When he returned to class, Kyungsoo was expecting another classmate sitting next to him but surprisingly found Chanyeol there.  His taller best friend was extremely engrossed in his geography book, but Chanyeol was never one to do advance reading.  

Kyungsoo quietly sat beside him, trying to gauge whether it was a good time to talk, since Teacher Kim Jongdae wouldn’t be coming in for at least another 10 minutes.  He almost wished he didn’t drop the ‘biual’ bomb last Friday, if things were going to change between him and his best friend.  Besides, he hadn’t said yes to Kris hyung yet.  He was still undecided about it.  And a courtside seat!  Such privilege was reserved only for the guests of the players, and he was being invited by the team captain nonetheless…

But Kyungsoo was serious that if Chanyeol felt uncomfortable, then he wouldn’t go.  No basketball game was worth upsetting one of the most important people in the world to him.  Failing to find an ice breaker effective enough to melt that 186 cm glacier beside him, Kyungsoo wordlessly offered one of the Peppero boxes he received this morning to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol took a glance at it and scrunched his nose.  It was from Jongin!  Why was Kyungsoo giving it to him?

Jongin, who was talking to his best friends Taemin and Minho at the back of the room, suddenly noticed what was happening.

When Chanyeol gave him a less than favorable reaction, Kyungsoo opened the box and handed one Peppero stick to Chanyeol, while he munched on the rest. 

Kyungsoo heard Chanyeol bite on the chocolatey stick, he felt relieved, because it meant that Chanyeol was not in such a bad mood after all.  

Jongin was about to approach Kyungsoo when Taemin stopped him.  “Yah, stay put.  Park’s awfully territorial over Kyungsoo, so just steer clear for now.”

“But he’s not his boyfriend, right?” Jongin protested, frowning now.  

“Look at the bright side,” Minho piped in, putting an arm around Jongin.  “At least he’s eating the Peppero sticks.  He didn’t return them to you or reject your proposal.”

That calmed down Jongin a bit, and would wait for a good time to talk to Kyungsoo.  

When classes were over for the day, Chanyeol stood up, getting his backpack.  “See you,” he murmured to his best friend, not even looking at him.

Kyungsoo watched, stunned, as he gazed upon Chanyeol walking away, most likely the taller one was heading for the music room to practice.  The classroom was beginning to empty so he had no choice but to go himself.  He was just about to do that when he bumped into Jongin, who gave him a sweet, brilliant smile.  

“Kyungsoo-yah, do you have a minute?”

He smiled back, although a bit awkwardly.  “Uh, actually, I do have to meet someone.  Can we talk tomorrow?”

Kyungsoo patted Jongin at the arm and swerved past him.  He only remembered something just before exiting the door.  “Oh, and thanks for the Peppero!”

Taemin and Minho enthusiastically squeezed Jongin’s shoulder, preempting victory already.

When Kyungsoo talked to Yeri this morning, the younger girl informed him where she would be after classes.  He then proceeded to the room next to the faculty lounge, cautiously looking out for Yeri among the volunteers that were there packing gifts for the orphanage.  

“Ah, Do Kyungsoo-ssi, are you also volunteering for Saturday’s school activity?” Teacher Kim Jongdae greeted, holding a clipboard that had the names of the volunteers.  

The list only had a dismal number of twenty entities, and that already included the school band, which had 5 members.

Not knowing how else to answer, he nodded and the teacher gladly listed down Kyungsoo’s name.  

Kyungsoo realized too late that it was the same day as Kris hyung’s game!  Just as he was about to retract, Teacher Kim Jongdae ushered the newest volunteer into the room where Kyungsoo gingerly sat next to Yeri.

Yeri looked up at him only for a moment and then returned to tying a ribbon to one of the toys she had finished wrapping.  “If you’re here to talk about Chanyeol oppa, don’t.”

Kyungsoo felt even smaller than he was as the four other members of Red Velvet directed their gazes at him.  “But I thought you like him.”

“I told him that, but it wasn’t enough.”  Yeri shrugged, sniffing.  “And I gave him my first kiss too!”

