Nina POV

It was about 6:00 and we were almost finished. Members started wandering in here and there. “Wah! It smells so good!” Chanyeol came bounding in, heading straight for the food sitting on the counter. He grabbed a bite before I could stop him.

“Yah!” I yelled. He ran off laughing. I shook my head as he left. He reappeared a moment later,

“Noona~ Its really good.” He grinned cheekily at me.

“Tch!” I waved my spoon at him and he ran away again.

Lay POV

I entered EXO K’s dorm and sat my bag down. I smelled the food and took a deep breath. I was really hungry now after practice. I entered the kitchen to see Nina and D.O. standing there together. I laughed at the scene before me and leaned against the doorway. Nina turned to see me once she heard me laugh, “Oh! Yi Xing! You’re here!” I smiled,

“Do you need any help?” She smiled and shook her head,

“No, it’s almost done. Thanks though.” I nodded and turned to leave. Before I left I stopped and turned back around quickly, one hand still resting on the doorframe,

“Oh, and D.O., I like your apron. That color suits you.” I laughed and Nina giggled. D.O. just shot me a look and resumed what he was doing. Once we heard about the fans calling D.O. the omma, Baekhyun went out and bought a pink apron for him. D.O. immediately went back out and purchased himself a blue one. But it seems that today Nina refused to wear the pink one and claimed the blue one, because D.O. was left wearing the pink one. Poor guy…

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Diner was ready and we all gathered to eat. The food was really good and we all really enjoyed it. Also, Nina and D.O. seemed a lot closer now. They weren’t near as awkward with each other as they were yesterday even. This day had been a major improvemen in their relationship. I just hope they don’t get too close…

“Oh, Noona! I know! Next time, you and Lay should cook some Chinese food together. That sounds good, right.” I looked over at Kai, a paniced expression on my face. He just winked and turned back towards Nina. “How about that Noona?” I looked at her and she turned to look at me too. My heart was beating loudly in my chest and I hoped desperatly that no one could hear. We just stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity to me, although in reality it only lasted a matter of seconds. Finally she smiled and spoke,

“I’m up for it, as long as Yi Xing is willing to teach me,” My stomach bubbled nervously,

“S-Sure.” I smiled, althouh inside I was cringing. Stupid! Pabo! Why’d you stutter? I was distracted for a monnet as I scolded myself profusly. Finally she was able to catch my attention again,

“Yi Xing,” gosh I love it when she uses my real name. “I didn’t realize that you like to cook too,” I blinked,

“Hmm? Oh! Yeah. I do it a lot when I ‘m bored or especially missing home. It’s a nice comfort.”

“Oh, yeah. I bet. This tonight,” she gestured around us at the table and food, “It reminds me of home.” She smiled sadly. I softened. I often forgot how far from home she was. I mean, the four of us fom China were pretty far, but she had us beat.

“Do you miss it a lot Noona?” Sehun asked sweetly from his seat beside her. She nodded and forced a smile,

“Ne, but being with you guys helps a lot. You brighten my day. You’re my family too now. If I was to go home to America I would end up sad and miss you all here.” She looked sown. She seemed to be trying to blink back tears. Sehun reached out and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, enveloping her in a tight hug. She turned and returned the hug. He pated her back,

“It’ll be okay Noona.” He pulled away and smiled at her encouragingly. She nodded and smiled,

“Thank you,” she whispered. She wiped at her eyes quickly before standing up, “I’ll be back in a minute. I must look a mess.” She really didn’t, but we all just let her go and take care of herself. We were silent, but then someone poked me in the side with their elbow. I looked over at Kris. He raised an eyebrow at me and jerked his head, signalling for me to go and follow her. I widened my eyes at him in panic and he narrowed his at me, telepathically threatening me. I thought his power was to fly, not telepathy… I sighed and stood, following after her wordlessly. I could practically feel Kris’ satisfied smirk as I stalked down the hallway. I stopped outside of the bathroom door where she had gone in.

“Nina. It’s Yi Xing. I-I’m sorry I upset you… Are you alright now?” It was silent for a moment, then the door opened, startling me. I took a step back in surprise. She looked back at me, a smile on her face,

“It’s not your fault,” she said, “I was already thinking about it a lot today… I think that’s why I asked D.O. if he wanted to cook with me today. I needed some small home comfort. So, don’t feel bad. It was inevitable. I just wish that it hadn’t been in front of everyone… That’s embarassing…” she mumbled the last parts and I frowned. I took a small step forward and she looked up at me,

“Have you… Have you been crying alone before now?” I asked. She looked down, avoiding my gaze.

