Dum. Dum. Dum. Like drums beating upon my brain, my head throbs like no tomorrow. Nausea joins the party as a migraine settles itself upon my pounding skull. Welcome to your first hangoverr you idiot, some annoying subconscious voice smugly says. This totally , why do people care for alcohol? ‘Ahri, breakfast is gonna be ready in ten!’ Kyungsoo calls out from behind my door. I groan loudly and feel for my phone on my bed to check the time. Pat, pat, pat and I start tapping my leg but no phone to be seen. Maybe Lola has it. Come to think of it, I don’t know how I got into bed? I’m wearing my pyjamas but who changed me? Where is my damn phone? Ughhh, I’m never drinking ever again.

Ten minutes later, I join the boys for Kyungsoo’s breakfast. Their loud chattering worsens my headache but everything is forgotten when I see the food on the dining table. There is a feast to feed about thirty people but there’s only 12 of us- Kris apparently hasn’t come home from last night. I place some chocolate pancakes, a couple of croissants filled with ham and cheese and a few watermelon slices on my plate, super excited to devour this meal. I’m about to take a photo to send to the Porcupines chat but then remember the girls back at home would be strictly eating oats mixed protein powder every morning until the Grand Final. Yeah, better not. ‘Why the sad smile?’ a gentle voice sounds from behind. I turn around to see Luhan pull up the chair next to me and fill his plate with goods. His in trackies but his hair is still perfectly styled from yesterday’s events. Sigh, how are these boys so pretty? At least I’ll always have chocolate by my side.  I take my first bite of the pancakes and get transported to food heaven. Luhan waves in front of my face, ‘Hellooo, earth to Ahri!?’ he exclaims.

‘Huh?’ I gruffly manage between bites of pancake, totally out of it.

‘I asked why are you smiling so sadly?’ he grins as he dives into his bacon and eggs.

‘Oh, I was just thinking of my teammates back at home. I could be eating plain porridge instead of this luxury we’re indulging in today.’ Luhan widens his eyes and nods slowly.

‘Damn, thats rough. Truth be told though, we’ve been eating pretty plain breakfasts for the last couple of weeks. Today is a treat.’ He’s right, the past fortnight has just been toast or cereal and then off to set for shooting. I look at Kyungsoo who has dark circles, has cheeks sporting flour dust and two brand new burns to his fingers. He must have been up for hours cooking for us and even still he’s scolding everyone to take more scrambled eggs because he’s going to cook some more. Get you a man like Kyungsoo ladies and gentlemen. ‘So what’s the special occasion today?’ I ask to no one in particular, trying to justify this huge feast.

‘Well, since we’re releasing our new song Overdose next month, we’re going into promotion phase from tomorrow. That means interviews, music banks, variety shows, a million photoshoots, fan meetings and of course, concerts. This is like our last day of peace.’ Luhan informs me.

‘Last day of peace? Are you telling me the last two weeks of getting three hours of sleep a day have been peaceful for you?’ I ask, outraged. The whole table seems to hear my rant and turns towards me.

‘Yes,’ all of them state together. For fk’s sake, how hard do these guys work? I look down at my pancakes and try focus on the good things in life. ‘So what’s the plan for today?’

‘I’m so glad you asked,’ Chanyeol beams at me, pulling out a clipboard. ‘Each of us has one hour of today to make the rest do an activity of their choice.’ A couple of irritated groans echo the kitchen. ‘I want to game by myself,’ Sehun announces whereas Tao tells us he has already booked out the Gucci store today to go shopping. ‘No way jose, we’re going to spend today together,’ Chanyeol states firmly, tapping onto the clipboard. ‘We can play games and go shopping together. See, we already did Kyungsoo's activity!’ Baekhyun exclaims.

‘And what would that be?’ Kyungsoo enquires, sitting next to Baekhyun.

‘Eating breakfast of course!’ Baekyeol both chime. Kyungsoo flicks their foreheads. ‘How is that an activity you idiots, that’s for survival.’

