Eight

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Chanyeol and Luhan burst into their house in laughter while a very displeased Kai trudged in behind them.

"Ahahaha!" Chanyeol laughed as his right eye began to twitch up slightly.

"What happened?" Suho asked as he set up the table.

"Suho, I like your shoes," Chanyeol gripped onto Suho's shoulders as he laughed hysterically and gasped for air.

"What's this all about?" Suho peered at the two laughing buffoons suspiciously.

"Aha! Haha!" Luhan breathed heavily and wiped a tear from his eye. "So we went to visit Sehun at the café, yeah? And as soon as we get in we join Sehun and ~~~~~ at the table where they were sitting. We all talk and get along well, but Kai. As soon as he sees her, he froze up like this," Luhan stood with his eyes straight forward, unmoving like a statue.

"And then he tells her, 'I like your shoes.' Ahaha!" Chanyeol wiped a tear away.

"Yah!" Kai warned as everyone burst into laughter.

"How does it go?" Luhan turned to Chanyeol. "You are my shy shy shy boy~ Oh oh oh~ my boy~" the two danced while singing.

"Yah!" Kai repeated more firmly this time now that the others had erupted into giggle fits as well.

"It wouldn't be so funny if you didn't ooze self confidence at home, you know," D.O. clutched his stomach.

"Yeah, I mean look at Sehun. Who would've guessed he had a thing for ~~~~~?" Chen reasoned.

"I think Sehun has a higher chance with her than Kai. All who agree," Baekhyun challenged. All hands but Kai's rose into the air.

"All in favor for Kai?" Kai raised his hand. Ten pairs of eyes stared blankly at him. Kai sulked.

Chen snickered as he squeezed his shoulder. "It was worth a shot."

At that moment, Sehun walked into the house. The eleven heads spun to look at him. 

"Ah, just in time," Xiumin smiled angelically.

"Come, join us," Luhan beckoned eerily happily with a dire grin plastered onto his face.

The others wore an amused expression as Kai sat in his seat dejectedly.

Sehun raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What did I miss?"

-

Soon enough, it was Saturday. Most teenagers your age would be out with friends or sleeping in or relaxing but not you. Instead, you were working a double shift at your step aunt’s café. Working wasn't much of a problem to you. Work was the only place you actually had friends and people treated you kindly, save for your step aunt.

While at work as you were wiping the windows, you spotted a boy you recognized. You noted it to be Kai, one of Sehun's friends, but as you looked closer you realized he was the server boy from the church. You gasped as you dropped the rag. Seeing him again would be unlikely for you. At least you thought that.

"~~~~~! What are you just standing there for?!" your step aunt yelled from behind you. You bent down and picked the rag up and continued to clean the windows.

Subconsciously, you watched Kai. Ever since the day you first saw him, you've grown a strange attraction to him. You noticed how he walked leisurely and was polite to those he passed by. He even gave loose pocket money to people begging on the streets. Plus, you felt an eerie attachment to him like you had seen him before the church incident.

You smiled to yourself and continued working. Though you barely knew this boy, you could tell that this boy truly was an angel.

-

The week passed by normally. Not too quick and not too slow. You found Lay, Tao, and Sehun to be highly amusing and let yourself become closer with them. After work, one of them would often pick you up and walk you home, or sometimes, all three of them at once. You were grateful for them while your step-siblings wondered how badly they were dropped as kids to be friends with you. You learned that Lay had been in Korea for four years, Sehun had a talent in dancing, and that Tao practiced wushu. You thought that Sehun's lisp was attractive, Tao's broken Korean cute, and Lay's higher-than-usual pitched voice adorable. You wondered how ever you could have been so blessed to have your path cross over into theirs.

Friday arrived quickly enough, and just as the twelve had planned, Chanyeol, Luhan, and Kai had been introduced to your class as new students.

Chanyeol went first. "Hi, I'm Park Chanyeol. It's nice to meet you all." You were shocked by this boy's deep voice. You have heard it before, but a second time with a great view of his mismatched face was still surprising. His face was too childish to match his deep voice that seemed like it came from the soles of his feet.

"My name is Luhan, and I came from China, so I hope to be friends with you all," Luhan smiled brightly. The girls in the class practically swooned at the sight of him. He had such an innocent face that looked like it was perfectly sculpted by God himself. Everything else about him seemed near perfect, too. This boy was on the verge of perfection, you decided, and was about to fall over.

"My name's Kim Jongin, but call me Kai," Kai greeted coolly as he fussed with the buttons on his uniform. You were glad to see this boy again, even more so that he was in your class. From the first time you saw him, you felt an allure toward him. Your eyes met his, and his eyes widened in recognition. He didn’t smile, but neither did you. You held contact with his eyes and felt a strange feeling in the pit of your stomach. His eyes were all too knowing of you, to your surprise. It seemed like he was a person close to you, much to your bemusement. You couldn’t figure it out, though. Who was this boy? He was a complete mystery to you, and you wanted to solve that mystery.

"Wow we have so many transfer students all of a sudden. I wonder why," a boy remarked.

"Yes, do tell us, especially Tao, Lay, and Luhan, how did you all come to know of this school?" your teacher pitched in, now interested.

Luhan's and Lay's eyes widened as Tao snapped his fingers causing time to freeze.

"What do we say now?!" Luhan exclaimed in skittish Mandarin.

"I don't know! Say there was an ad or something!" Tao hastily replied as he snapped his fingers again, reanimating the classroom.

"Luhan?" your teacher gestured to Luhan.

"Well," Luhan scratched the back of his neck nervously, "there were a lot of advertisements about this school in China and..." he faltered when he realized the class wasn't buying it, "I know these guys. We've been friends for a long time, and I heard they were transferring here." Lay and Tao mentally face palmed as Luhan anxiously held his breath.

"Ah, that explains it," your teacher grinned as Luhan heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you for helping more students enroll into this school. You may all take a seat toward the back over there behind Tao and Sehun. Anywhere is fine."

-

At lunch that day, the seven of you sat together. You grew used to sitting with Tao, Sehun, and Lay, but with the addition of three more people, you began to feel a bit flustered. You weren't the only one feeling shy though.

"Why don't you say anything, Kkamjongie," Chanyeol nudged Kai's side with his elbow.

"H-Hi," Kai stuttered as he shyly waved. He immediately pushed onto his lip to bite onto.

"Hey Kai, remember that time when you-" Sehun bantered.

"Oh, God, shut up!" Kai covered his face with his hands.

The other five boys, clearly amused with tormenting Kai, burst out into laughter. Kai looked up from his palms to look at you. He noticed you not laughing and gave a small abashed smile. You smiled back and continued eating your lunch.

But you couldn't fight the feeling in the pit of your stomach that you've met him before.