“Look at me,” I took hold of her chin gently and made her look up at me. She stared back at me wide-eyed. “Don’t-” I paused, closing my eyes for a moment to collect my thoughts and emotions. I know what she’s feeling and it’s so easy to just keep it all inside and let it all build up, but its not healthy. Whenever I feel really bad, I usually go talk to Luhan ge or Duizhang. But, she must not feel like she has anyone to go to. Little does she know, we’re all here for her no matter what. It’s like what she said earlier, we’re family now. I took a deep breath, “Don’t be sad all alone. Don’t cry alone, because you’re far from alone,” I opened my eyes and stared into her eyes with as much seriousness and intensity as I could muster.  I softened my look as I continued, “I-We all love you. You ARE our family. Okay? So, talk to me. You always can. Or, anyone else,” I added reluctantly. I wanted to be the one she came to for comfort, but that was selfish of me, “We’re all here for you, so come to us. Next time, please don’t cry alone.” I gave her a weak smile. She looked back up at me, her eyes growing more watery by the second. She nodded slowly, her lips pulling up slightly in a smile, but they quivered. I sighed and pulled her to my chest, hugging her tightly. After a moment she wrapped her arms back around my waist. She burried her face into my shoulder and I felt as she let out more of her pent up tears. I felt my own eyes prick slightly, but I didn’t let it go past that. I gently laid my head against her head as I rubbed her back in small, soothing circles. “Shh, it’s okay,” I comforted her. We stood there hugging. I didn’t worry about pulling apart or trying to rush her or anything. She needed this. How long had she been hurting so? Finally she quieted down and her breathing slowed and wasn’t so ragged. She snifferd a few times and pulled away slowly. I released her, although unwillingly. She looked down, avoiding my gaze again. I sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder, “Next time, just… just, please promise me you’ll come to me or one of the others… We don’t want you to be sad. And you shouldn’t suffer alone. You don’t have to. We’re here for you. So… Please.” I looked down at her pleadingly. She nodded, head still down. I nodded, satisfied and began turning to go back in to the other room, but before I could, I felt a small tug on the back of my shirt. I stopped and turned to her. She was clutching to the bottom of my shirt, still avoiding my eyes.

“Thank you,” She whispered. I stepped closer and bent down untill our faces were on the same level. I reached out and cupped her face in my hands, wiping her tears with my thumbs.

“Your welcome,” I whispered back. I lingered for a moment before making a daring descision. Well, at least for me. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead softly. I pulled away and smiled to myself. I quickly turned and went back to join the others.

When I sat back down, I could feel them all staring at me. I tried ignoring them all, taking a drink of water to distract myself. “Hyung,” Sehun finally ventured. I looked up at him. “You have…” he pointed to my shirt, slightly sad and confused. I looked down and saw the dark spot he was referring to. It was where she had put her head as she cried, leaving a small spot that was slightly darker than the rest of my shirt because it was wet. “Is-Is Noona okay?” He asked sadly, almost scared. I looked back up at him and nodded,

“Ne, she’ll be okay. She just needed to cry. She misses home sometimes. We all do. She’s just a little farther from home and everything… She barely gets to speak English. I guess… I guess its pretty hard… But she’ll be fine. Just be supportive. And anytime she’s upset or needs to talk, let her.” I made eye contact with them all and they nodded, understanding. “Honestly, I had never really realized her situation. You know, we all have people here with us from our home countries close by, but she’s alone. She’s even usually the only girl, just adding to her weird situation. It’s…  sad… I had never really noticed… I guess I was too preoccupied with myself to see her suffering…” I hung my head slightly, ashamed of myself. You’d think that I could have foreseen this. We’re all in a similar boat, but her problems somehow had evaded me. Luhan patted my shoulder,

“Don’t worry about it. None of us realized what she must be feeling. She’s strong, she’ll be okay. And now we know, so we can look out for her better now.” I looked up and he smliled reassuringly. I nodded,

“Yeah, your right.”

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Can somebody tell me if the chapter picture is working or not... I don't know if its just me or not. -.-