‘Okay fine, you can choose another activity- we have the whole day.’ Chanyeol responds eagerly.

‘Nah, I’ll pass,’ Kyungsoo smiles as he loads his dishes in the dishwasher. Chanyeol stares at him bewildered, uttering a ‘Why are you complaining then?’ and turns to the rest of us. ‘Okay, so far we have Gaming and Shopping. Baek and I are going to combine our hours to watch Princess Diaries 1,’ he says excitedly. ‘Jongin, I’m assuming you’re going to make us watch 1 Million videos to learn some new choreo,’ Chanyeol winks and points at him while Jongin nods in agreement. ‘Lay, you’re going to make us build that new Lego set you bought at the airport yeah?’ Lay grins widely, clapping his hands. ‘Yesss.’

Chanyeol continues the guessing game and basically assigns our activities to us. Suho’s is board games, Xiumin’s is going out for street food and finding the best pork bun, Luhan’s is soccer, mine is basketball and Chen’s is getting to choose what we have for dinner. Honestly speaking, I always forget that these guys are celebrities who maintain a super ‘cool’ image to the rest of the world. Because really, they’re a bunch of dorks who choose to watch chick flicks and play Lego and Scrabble on their only day off. ‘OKAY SO WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? It’s 10.30 now, let’s get this show on the road. We’ll do all the activities we can do inside the dorm first and then we’ll see about the others,’ Chanyeol hollers at us like a coach as he finishes writing on his clipboard. He makes a run for the living room but Kyungsoo pulls him back into the kitchen by the ear. ‘Let’s get this show on the road AFTER we clean up, okay cupcake?’ Kyungsoo confirms with Chanyeol in a threatening tone. Chanyeol gulps slowly. We all giggle at the sight of the frightened and begin to clean up. This is going to be a loooong day.

After eating and drinking three glasses of water, my hangover headache has eased up a bit. We already played an hour of Mario Kart (Luhan came first, Sehun came second and yours truly came third), one round of Scrabble and one round of Monopoly (which I balls in) and were in the middle of Mia’s transformation in Princess Diaries when Kris walked into the dormitory. ‘Well, well, well look who’s doing the walk of shame?’ Baekhyun greets him, laughing. The team whistle and join in, ‘That’s our boyyy!’ Suho, on the other hand, nods curtly towards him, ‘Nice of you to join us Kris.’ Kris smiles weakly at him. ‘Sorry Suho, I heard you stayed back til 4.30 in the morning  trying to look for me. I thought I had said goodbye to you guys.’ Suho’s lips are pursed, not giving in. Damn, that boy can be scary when he angry, holyy.  Kris’ usual sleek hair is disheveled, his suit is creased all over, his skin is paler than usual and the hollow eyebags indicate a night of zero sleep. ‘I really am sorry Suho, it won’t happen again.’ Kris apologises again, bowing his head down. Suho mulls this over and finally lets out a smile. Lightly punching his arm, he warns to never bail an event without letting someone know. Kris nods and sits down on the sofa with us to watch Princess Diaries. He hasn’t looked at me once since he’s arrived, almost like he’s purposely avoiding my eyes. No doubt his behaviour must be courtesy of Hana saying absolutely wonderful words about me. Part of me feels frustrated because it obviously makes it harder to do my job if I can’t communicate with a member but a larger part of me is relieved I don’t have to interact with Hana’s boyfriend. I want to stay away (far, far, faaaaaar away) from that girl. Either way, there’s other members to take care of and I’m not going out of my way to force someone to get along with me. Chanyeol resumes the film and Kris doesn’t ask any questions, which I find quite strange (I mean 11 young men engrossed in a chick flick? But Princess Diaries is the bomb.com so I guess it’s understandable?).  I subtly look back and find that he’s dozed off almost instantly. What on Earth did he get up to last night? I mean, of course they coulda done well, what couples do but he looks beyond exhausted. Is that how you’re meant to look after you’ve had a long night of passionate lovemaking?? Magazines say you’re meant to have a morning glow but Kris looks like he just came back from the dead. Maybe that only applies to females? Omg, Ahri Choi, you’re 19 and you still don’t know how this world works, I curse at myself.  Luhan, who hasn’t left my side since breakfast, swiftly turns my head around from Kris to face the TV. ‘You’re missing the movie,’ he explains, with a shrug. I’m kind of surprised at how casually Luhan has become close with me because we haven’t really talked before today. I welcome the change, though, because I can finally bridge the gap between me and the Exo-M boys and become better friends. Plus, he’s totally right. Blonde Devil is distracting me from witnessing the precious moments of Grandmere being a boss queen. I nod and fold my arms together, facing the screen, vowing to never think about Kris’ passionate lovemaking again.

