Closing the lid on the pot, I set the timer and smiled triumphantly. All that was left was to finish up the fried rice and wait for Exo to show up. My body was shaking slightly, half from excitement and half from nervousness. I hadn’t really talked to any of the Exo-M members except for Tao, and those were the ones I was to be working with in May. Pursing my lips, I tapped my forefinger on my hip, contemplating how to go about interacting with them.

                “Calm down Ji-Ji. I’m sure everything will be perfect.” Chanhee’s soft voice next to my ear sent a shiver down my spine at the hot breath flowing across my skin. I smiled at him before playfully pushing him away. “What, no skinship now?” He pouted cutely and I rolled my eyes.

                “Twelve guys are going to be coming over and I am going to be trying to entertain all twelve of them, I can’t have such a wonderful man stealing my attention the whole night.”

                “Oh? And who is this wonderful man? I’d like to meet him.” Chanhee teased and winked at me. I slapped his shoulder lightly and wrapped my arms around his neck.

                “Look in the mirror sometime babe.” I smirked and pressed my lips against his quickly before turning back to the food. Just as I was about to pick up the spatula to start up on the rice, the doorbell rang and I ran out. Opening the door, I was met with a crushing Happy Virus hug. “Ack! Chanyeol-ssi! AIR!” I cried out and he immediately let me go, putting his hands on my face to check if I was alright. I smirked at him and he chuckled at my little bout of sarcasm on him.

                “Don’t be so polite dongsaeng.” He ruffled my hair and I laughed, moving so he could come in. I bowed lightly to each of the members as they came in, and followed after Kris who was the last. I skipped around them and smiled. “Nice place.” Chanyeol quietly commented as he looked around.

                “Thank you, I live with my best friend from America, she and I take pride in our spaces, so this place was ideal. Make yourself at home!” I brightly grinned as I bowed.

                “Um, Mei-mei?” I looked up into Tao’s confused eyes and I raised an eyebrow. “Why does your roommate look like a guy?” I turned to see Chanhee walking from the kitchen towards my bedroom, but paused in his tracks at my comment.

                “That’s because I’m her boyfriend, not her roommate.” He commented and shook his head.

                “Oh! You really weren’t lying when you said you were dating him.” Kai looked surprised and I flicked his forehead. “Ah! Noona!” He pouted and I shook my head.

                “Shows you why you shouldn’t doubt your Noona. Meanie.” I glared at him playfully before realizing I needed to get back to the kitchen. “Well, dinner will be soon, I just need to finish up a few things. Anyone want to help?” I looked at Chaneyeol who immediately shook his head, but three other hands shot up. “Thank you guys!” I walked back into the kitchen, starting on the fried rice. I glanced at D.O., XiuMin, and finally Kris who all were eagerly awaiting my orders. “Uhm, one of you could get out plates and serving dishes, one can help me here, and the other can get drinks and stuff out of the refrigerator. D.O. immediately stepped by my side with a shy smile, Xiumin casually headed to the fridge, and Kris started searching my cabinets for plates and stuff. I quickly explained what I needed to be done to D.O. who gladly started adding ingredients to the fried rice as I stirred. The timer erupted on the counter next to me and I looked at D.O. who naturally took over the rice while I shut off the buzzer and checked on the other dishes. I looked at the serving dishes Kris had placed out for me, and I started piling food into each one. My eyes kept flickering to him as I worked, noticing he was watching my moves. I looked at the large pan of bulgogi I still had to plate and cringed, knowing it would be heavy.

                “Here, I’ll hold it up and you get it out?” I looked at the deep voice directly next to me and jumped at his presence. Kris towered over me, looking at the pan I had just been cringing at. “Breathe. Now what do you say?” I nodded and he moved next to D.O. picking up the large pan on both side with some oven mitts, and holding it over a bowl. I moved in front of him, between his arms, and transferred all the meat into the dish. A blush involuntarily crawled up onto my cheeks at the proximity I was to him. While he didn’t remember me from that summer, it was still awkward for me, who remember every little detail. After moving out of the way, he placed the pan into the sink and let water run over it and creating a cloud of steam.

                “Xiumin, did you find anything worth drinking in there?” I turned my attention to the chubby cheeked male in front of the large appliance and giggled at his pout.

                “That depends, would you allow us to have alcohol in your home?” He looked back at me and I nodded.

                “Of course, I just won’t let Sehun or Kai drink any. Get out anything you want.” I patted his shoulder and picked up a few dishes, bringing them out to the dining room table. Kris followed me with the last of the dishes and set them down in a line near mine. We both walked back to the kitchen and back with plates, utensils, and glasses, setting the table. Every now and then I would glance at the brooding male, trying to figure him out, and occasionally meeting his gaze. Every time our eyes connected, I blushed and looked away.

