After a few peaceful minutes we pulled apart, only because I felt Sungyeol's stomach rumble against mine.

"Sungyeol-ah," I said wagging my finger at him, "You didn't eat today, did you?" I figured. 

"No, I did..." He said nonchalantly, "I'm just always hungry!" He nodded his head and patted his stomach. I laughed and patted it too. It was surprisingly flat and firm.

"Well, either way we should meet up with the other boys and get coffee or something." His eyes perked up as soon as I said the word coffee. I knew they would. Somehow I had already noticed what words and phrases sparked his attention. Words that people notice only after years of friendship. Things I just seemed to know naturally.

"Well then let’s go!" This time he was the one linking arms with me. As we walked down the steps I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent Hoya and Woohyun a text saying to meet us at our favorite café in about an hour. We replaced the key in the office drawer and arrived at the elevators. Seeing the metal doors reminded me of our last experience in the elevator. My heart began to race and my face flushed. I looked away from Sungyeol, hoping he wouldn’t notice my embarrassment. I rubbed the back of my neck and casually looked up at him. He was looking down, glossy eyed almost chuckling to himself. He was in his own world. I flipped my head up-side down to look at his face from underneath. He jumped.

"What's so funny?" I said, breaking him out of his trance. The metal doors opened and he entered, ignoring my question. I began to get curious. What was he smirking at? Did he know what I was thinking? Did he notice my embarrassment? Why didn't he want me to know? I stared at him and he stared back at me. He actually started to blush. This time he was embarrassed about something. This time he was the one in a trance.

I furrowed my brow, confused as to what I was seeing. He quickly reached over and used his long boney finger to straighten my eyebrows as I had done to him twice before. "Aishhh… Don't do that...” He said. Wait... I only did that to him because I was afraid his cuteness would put me in a trance. Did that mean he thinks I'm cute? Was I the cause of his dazed state just a moment ago? My jaw dropped. My eyes almost popped out of my head. I was in utter shock. 

My head whirled around for the majority of the elevator ride. I was so frustrated that I decided to try to shake each question out of my head individually. I started hitting the back of my head with the palm of my hand, picturing a slew of letters falling out of my ears. The questions were nearly gone when my hand was suddenly being held back. Sungyeol had grabbed my wrist with unexpected strength. "Stop that. You're going to hurt yourself." He said calmly as walked out of the elevator.

"Yah!" I said chasing after him. Why did he do that? Did he really care or was I just annoying him? I sighed, giving up on my new found confusion. I was so close to peace of mind and he had to go ahead and put even more questions in my head. Damn him.

As we walked to the car, I listen to Sungyeol hum various tunes as he walked. The distance was about the same mile and a half but seemed much shorter with him as my personal DJ. I'd tell him to play a song and he'd hum it. Eventually I just began to poke his shoulder every time I wanted him to play another song, as if I was skipping to the next track on a CD player. When we got to the car I pulled out my key and began to unlock the door. 

"Can I drive?" He asked again, just as excitedly as he had before.

"Still not happening." I said and got into the car. Once he slid into the passenger seat I rolled down all the windows and locked them there. I thought the wind could blow all my cares away and return me back to cool, calm, collected L. I needed it to. I could never be frustrated, confused, little Myungsoo in front of my other friends. I gained more confidence as we pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop. I saw Hoya, Woohyun and the other new boys sitting by the window, laughing at something. This is normal. This is what I'm good at, I thought as we stepped through the entrance. Sungjong, the innocent-looking boy, smiled and waved at us with his long, skinny arm. Sungyeol smiled and waved back.

"Hyung!" Sungjong stood up and tackled Sungyeol. The two skinny boys awkwardly intertwined in a big bear hug. They seem to be really close, I noted. He broke away from Sungyeol and turned to the other boys sitting at the table. "This is Woohyun and this is Hoya. My guide and I didn't exactly get along, so Hoya and Woohyun decided to team up and take all the rest of the new boys. They even bought us drinks!" He hopped around excitedly. He was so lively. I wondered if he was this bubbly all the time or if he was trying to act cute in front of his new friends. 

"Hi, nice to meet you." Sungyeol waved to my old friends. "Sungjong-ah, this is Myungsoo. Most people call him L, the Lucky Lady Lover."  Sungjong cocked one of his eyebrows.