Three hours later, we’re all standing inside the Gucci store in Gangnam. The sales person is giving Tao a private tour of S2018 Winter Collection while I can’t help but laugh at how suspicious everybody looks. None of the other boys seem remotely interested in the merchandise so they’re seated upon a leather lounge, each wearing their ‘disguise’. At least that’s what they say it is. In reality, two of them are sporting ginger fake moustaches, four of them are wearing stupid wigs, all are wearing beanies/caps/ cowboy hats??  and Chanyeol drew lines on his forehead to create wrinkles and is carrying a walking stick, pretending to be an old grandpa. What’s more bizarre is that this is apparently completely normal for them. Kyungsoo notices my seemingly constipated face as I try not to burst into laughter at the scene before me and ruffles my hair. ‘Do we look that strange?’ he asks, reshuffling his face mask. ‘Depends on your definition of strange ya know?’ I retort back. He rolls his eyes. ‘Nah, it’s just that the point of a disguise is to ward away attention. Your outfits however scream ‘Look at me!!’ I laugh. He tries to flick my forehead but I dodge him so he gives up and starts scrolling through his phone. ‘Oh hey by the way, do you have my phone? I can’t find it anywhere in the dorms,’ I explain. Kyungsoo tilts his head back, deep in thought. ‘No, I haven’t seen it either. When did you last have it with you?’

‘I’m pretty sure I had it at yesterday’s dinner. I remember taking photos with Lola.’

‘Okay, I’ll message her if she remembers seeing it or picking it up for you,’ Kyungsoo replies as he speedily sends a text through. For the millionth time during my stay in Korea, I thank the lords for the existence of this man.

‘Thanks Kyungsoo, I don’t know what I’d do without you.’ I link my arms around him. He rolls his eyes again but smiles. ‘Also, I’m assuming you’re the one who put me to bed yesterday. I noticed you also took my make-up off so thank you for that too!’ I beam at him. He looks down at me and shakes his head. ‘Actually, yesterday you became so drunk that you fell asleep on Lola and Chen. It was actually so funny, you were drooling so bad.’ Kyungsoo laughs while I cringe at what he’s saying. ‘Here, I’ll show you.’ He pulls up at least a dozen photos of Lola posing behind a passed-out me; I’m sporting half opened eyelids, a wide open mouth and have drool drizzled all over my dress. Holy Fk, this is painful.  ‘You know me, always keeping it classy,’ I say, whilst wanting to strangle myself. ‘The funniest part was we tried to put chicken in your mouth and you actually ate it. Kept chewing the whole time in your sleep. It was really impressive,’ he remarks.

‘You’re welcome. Hopefully, you’ll get never get the privilege of basking in my ‘drunk sleep eating’ glory ever again.’

Kyungsoo chuckles loudly. ‘Anyways, because you passed out so early, Luhan called a taxi and took you home.’ Ohh, okay. Well that was nice of him. He must’ve spent a good ten minutes removing my make-up with the wipes Lola gave me as well. I make a mental note to thank him later when I realise something. I definitely woke up wearing my pyjamas. And I definitely left the party in my awkwardly tight dress. That means somewhere in between, I changed. Or someone undressed me. Undressed my innocent, ‘hasn’t-even-reached-second-base-with-a-boy’ , 'hasn't-hit-the-gym-in-three-weeks', ‘could-definitely-stop-eating-so-much-cake’ body. Oh. My Fking. God.

