Seven

---

"HE WHAT?!"

"Held her hand and everything," Sehun smirked mischievously as he toyed with the phone Suho had given all of them for precaution.

"LAY?! HELD HER HAND?!" Kai screeched dramatically as he turned towards Lay.

"Hey! I was helping her hand heal! You would have done it, too, if your power was healing! And it's not like we held held hands. I wrapped a cloth around her wound for a while until it healed. There was no romantic vibe whatsoever," Lay defended himself.

"But-"

Chanyeol cut him off, "Come on, Kai. It's not just you who has a grade school crush on ~~~~~. Isn't that right, Tao Tao? Baekhyunnie?" Chanyeol smiled goofily.

"Ask yourself the same question," Baekhyun retorted with a blush creeping up his cheeks.

"Please! Me? A crush? Never. And I don't get so worked up about it like him!" Chanyeol whined childishly with a pout as he pointed accusingly at Kai. "He's getting jealous because of plus one affection point for Lay!"

"Plus one affection point?" Tao was puzzled.

Chanyeol nodded, "It's our ~~~~~ Love Point System!" He emphasized the phrase happily, making a gesture of a rainbow with his arms while he wiggled his fingers.

"Love point system?! That's it, I call enrolling into the school tomorrow!" Kai declared.

"It'd be too suspicious though," Kris who came up with the idea of enrolling them into the school decided to join in with the discussion the other four were having as he put his book down. Kris thought for a while before devising a plan. "We'll enroll in teams of three every few days. What's today, Wednesday? So next Friday will be the next batch."

"Who's in the next batch?" Luhan asked as he entered the room.

Everyone's attention turned to Luhan.

"How much have you heard?" Lay asked cautiously.

Luhan shrugged, "Not much. Just the whole team idea. So team one is Lay, Tao, Sehun. Who's in team two?"

Kris answered, "Chanyeol, Kai," Kai cheered quietly as Kris thought of the last person to be in the team. Finally, he decided, "and you."

-

As you walked to work after school, you felt a breeze surround you. You turned around to see Sehun following behind at a comfortable distance.

"Oh, hi, Sehun. This place is pretty far from the school. What are you doing here?" you politely asked.

Sehun shrugged, "Just exploring I guess. I could ask you the same question."

You smiled, "I'm on my way to work. Well, bye, then! Have fun exploring," you turned around to head to the café until you felt his grip on your elbow. Your eyes widened at the sudden contact.

"~~~~~, wait," he softly demanded. He noticed your discomfort from his touch and quickly released his hand before mumbling an incoherent apology. "Do you want to hang out with me for a while?" You blinked. "I mean unless you really need to get to work... then maybe... we could... next time..."

"Uh, sure," you replied. He began to be at ease now and smiled a bit. "My shift doesn't start 'til six anyway."

"Great," Sehun grinned, "that gives me two hours."

-

He led you to a street vendor selling food and bought snacks for the both of you. You offered to pay for your own, but Sehun would not have it. After you two finished your food, you both walked around for a while before entering an ice cream parlor. After purchasing your ice creams, you both walked to a park by the café you worked at. 

"I used to come here a lot as a kid," you smiled nostalgically.

"I know," Sehun smiled fondly as well.

"You what?"

"Nothing."

You sat on the swing as he pushed you.

"Can I ask you something?" you quietly asked.

"Hmm? Go right ahead."

"I'm assuming you've heard what people at the school say about me, right?" you waited for a response. Getting none, you continued, "Then why are you so nice to me?"

"I don't believe those rumors," Sehun answered seriously. "They're outrageous. I don't see why anyone would believe them or even come up with them."

You looked down to your feet which were being lifted up and down as Sehun pushed the swing. "Thank you," you mumbled.

Sehun smiled sincerely at you, "No problem." 

You suddenly had a vague flashback. It was at the same park on the swings. A boy pushed you on the swing as you both laughed merrily. The flashback soon ended, and you furrowed your eyebrows with a confused pout on your face.

Then Sehun stood in front of you and extended his hand to you as you looked into his eyes. "We should probably get you to work now. Come, I'll walk you there."

The walk to the café was silent. Once you both arrived, you thanked him but quickly added, "Wait, how do you know where I work?"

Sehun simply smiled and gestured you inside as he held the door open.

-

Sehun followed you in as you began to work. You urged him to go home, but he insisted on waking you home.