Kyungsoo cringed, getting a toy piano to start wrapping it himself.  “I don’t know what happened, but… Chanyeol’s a really good guy and he wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings intentionally…”

“You’re just saying that because you’re his best friend!” Yeri replied, feeling upset.  “We were having such a great time last Friday and then he just suddenly started getting distant, and I felt like he was thinking about someone else…”  

Uh-oh, Kyungsoo thought dismally, as Chanyeol’s disinterest when he’d asked about Yeri this morning registered to him.  He would defend Chanyeol with his life, but from Yeri’s account of the story, it didn’t seem like the situation could even be fixed.  

This was… pretty poor judgment on his part.

Irene came over and rubbed Yeri’s back in comfort, while glaring at Kyungsoo, as if the only guy in their circle was the culprit of it all.  

“And then he said, he’s not ready for something serious.  That he wants to be friends!  But I don’t want to be just friends!” Yeri’s voice was escalating now, and Kyungsoo was begging for her to quiet down before Teacher Kim Jongdae noticed the commotion and come over.  “How would you like it, Kyungsoo oppa, if you confessed to someone, who seemed to be liking you back, and then you realize you’re mistaken all along?”

Kyungsoo swallowed, Yeri’s words hitting him where it hurt the most.  He didn’t realize that Chanyeol wasn’t into a serious relationship at the moment.  “I… I wouldn’t like it, either.”

“I keep wondering if there’s something wrong with me,” Yeri lamented, tears pooling at the brims of her eyes.

Four other members of Red Velvet challenged Kyungsoo with a threatening look.  

“A-Aniya…” Kyungsoo soothed, scooting even closer to Yeri.  “Don’t cry… Please.  It takes…” He looked down at his hands, wishing he was as brave as this young girl with regards to his own love life.  “It takes great guts to confess to someone you really like.”  

He glanced up then, sighing, hoping to make the younger girl feel better. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you, believe me.  You’re so pretty and you’re always smiling and you’re friendly as well… There are so many guys who would fight for a chance to be your boyfriend.”

Yeri blinked back at him.  “Like who?”

“Uh… you know…” Kyungsoo scratched his head.  He was simply trying to apologize on behalf of his best friend, who indeed did turn out to be a jerk on their date, and now he had to provide names?  “Other people.  You just need to get out there and meet them.”

“Jinjjayo?”

“Kyungsoo oppa is right, you know,” Seulgi said, smiling at Kyungsoo finally.  “Forget Chanyeol oppa.   You can do so much better!”

Kyungsoo would always be Team Chanyeol all the way, but he had to agree.  “There’s plenty of fish in the sea, Yeri-ah.  Sometimes, they’re closer than you think.”

Wendy and Joy stared at each other conspiratorially as the girls grinned at Kyungsoo.  And as the atmosphere of the room brightened, the small group finished up packing the gifts, laughing and joking.  The other volunteers came to join their circle and commented that they didn’t know that Kyungsoo laughed this much or this loudly.  Kyungsoo only blushed and realized that a couple of hours had passed so quickly and that he was having this much fun, even without Chanyeol by his side.  

He hoped his best friend was having a good time as well at band practice.

By the time the volunteers packed up, they found the music room empty (which was across the gymnasium) and the basketball team also gone for the day.

Kyungsoo and the Red Velvet girls even took the train together on their way home, since they were all boarding the same track, anyway.  

Yeri was asking Kyungsoo if he would like to go to the orphanage together on Saturday afternoon and Kyungsoo said yes.  Wendy took her phone out and suggested that she would take a photo of them.

“You don’t mind, oppa?” Yeri asked shyly, as Kyungsoo only chuckled and sat closer to the younger girl, his smooth, squishy cheek even pressed gently to Yeri’s as the picture was snapped.

Kyungsoo had the farthest station going home, so he indirectly sent off the freshman girls to their stations while he had about five more stations to go.  He had just passed by Apgujeong station, that he had the mind to text Chanyeol.

I’m going home just now.  What time did practice end?

About a minute later, he received a reply.

About 5 p.m.  See you tomorrow.

Chanyeol never did reply as curtly or as hastily like that.  Normally, he would bombard Kyungsoo would every emoji under the sun, but today… it was like getting a response from a total stranger.

There was something definitely bothering Chanyeol, and right now, it was getting difficult for Kyungsoo to reach him.  If it wasn’t the riff between Chanyeol and Yeri, then what was it?

Was it about Kris hyung?

Chanyeol wasn’t particularly too thrilled about him receiving all these letters and gifts from