‘WAIT- LUHAN WHAT-?’ I yell in shock. Everyone turns to me, including Kris who acknowledges me for the first time today as well as Luhan who was in the middle of solving a Rubik's cube. His ears perk up as places the cube on the coffee table and begins to stroll over to us. ‘I heard my name? What did I supposedly do?’ He asks with a cheeky grin.

‘I was just telling Ahri you dropped her home last night.’ Kyungsoo informs him while shooting me a puzzled look in response to my outburst. ‘Ohh yeah! Ahri, you were sleeping at the restaurant for ages so we thought it’d be more comfortable for you to sleep in your own bed.’ Luhan explains causally. I nod slowly, facing the floor because I feel my cheeks heating up. I can’t even look at Luhan. I decide to drop it. Just don’t bring it up, maybe all Luhan did was leave me in my room and my responsible self changed into something more comfortable. Yep, let’s go with that. Luhan laughs softly at me and lowers his head down to my level so that our foreheads are touching. ‘Don’t worry Ahri, you tried to throw yourself at me but I’m a gentleman, you see,’ he teases. I groan and clench my fists while he chuckles. ‘Nah, I’m joking. I came back to the party after dropping you.’ I sigh in relief and feel like I can meet his eyes again. ‘You tool, jokes like that are not funny. Don’t forget that I’m your manager,’ I hit him lightly, casually asserting my authority. He catches my arm and pulls me forward, his lips right next to my ear. ‘Ms. Choi, I forgot you were my manager the moment I saw your pretty, black, lace, C cup br-’ I immediately clasp my palm over his mouth and tell him to shut up, while turning crimson red all over again. SO HE DID CHANGE ME, THESE HANDS GONNA KILL A BISH.  I’m about to kick him in the balls but then remember we’re in a luxury department store.  I quickly check around the room to see if anyone is watching us and luckily for him, Kris and Suho are looking over our way. Looks like I have to sort this out later in private. And then it happens. I hear him breathe huskily again into my ear. ‘And how could I forget your cute, pink, polka dot -OWWW,’ he grunts as my knee makes contact with his groin. I don’t care, he had it coming. He’s holding onto my shoulders to steady himself; his eyes quickly watering from the pain. ‘My dear Luhan, next time you forget I’m your manager,I hope you remember this warning,’ I say nonchalantly before walking away. He nods in obedience, chuckling and crying from the pain. Kris and Suho immediately walk to Luhan, looking concerned and confused when Luhan waves his hands in front of him, exclaiming he was being a jerk and provoked me. Suho hits the back of his head, giving him a long lecture on respect while Kris laughs at Luhan who is still crouching down in pain. ‘What was that?’ Kyungsoo asks as I return to where we were sitting. I contemplate whether to tell him or not because I feel super embarrassed but Kyungsoo feels like a mum. Or a gay best friend. Just someone I can trust. Trust. A word I thought I’d never use after Hana. He looks at me with such concern that all my reluctance melts. I begin to explain the situation when suddenly Tao announces he is finished shopping and we better proceed with the next task. ‘Hold that thought,’ Kyungsoo says as Chanyeol asks the gang if we want to basketball or soccer first. ‘Nah mate, we might need to pass soccer today. I don’t think I can walk right now let alone run with a ball right now.’ Luhan stands up and informs the group. ‘Why?’ Sehun asks, who was engrossed in his Nintendo DS the entire time. Luhan gaze meets mine and he winks. ‘I fell down. Clumsy me,’ he grins, faking a fall for a brief demonstration.