"Wow Yeollie!" I said sarcastically, sneaking out from behind Sungyeol's tall, skinny body. "Thanks for the fantastic introduction." I rolled my eyes and reached out to shake the boy's hand. At first, he just stood there, staring at my face. His mouth opened slightly, as if he had something to say. After what seemed like an hour, the boy accepted my gesture with both hands.

"Oh," he said with a smile, "It's nice to meet you." I stared down at his hands. His grip was unlike any handshake I've ever gotten. His hands were soft and supple; each of his nails perfectly cut and polished. I felt that if I gripped too hard the hand would break. I looked up at his face. His skin was flawless like a porcelain doll. I stared into his eyes for a moment, trying to determine what he was thinking. Something was off. His face was smiling but his eyes were telling me it was fake. He didn't really want to be smiling. I recognized this look as one of my own, leading me to want to know more about him. At that moment the silence hit my like a truck. I had once again worked my way into a trance. When I slipped back into consciousness I realized that he was dazed as well. All eyes were going back and forth between us. Once again I had managed to make everything much more awkward than necessary. 

"Uh... Well," I said, hoping nobody noticed my cheeks turning pink. "I'm just gonna go, um, order coffee." I scuttled over to the counter and glanced at the menu. Every time it was the same question; do I get the usual or something new? And every time it was the same answer; the usual. "I'd like an iced Americano no whipped cream, please."

"And I'd like a caramel iced latte with LOTS of whipped cream. Oh, and a muffin." I jumped. Sungyeol had been behind me the whole time. I opened my wallet and gave the money to the woman at the cash register. "By the way," he said to me, "are you always that awkward when meeting new people or are you just having a weird day." I glared at him. He gasped excitedly. "Or do you think he's cute too?!? That's it, isn’t it?!" His voice dropped as if he was the voice over in an action movie, "L, the Lucky Lady Lover, the triple threat, the coolest of cools has a weakness for cuteness." The cashier giggled. "Hey!" he said turning his attention to her, "You're pretty cute.... I bet he'll want your number. Or I could just give you his." Our orders were handed to us and I grabbed Sungyeol's arm, tearing him away from the counter and back to the table. When we got there I sat in between Sungjong and Sungyeol, across from Woohyun. Thinking back on it, the woman at the cash register really was cute.

"L, this is Dongwoo," Woohyun said motioning to the boy on his right, "and this is Sunggyu." The boys and I smiled and waved at each other. Woohyun locked eyes with Sunggyu for a moment and suddenly burst out laughing, collapsing onto the table.

"Wae!!" Sunggyu whined while playfully punching Woohyun's shoulder.

"His...eyes... they disappear when he smiles!" The boys, including me, roared with laughter. He was right. Sunggyu's eyes were so small already that when he squinted they basically became two lines on his face.

"Yah! You want to die?" He said to Woohyun. We laughed at his sincerity.

"I'm sorry Sunggyu, I never thought about how hard it must be for you to see clearly." Woohyun responded. Even Sunggyu laughed at this one. Woohyun had a way of being so obnoxious that sometimes there was nothing to do but laugh. I was glad that Sunggyu had already noticed this and wasn't offended.

The whole afternoon went on like this, cracking jokes, dying of laughter. We all got to know each other a bit more in a light-hearted way. The old friends and the new friends blurred into one by the end of the night. I did notice that Woohyun and Hoya seemed to have their 'favorites' of the new boys. For Hoya it was Dongwoo. They would often break away from the group's conversation and talk about things on their own, even getting up to show each other a few dance moves and giving tips. Woohyun's was obviously Sunggyu. When Sunggyu talked Woohyun had the perfect thing to say in response, and vice-versa. They were perfectly matched. They never broke away from the group's discussions, but led it. They both craved attention badly enough that rather than fighting over it, they gave it to each other. Sometimes the rest of the boys would be completely silent, just listening to the two boys talk to each other. I, of course, gave most of my attention to Sungyeol.

As for Sungjong, all the boys seemed to love him. He was cute, sassy, and everything in between. He was younger than me, releasing me as the groups maknae which was a relief. But on the car ride home I couldn't help but think of Sungjong's empty eyes. They haunted me for the entire night, leaving me a bit frightened and even more intrigued. What exactly was he hiding?

[AUTHOR'S NOTE]

Hi guys! This chapter was kind of boring but I really hope that you caught on to some of the MAJOR hints that are hidden within this chapter. I realized that it takes me about a week to complete each chapter so expect an update just about once a week. If I'm really excited though, it could come within days! Thanks to all you new subscribers and commenters! I can't wait to see what you think of the story's progression. <3<3