“Aigoo…” Dongwoon exhaled unconsciously as he strained to straighten up with Da Eun in his arms. “Noona, you weren’t this heavy yesterday,” he muttered jokingly, though the girl was still fast asleep.

Bam!

Dongwoon’s head slammed into the roof of his convertible. He’d forgotten that he had lowered it to keep Da Eun warm. Eyes watering, he winced as Da Eun started to move.

“Ah, noona, mianhae for waking you up,” Dongwoon apologized as he hastily but gently set her down on the seat and wiped his eyes.

“Hm? Where-“ Da Eun glanced around. “Omo, how embarrassing,” she groaned. “You had to carry me again? I bet I was heavy,” she blushed.

Dongwoon denied vigorously. “No, of course not!” And it’s true. I must be too weak… I need more stamina! The workout today drained me more than it should’ve…

“Mm... Dongwoon-ah?” Da Eun caught his attention. “You’re drifting,” she grinned. “Shouldn’t we be at the café with the others?”

“Oh, yeah! Except I was supposed to carry you, and then you woke up,” Dongwoon started rambling excuses.

“Let’s see if I can walk first, araso?”

***

“YAH!” Doojoon roared indignantly as he was pushed off the side of the booth.

“It’s them, it’s them!” Hyunseung ignored his hyung’s protests, half standing.

Over the tops of the booth walls, Dongwoon’s downturned head could be seen looking at someone beside him. When he lifted it to look for the group, the worry and helplessness in his gaze were clearly visible, along with discomfort at the attention they were attracting.

“Wait… I’m going to get them,” Hyunseung frowned, uneasy. As he rounded the tables, the sight that met his eyes made him rush forward.

Da Eun stood clinging onto Dongwoon’s flexed arm, swaying on her feet. Her face was chalk white with pain, whilst Dongwoon’s was tight with exertion. Her grip was strong, though the rest of her was not. The maknae tried his best to be a steadfast support for her, but the strain was catching up to him.

“Yah, Da Eun-ah, you babo! Don’t you know the meaning of ‘taking it easy’?” Hyunseung scolded exasperatedly even as he scooped her up. She was becoming a familiar weight in his arms, though, like Dongwoon, he quickly realized his stamina was sorely undeveloped. “And you,” he turned to Dongwoon, “why did you let her do it?”

“Hyung, I tried, I really did! Noona wouldn’t let me,” Dongwoon bemoaned his fate, almost in tears as he watched Da Eun’s face become a mask of pain. He trailed behind as his hyung carried her to their table, making an internal promise to work out more.

“I’m…” Da Eun wheezed. “Gwen… chana…” she reassured him breathlessly, grimacing at every step Hyunseung took, ribs wailing in protest. “Put me down… people are looking!”

“Let them look. You’re in no state to be walking.” Her request was firmly denied.

Embarrassed at her own weakness, Da Eun closed her eyes against the hostile atmosphere in the café, trying her best to ignore the glares and whispers. She turned her head against Hyunseung’s chest and tried not to breathe, not to aggravate her ribs any more.

“Yah, what… Wae?” Doojoon stood, watching them approach. He narrowed his eyes as his mouth tightened. He could see the telltale signs of fatigue in Hyunseung’s face and the discomfort in Da Eun’s, and he was not happy. He need to exercise more; how could carrying Da Eun possibly tire them? And can’t that babo tell he’s hurting her? As they rounded the corner, he strode over and held out his arms for Da Eun.

“No, hyung, I-“ Hyunseung’s protests were silenced by a single voiceless command from Doojoon, and he didn’t resist as Da Eun was taken out of his arms. Subsiding in shame, he vowed to work out seriously during the weekly sessions at the gym, not fooling around as they usually did. A jerk of Doojoon’s head prompted Hyunseung and Dongwoon both to go ahead to the others.

Da Eun turned her head slightly to try and see who was carrying her, only to find Doojoon’s face barely inches from her own. Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. She was barely acquaintances with him, Gikwang, and Yoseob, having spent virtually the entire two days with the other three.

“Annyeong, Da Eun,” he greeted her. “Now, this might hurt a little bit, so… mianhae.” Lightning fast, he effortlessly tossed her up a bit and moved his arms so that her head came to rest on his well-muscled right shoulder.

