

 

“Ignore him. He’s just worried I’m gonna have a good time while they’re stuck indoors tonight.” She poked her tongue out as she gently pushed her friend into the awaiting taxi. It was only when she closed the door after her that she rolled the window down.

 

“Be good and don’t even try stealing things from my room, otherwise I’m not cooking this weekend.” She directed a meaningful glance around, then waved goodbye as the car drove off.

 

It was only after the taxi turned a corner that Johnny shoved his hands into his pockets, an amused smile tilted on his lips. “I’m guessing we aren’t gonna be staying in tonight.”

 

“You bet your glossy locks we aren’t. I can’t leave Hayi-ah in the hands of some stranger. Let’s go.” Yuta was the first to charge forward towards the car park with Sicheng on his heels. The leader was already in the midst of working out the plan with the others tagging along them, Donghyuk threw an arm over Mark’s shoulders as his face lit up.

 

“Oh, I do love a good manhunt, don’t you Markie?”

 

The blond rolled his eyes. “You do know that she’s not going to like us spying on her, right?”

 

“This isn’t spying. It’s called checking out the competition. He might be the perfect guy to sweep Hayi-ah off her feet!” Ten offered his two cents into the conversation.

 

“Aren’t you just talking about me, then?” The tall, caramel haired male tossed his hair back confidently. He was answered to guffaws and immediately huffed in response.

 

“Well, if we’re gonna do this, we have to do it right. If Hayi-noona ends up going clubbing, shots are on the hyungdul tonight!” Jaehyun threw his arms around Doyoung and Taeil with a -eating grin, both of whom could only shake their heads at their antics.

 

If there was one thing for sure, it was going to be a messy night.

---

...This has actually been sitting in my writing folder for a while now, even before 'Kismet'! It's just been collecting dust and left without an ending, so I decided to finish it! I think this was the time I got into NCT haha. If you want more Lee Hi x NCT antics, let me know! :) 

The dress that Lee Hi was wearing in this chapter was inspired by the picture at the top, just without the rabbit ears! She always needs some love and I like writing crack stories, it gets the ideas I get out of the way. (Also, a sidenote, I've got Park Jimin (15&...JYP?) x BTS thing too, if any of you are interested I'll see if I can get my into gear and get back into writing that!) 

Hope you're all good and that you liked this mess of a chapter. Forever just starting new stories it seems!

Until next time!