“L—Lover boy?” Seri repeated, not noticing how the room had gone quiet. Ahyoung grinned at her friend.

“Lee Ahyoung, I swear to~”

“There’s nothing bad about being asked out by the Mark Tuan.” Ahyoung laughed, Seri’s eyes went to Sehun, he was standing by the fridge, chatting with his cousin. Only an idiot would think that he wasn’t listening.

“Who was he? The campus crush?” Seri chimed in, Suho glanced over his shoulder.

“Mark was the new student during our sophomore year, he always did get along with Soojin.” Ahyoung said as she leaned against the counter, Seri smiled and nodded.

“And he asked her out, huh?”

“Seri, please.” Soojin grimaced and lowered down the stool she was sitting on, Seri could feel Sehun’s gaze on her.

“And, Soojin-ssi rejected him?” Suho said as he started to pour wine for everyone.

“Once and it took all of her guts just to, Mark’s really nice and, he is kind of the perfect guy.” Ahyoung mused, Seri turned away, hiding her grin.

“He is quite the charmer.” Seri added

“Hyung, let’s~” Chanyeol appeared by the doorway and he halted when he saw the guests.

“T—The meat.” He stammered, Seri’s brows rose up, sensing his discomfort.

“Right. We’re here to eat. Not gossip.” Sehun said pointedly as he glanced at his best friend, Seri made a face at him. Soojin laughed at the two, Sehun paused, his eyes widened.

“I—I meant Seri, not you.” Sehun said, apologetic.

“No, no. It’s just that you two are so cute.” Soojin waved him off, he blinked back at her.

“Sehun-ah! Let’s…start cooking!” Chanyeol blurted out, Suho looked at his cousin, confused.

“Are you okay? Why are you in such a rush?” Suho asked him, Ahyoung looked at the male.

“Why are you still holding onto that?” Seri padded towards him, noticing his laptop still in his arms.

“Let me take that, I’ll put~”

“No! This will help with the grilling!” Chanyeol stated before running away from her, Sehun tilted his head and followed his cousin anyway.

“Is sunbae okay?” Soojin spoke, Seri shrugged, but her forehead was creased.

“I’ll check on him in a bit.”

“This doesn’t feel weird to you?” Soojin spoke as she joined her friend by the patio, the men had politely declined their help with grilling the meat.

Actually, Suho was adamant about it, he told them to rest for a bit. Sehun had remained quiet for the rest of the evening and Soojin was a little thankful for that. Lately, she noticed that being around Sehun made her jittery. No, he made her feel nervous and she didn’t really enjoy that feeling.

“What?” Ahyoung asked as she crossed her arms and looked at the view.

“We’re here having dinner at this stranger’s house.”

“I don’t really see him as a stranger now.” Ahyoung said softly, Soojin grinned.

“You know what I mean. We were never chummy with Seri, I mean we would have never found out she was married to Samsung if we didn’t run into her.”

“But they’re nice people.” Ahyoung murmured, Soojin blinked at her and nodded.

“They are, it’s just…I didn’t expect I’d make new friends this way.”

“And that’s bad? I thought you got along well with Sehun,” Ahyoung looked at her friend and she smiled. She could sense it, the girl was uncertain. Whatever made her feel that way, Ahyoung had no idea about it.

“I do, he’s not what people perceive him to be.” She said carefully, Ahyoung nodded.

“He’s got you confused.”

Soojin’s eyes went to her, Ahyoung started to chuckle.

“How long has it been?”

“What are you talking about?” Soojin grumbled as she looked down, she noticed the two identical cars at the curb. The orange Bugattis.

“How long has it been since you last had a crush on an actual person?”

Soojin stilled, Ahyoung nudged her with her hip.

“A—Ahyoung, it’s not…”

“I’ve known you for years now, and I see how you hold your breath around him. It’s kinda cute.”

Soojin looked away and chewed on her lower lip.

“It’s just a crush, I’ll get over it.” She stated, Ahyoung grew amused at her words.

“Sure.”

Seri slowly pushed the double doors open, and she realized she was right. Her husband was inside Suho’s study.

“They’ve started cooking downstairs.” She said as she strolled in, Chanyeol was leaning against the desk as he looked at the windows. It gave him a clear view of the pool and Suho’s other garage.

“Chanyeol-ah,” She said, the male’s eyes went to her and he broke into a smile.

“Hi,” He said as she reached him, Seri stood before him and sighed.

“What’s going on? You’re acting strange. Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes, I just…there’s been a lot on my plate lately. Sorry.” He murmured as he pulled the girl to him, Seri’s brows rose.

“Like, what?”

Chanyeol stilled, his eyes widened briefly.

“I want to tell you, but can we talk about it at home instead?” He said in soft tones, he felt Seri nod along before hugging him back.

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” She asked again, Chanyeol could detect the concern in her tone and he smiled.

“Trust me, this isn’t about me. Or us.”

Seri pulled back to really look at him, she was frowning.

“What?”

“Shin Seri!” They heard Suho calling for her, Chanyeol glanced at the doors.

“I’ll tell you when we get home. Have fun with your friends.” He kissed her cheek before letting go.

“Shin Seri!”

Seri started to grin, Chanyeol shook his head.

“I think he’s peeved that Ahyoung walked in on him while he was swimming.” She whispered, Chanyeol paused but he nodded.

“You bet he is. Let’s go down.” He took her hand as they left the room, Seri chuckled and hopped down the steps.

Sehun was grinning by the grill as Seri joined them, Suho looked at the girl.

“What is it, oppa? You guys never let me touch the grill.” She asked as she fixed her hair into a ponytail.

“How come it’s at my place tonight?”

“I asked Sehun to remind you? Did you cut him off again?” She sighed at him, Suho slowly blinked before facing his cousin.

“I tried to tell you, hyung.”

“See?” Seri shrugged at him, Suho exhaled and shook his head. The girl glanced over her shoulder as she heard footsteps behind them. Ahyoung appeared by the doorway with a smile on her face.

“I’m not comfortable with not helping so, deal with it.” She said as she marched towards Suho and stood beside him, the male was about to gently ask her to step back when she suddenly leaned forward to grab the pair of long-handled tongs.

Suho paused when her shoulder brushed against his as she moved, and then Ahyoung smiled before beginning to flip the meat before them. The male looked away, his forehead creasing.

“I’ll take this side, oppa.” She announced to him, Sehun looked up from his grill, his brows going up. Seri tried to pick up a piece of onion and her hand was immediately slapped away.

“Y—Yeah, sure.” Suho nodded quickly, Ahyoung turned to look at him, she noticed how his bangs were sticking to his forehead.

“Seri, I found the juice you were looking for.” Chanyeol joined them, Seri turned to the male just as Ahyoung leaned forward to brush Suho’s hair away from his face.

Suho stilled, his grip on the spatula tightened.

Chanyeol and Sehun glanced at each other, the younger male grinned.

“Your hair might get in your eyes, oppa.” Ahyoung said comfortably as she met his gaze.

“T—Thank you, A—Ahyoung-ah.” Suho stammered, the girl nodded back at him.

“Sold!” Sehun cheered as he set his chopsticks on the plate beside him, Seri stared at her friend, confused.

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