‘Luhan, you’re hopeless,’ Chanyeol shakes his head. ‘Okay, so that means it’s basketball time!’ Sehun groans loudly, clearly not impressed at the thought of exercise while the others get excited. Kris puts his arm around Chanyeol, ‘Dude, how did you know I’d want my activity to be basketball? You hit the nail right on the head!’ He says as he dribbles the basketball out of the store and onto the sidewalk. Chanyeol awkwardly laughs. ‘Umm, actually this is Ahri’s activity because she plays basketball in Canada.’ Kris’ face falls. ‘Oh cool, forget I said anything,’ he sullenly remarks, handing the ball over to Chanyeol. ‘Hang on, you can still play though!’ Chanyeol panics. ‘Actually, how about we have a match. Ahri versus Kris. To see who the better basketballer is?!’ He says with an evil grin, rapidly raising his eyebrows. Kris makes a motion to back away and sit on the sidelines when I steal the ball from Chanyeol’s palms. My hands curve instantly, while my finger tips greet the familiar rough texture of grooves upon the ball. It seems like forever since I got to hold this treasure, when in reality it’s only been about three weeks. I have a mini ball in my room back at the dorms but it’s made of rubber and feels nothing like the original. Subconsciously, my eyes begin to tear up as I dribble the ball around my legs. I miss the girls, I miss the stadium, I miss Coach. Most of all, I miss how alive I feel when I have this seemingly ordinary, orange ball in my hand. I knock back my head to try shake off the tears without obviously wiping them away with my sleeve. I have to remember why I came to Korea. I have to remember what’s waiting for me back at home. Suddenly, I feel a surge of motivation rise within me. I won't just let Blonde Devil ignore me after everything that's happened. I find myself walking over to his crouched down figure- the ball swaying at the side of my hip. ‘I’m game if you are,’ I announce. He squints and raises his hand to block out the Sun poking beside me. ‘No thanks,’ he simply says, going back to his phone. ‘Aw, don’t be shy I’ll teach you how to play,’ I provoke him. He grits his teeth, ‘I know how to play,’ he states firmly. ‘Oh really,’ I start dribbling the ball back to the court and he follows. ‘Why don’t you show me then?’ The rest of the boys notice us move onto the court and slowly start to walk onto the asphalt, dividing themselves into two teams.

‘You know what,’ Kris drawls as he takes his hoodie off and throws it on the bench, exposing his well defined muscles. ‘Let’s make a bet.’ He is standing tall on his side of the court while I’m facing directly opposite him. Chanyeol comes up to the halfway mark and holds the basketball with an outstretched hand. I give him a simple nod in agreeance, trying to block out Sehun’s complaints behind me. ‘The person who wins can ask anything they wish of the other,’ he offers casually. Hmm, interesting. Out of all the things he could’ve bet on, he chooses this? I wonder what’s behind his agenda. ‘Why the silence? Scared Choi?’ Kris grins, bending his knees in preparation of the jump ball. ‘Sorry, was just making a list of ALLLL the things I’m going to make you do after we win. Isn’t that right guys?’ I try to encourage my team behind me who consist of a whiny Sehun, a disinterested Kyungsoo, a lost Chen and a sleepy Kai. They let out a mellow cheer whereas Kris’ team of Suho, Lay, Tao and Baekhyun are trash talking us and getting super hyped. ‘Smash him Ahri,’ Luhan yells out from the bleaches, mouthing ‘Or me’ and throws me a suggestive wink while Xiumin kindly helps hold an ice pack over Luhan’s leg and shows me a supportive thumbs up. I’m about to flip Luhan off when Chanyeol clears his throat. ‘Okay, we don’t have time for a full game so it’s only going to be a twenty minute match,’ Chanyeol says with his best referee voice. My fingers are tingling and my heart is pumping adrenaline. It has been way too long since I’ve been in my element. Kris locks his eyes on me as Chanyeol raises the ball in between us. I give him an equally super-charged death stare as I get ready to jump. ‘May the best team win!’ Chanyeol happily launches the basketball in the air. We both lunge for the ball as if we're defying gravity however my hand touches it first, allowing me to have control of the ball. Kris looks momentarily shocked at my agility, but quickly regains his compsure. Hahaha. Hold on tight Kris Wu, you haven't seen anything yet. It’s finally my time to shine.

ha ha haaaa i like cheeky Luhan. here's rubik's boy doing his thangg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93VPJPWN8mM