                “Ji-Ji! Are you close to being done? You know, I could help if you would just let me.” I popped my head into the living room and shook my head, glaring at him. “Come on, just once?”

                “That line has already gotten us into enough trouble; and I don’t want you burning my apartment down. Dinner is almost ready, just setting a few more things up.” He snickered at my comment and smiled cheekily in my direction. Winking at him, I walked back into the kitchen and helped Xiumin and D.O. with the variety of drinks. “Alright! Everyone to the table!” I called as the two males and I set the bottles of drinks down. Chanyeol pushed me into a seat between Kris and Chanhee at one end, earning a glare from me.

                “Everything looks great Jihyun! Will you be willing to cook for us when you stay?” I looked up into Lu Han’s hopeful eyes and smirked.

                “If you guys behave yourselves and work hard then yes, if not, you’ll get plain ramen; and that’s a promise.” I pointed my chopsticks at the Exo-M members, who straightened themselves up in their spot and nodded fervently at me. “Relax!” I chuckled at their antics and shook my head. “I promise I won’t let you guys starve.” Kris smiled down at me and I jumped back. “Holy…” His face immediately fell and I looked at Chanyeol in disbelief. “Am I imagining things or did the god of permanent angry expressions just smile?” The table started cracking up as I glanced at Kris’ smirking face with doe-eyes once more.

                “That means he likes you. It’s the rare angry bird’s way of saying he trusts you.” Xiumin snickered from across the table and I couldn’t help but to join him, getting a glare from Kris immediately. “Relax Duizhang, we’re just playing.” I shook my head and started eating. “Thank you Jihyun-ah, this really is amazing.” He gestured to the food and I bowed my head, unable to speak.

                We enjoyed the dinner D.O. helped me make and chatted throughout the whole meal. By the end of it, I had fed half of the members bulgogi wraps, and nearly fell out of my chair when Kris smiled again when I ate the one he offered me. I swear, two smiles in one night when I had only seen on other in my whole existence of knowing him? I was wondering if he was on drugs half the time. When we finally finished, I stood up and started cleaning the plates beside me, but both Kris and Chanhee shot up from their places and insisted on me sitting down. I looked between them as they glared between each other, and sighed heavily.

                “Fine, you both can clean up. Even though it’s my house.” I grumbled the last part to myself and leaned back in my chair, pouting at the men in my house. As they piled up the dishes and took them into the kitchen, I grabbed the bottles of alcohol and walked into the living room, placing them onto the glass coffee table. After clicking on the television, I sat down next to Chanyeol and smiled at him. “Thank you for coming over Oppa, it was fun.” The male smiled down at me and ruffled my hair.

                “Thanks for letting us terrorize your house and eat your food.” He looked up and eyes widened. I turned my attention to the screen and noticed a movie. I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK was playing on the screen and I wrinkled my nose, picking up the remote.

                “As much as I like Rain, this movie creeps me out to no end.” I flipped through the channels as my boyfriend as next to me and laced his fingers with my free hand. I stopped on Star King, keeping it on more for noise than straight entertainment.

                Sitting and chatting with all of the guys for a while, I was having a lot of fun getting to know them, and was disappointed when Kris told them they had to get going. I said my goodbyes and hugged half of the members

                Kris was last and we looked at each other blankly before he just silently left. The last thing I saw before shutting the door was Tao and Chanyeol waving to me like idiots in front of the elevator. After locking the door and entering the kitchen, I started on the dishes and looked at Chanhee leaning against the counter.

                “So what do you think of them? Am I safe spending a month or longer with them?”

                “Kris seems like he can protect you, so yeah.” I shot him a confused look as he took the rinsed plate from my hands and started to dry it. “I was watching him and he acts protective over you. If he’s that protective down in China then I think I’ll be okay.” He smiled softly, pressing his lips against my temple. “As long as they don’t make any moves on my baby girl, I’m fine with you being with them for however long.”

                “Thank you Chanhee.” I whispered as I turned my head and pressed my lips against his.

                “Tao and Chanyeol better ease up on the skinship though, they’re so touchy.” He chuckled and I shook my head at his comment, feeling lighter knowing that he was seemingly okay with my moving to Beijing.

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A / N:

Sorry for not updating yesterday, I wasn't really awake for most of the day after getting sick during dance night before last.

Dehydration . Anyways, I hope this isn't too crappy for you guys.

I promise to do better!

<3 always, Lynn