"Can't have a girl out by herself at night."

"I don't get off until nine," you informed.

He shrugged and went back to sipping his coffee. "I can wait."

You turned around to serve another table, but Sujung urged you to take a break.

"But I haven't even worked for an hour."

"Go on, I think your male acquaintance needs company," she winked at you. "Don't worry. I'll cover for you."

"But what about my step-aunt."

"She rarely comes out of her office, anyway," she shrugged. "Don't worry and go join him! He looks pretty lonely."

You were about to protest some more, but Sujung already shoved you into the seat across from Sehun. 

He looked up at you from his phone, "I thought you were working?"

You fumbled with your words as you twiddled your fingers, "Yeah, I was, but, uhh, my friend pushed me here to, uhh, keep you company, so here I am," you lamely finished.

Sehun gave you one of his rare smiles and was about to speak until a chef you came to know as Donghyun approached the table with a delicious looking slice of cake.

"Compliments of the chef," he sang giddily as he kissed the tips of his fingers. He then bounced away while giggling to himself and Sujung.

You glared at the two in embarrassment as Sehun shrugged and began to jab his fork into the cake. The chime at the door rang, signaling someone had entered.

"Oh! Sehunnie!" a happy yet deep voice boomed.

Sehun nearly choked on his cake as he pounded his chest frantically.

You furrowed your eyebrows. "You know them?" you referred to the three boys who were now making their way toward your table.

"Sehun! So this is where you were!" another voice chimed happily.

"These are my friends," Sehun replied to you with a blank look on his face. "Kai, Chanyeol, and Luhan."

-

"Oh, so you're still settling into your houses before transferring into our school?" The boys nodded at your question. "It's pretty cool how you all managed to be friends who all moved here at the same time," you innocently admired.

"Y-Yeah," Chanyeol's deep voice reverberated from across the table. "Actually, I got here a month ago, Kai two weeks ago, and Sehun just this week. Luhan's been here for a while but still needed time to get used to Korea," Chanyeol fibbed. "We all managed to get in contact with each other, and here we are."

"Oh," you mouthed as you nodded your head. "Well, it was nice meeting you three. I should probably get back to work."

"Wait!" Luhan urged you to sit back down with his hands. "Kai, would you like to add something?" Luhan teased as he noticed Kai's stiff position. Kai sat with his head hung down and flinched at the question.

"I... uh..." Kai nervously stuttered as he looked up at you accidentaly making eye cantact, flustering him further, "I... uh, like your shoes?" his statement came out more as a question.

You looked down at your feet in confusion, "Thank you, I guess." He nodded in reply. "Anyway, is there anything you guys want?"

"Oh no, they were just leaving," Sehun said as he shoved them out the door.

"Bye then," you waved. "Guess I'll see you guys at school sometime." You turned to Sehun. "So they're like your best friends, huh?"

Sehun heaved a sigh. "Unfortunately."

You watched their retreating backs fondly, "How lucky."

-

On their way home, Luhan nudged Kai's side with his elbow.

"Hey, you were really quiet back there," he teased. "Except for, you know, 'I like your shoes'."

"Ugh! Shut up!" Kai exclaimed clearly exasperated.

"Aww, our little Jonginnie is shy," Chanyeol bantered.

Kai felt the heat rush into his cheeks. Kai, who acted out and was very outgoing around his close friends, became a different person around strangers and didn't know how to act around them.

Kai groaned, "Let's just go home!"

-

You finished up wiping tables and mopping the floor before your shift was over. As soon as it finished, Sehun led you out of the café to walk you home. You waved goodbye to your friends and coworkers, Sujung and Donghyun.

"Bye~! Don't stay out too late~!" Donghyun sang eagerly.

You waved back with a roll of your eyes. "We're just going home!" you yelled back causing the two to giggle harder. You rolled your eyes again.

The walk home was awkward and often you or Sehun would mumble an apology whenever the back of your hands brushed against the other's. When you finally arrived in front of your house, you turned to make your way inside, but him calling your name stopped you at the gates.

"I just wanted to say," he rubbed his neck sheepishly, "no matter what anyone says, I'll be here to protect you." You gazed into his sincere brown eyes.

You smiled at him softly. "Thank you, Sehun. Goodnight." You watched him leave before walking into your house.

There's really something about Sehun.