Da Eun swallowed a shriek as she felt space beneath her. Her eyes squeezed shut, then shot open again when her left arm suddenly went around his neck. She waited a few moments for the pain to spike again, but it was the first time that being carried was actually comfortable. All the times before, she had felt slightly unstable, like she was going to be dropped any second.

“Kamsahamnida, Doojoon-ssi,” she murmured.

“Omo, so formal! Drop all that and call me oppa,” Doojoon told her, winking.

“I’d rather not, ahjussi,” Da Eun bantered. Free of pain for the first time in a long while, she was in rather a good mood.

Doojoon stopped in his tracks and shot her a horrified look. “Do I really look- I’m-“

Da Eun’s giggle made him growl as he realized she was joking. When she felt the vibration travel through his chest, the giggles increased. And when her ribs sent pain to stop her, it struck her as incredibly amusing and laughed even harder, wheezing in between each peal of laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Doojoon demanded, confused. When he got no answer, he determined that the best solution was to just get to the table as fast as possible. He hadn’t missed the jealousy directed at Da Eun, either. He hoped nothing like the incident earlier that day would happen again.

Calming down as they finally reached the table, Da Eun giggled one last time and poked Doojoon’s chest. “You’re funny, oppa.” Oblivious to the effect the endearment, directed towards Doojoon, had on the entire table, she went on. “Did you know you vibrate?” She grinned as he set her down carefully. Tucking her chin in, she tried to mimic his growl. The resulting sound got everyone at the table staring at her (including Junhyung, who was now joined by Dongwoon); she deemed her failure to reproduce Doojoon’s growl hilarious and went off into another fit of giggles.

Little did she realize, the six boys weren’t staring at her because of the strangeness of the sound coming from her; they were staring because she was, quite frankly, the cutest girl they had ever seen. And, of course, the five sitting down were jealous beyond belief of that one word, “oppa,” and the way she was leaning against Doojoon for support.

But her laughter faded eventually, and when she found herself under scrutiny, she grew anxious. “Uh…” She flushed.

“Sit here,” the maknae patted the space next to him on the couch.

Supporting herself on the booth wall, she sat as directed and fidgeted nervously. Doojoon sat awkwardly opposite her, precarious on the edge of the seat.

“Noona, what do you want to eat? Look at the menu with me,” Dongwoon nudged her gently.

“Oh, um…” Da Eun looked at the menu. Suddenly she was painfully hungry. “Anything,” she told him. She blushed as her stomach rumbled.

Dongwoon chuckled at her cute embarrassment, calling attention to them. “Palli, hyung, Da Eun’s hungry.”

“Aren’t we all,” Doojoon grumbled good-naturedly, but called a waiter to order anyway.

After ordering his own, he turned to Da Eun. “What do you want?”

“Anything, really, oppa. Mm… Same as you is okay.” Already Da Eun was using the endearment with ease.

The others shifted in their seats, dissatisfied.

“Araso. Another of the steak with fries, please.”

After the waiter left with their orders, Gikwang spoke up. “If you’re going to call hyung oppa, you should call us oppa too,” he informed her.

Da Eun was really experiencing a lot of new things. It was a first for her to be requested to call someone oppa, and it was strange. At a loss, she looked for something, anything to say.

“Mm. Me too,” Hyunseung agreed, eyes wide with sincerity.

“Oh, araso, Bambi oppa,” Da Eun replied immediately with a smirk.

Hyunseung smiled. He didn’t really mind the Bambi nickname if it was Da Eun that spoke it, but now that she was calling him oppa, he was absolutely fine with it.

“Call us oppa,” Gikwang insisted, pouting.

“You should do lipstick commercials,” Da Eun told him instead, fascinated. “You have the prettiest lips I’ve ever seen…” she hesitated. “Gikwang oppa.”

Gikwang grinned.

“You’re misinformed. Go look in the mirror,” Dongwoon said to Da Eun.

She blushed. “Yah, Dongwoon-ah!”

Yoseob butted in. “Me! Me!”

“Yoseob oppa… Could I call you sunbae? How many years did you work at the station.”

“Just the past two.”

“Ah! You’re my hoobae,” Da Eun exclaimed, delighted.

Yoseob shook his head violently. “No no no no no; call me oppa.” When she seemed to ponder for a while, he leaned forward and winked at her. “Da Eun-ah…”

“Ah, araso, oppa!” She giggled. Her happiness was contagious, but the mood soon crashed into awkwardness.

“What about me?”