Please keep your expectations low...

----- How Troublesome -----

"Seriously, what's your problem?!"

"I'm not even doing anything."

"That's exactly the problem!" Baekhyun could only gasp exaggeratingly, giving the seemingly indifferent Sehun a pointed look before slumping his back on his seat. Sehun only spared him a glance before reverting his attention to the book he was reading.

Baekhyun could feel his eyebrow twitching at the other man. "You know what? You're hopeless."

"Yo, what's up?" As if on cue, Jongdae appeared and sat down next to the distressed Baekhyun. He shot a curt smile at each of his friends but frowned at the lack of response. "Uhm, hello?"

Baekhyun groaned in annoyance before slamming his palm on the table, surprising his friends and the other people nearby. "Why aren't you doing anything?!" He was glaring hard at Sehun who finally attended to his fuming friend. "I'm so sick of you glaring daggers at Kris-hyung's new bestfriend and sulking and you are not even doing anything!" The smaller guy wheezed angrily but the man in question just looked at him blankly.

It has been days since Kris suddenly stopped hanging out with them, and started sticking with the new Chinese transferee who was called Luhan. Ever since the new guy came to the school, he and Kris became inseparable. Kris started sitting with Luhan during lunch period and even refused to sit with Baekhyun and his friends though one time the gang kindly invited Luhan as well (just to be polite). And, according to Baekhyun's keen observation, the water boy seemed to be avoiding them. And Sehun was, albeit silently, obviously not pleased with it but the stubborn captain was not even doing anything (or probably refused to do anything) which annoyed Baekhyun the most.

"Look, we," Baekhyun pointed at himself then Jongdae, "are trying to help you and your depressing love life! But you're not even doing your part!"

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, I don't know! Maybe confess to Kris-hyung or knock your head off or maybe Luhan's. Anything!" He sat back in resignation before he turned to Jongdae. "Could you talk some sense into Sehun?!"

"He's avoiding me. I don't even know what I did wrong or something."

Jongdae's ears perked up at the younger's statement. "What? He's avoiding you?"

Sehun sighed. He seems to be. "Whenever we happen to bump into each other, he either turns back or walks past me. He would not even look at me!"

"Maybe you did something wrong?"

What? "I don't know. One day we were all okay and then the next day he started avoiding me. And it didn't help that little Chinese guy suddenly appeared out of nowhere and made things worse."

Jongdae flashed a teasing smirk, whistling, "I sense jealousy all over you," before getting jabbed on the side by an annoyed Sehun.

"Okay so you'll let some new guy snatch Kris-hyung away from you that easily?" Baekhyun shot the pale male an offended look. "I did not raise you to be like this!"

"Then what do you want me to do? Confront him or something?"

"Duh," Baekhyun and Jongdae said in unison in a heartbeat. And Sehun could only groan at the two.

Getting a few books from his locker, Kris shut his locker and spun around when he suddenly yelped as he came face to face with a familiar person. His eyes widened, blinking rapidly as soon as he recovered from his shock.

"C-Captain?"

"We need to talk," Sehun exhaled, his face stoic but stern.

The water boy's eyes wandered, his mouth opened then closed a few times as if he was trying to find his words, "I-I–!"

"Let's go– Uhm, hey?"

Sehun could literally feel his blood boiling when an infuriating figure appeared from behind Kris – that annoying honey blond mop of hair and that enraging soft voice officially ruined his day. "I mean, alone," he specified, not even sparing a glance at the newcomer.

But the blondie did not seem to take the hint. "Oh, Sehun right?" He said in an irritating (in Sehun's humble opinion) cheery voice. He flashed him an angelic smile (but Sehun thought it was all fake) and stared at the captain interestingly.

"Hm," the tall basketball captain just hummed, trying to be polite at the other male. But his eyes were still fixed on the team's water boy.

"Actually," the blondie started, wrapping his arm around Kris's shoulder, "We are about to take our lunch. Whatever you want to say to Kris, it can wait right? We're starving."

That was it. Sehun could feel his eyebrow twitch at the shorter male who had the audacity to touch Kris that way. He clenched his fists and was about to retort when another familiar voice cut in.

"Perfect! Then we can take our lunch together!" Of course, Baekhyun saved the day.

Kris furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the newcomers. "Um–!"

"I guess that's fine," the blondie responded, uncaringly. He saw Kris shot him an unsure look but the former was unbothered.

Jongdae and Baekhyun squealed excitedly, throwing knowing glances at each other before dragging the blondie along, leaving Kris and Sehun trailing behind.

"So, Luhan-hyung," Baekhyun started after swallowing a piece of pork from his plate. "You seem really close to Kris-hyung here," he said as his eyes shifted from the blondie named Luhan to the unsuspecting Kris. Sehun could only groan in silence. "Are you two uhm, childhood friends or something?" Baekhyun emphasized the last word.

Kris was about to reply but Luhan quickly beat him to it. "You could say that," he said with a charming smile.

"Oh, that's intriguing," Jongdae chimed in, shoving a fry into his mouth in an uncaring manner. He carefully eyed the male in question, trying to spot any suspicious behavior.

"Yeah?" Luhan casually responded, wrapping an arm around Kris. "We've known each other since forever," he shot Sehun a look and smirked at him as he pulled Kris closer.

Sehun momentarily stiffened at the blondie's gesture, feeling his eyebrow twitch at the sight of his arm on the water boy, again. Damn, he was supposed going to have a private chat with Kris but that male couldn't get his hands off Kris. And it irritated the captain to no end.

Baekhyun leaned back on his seat, humming at Luhan in recognition. "I see. That must be the reason why Kris-hyung stopped hanging out with us." Sehun almost winced at his friends blunt words. Jongdae snickered in the background, already used to Baekhyun's sharp words. Typical Baekhyun. But unfortunately, Kris wasn't used to it at all.

"I'm s-sorry I didn't–!"

"I guess I needed to get to know the school more. I'm thankful Kris showed me around," Luhan replied nonchalantly, stuffing some greens in his mouth. "So you guys are Kris's new friends, right? Kris told me a lot about you guys."

"Really? I'm glad Kris-hyung talked about us. I thought he forgot about us already." Kris pouted more deeply at the statement, which did not go unnoticed by Sehun.

"Oh, not at all. No need to worry," the Chinese male shrugged before turning his attention to Sehun. "So, what do you wanna talk about with Kris?"

"Nothing that concerns you," the team captain said without looking, before taking a sip off his soda. But despite the bluntness, Luhan appeared unaffected. "Hn, I see. You guys must be pretty close," he mumbled as he nibbled on his chicken leg, only to