Small Contest: Part One

The Bubble Tea Store

 

It was ten o'clock in the morning and I was prepared to go shopping. I plan to spend time with only Exo-M today, leaving Exo-K to do whatever activities they want by themselves. Luhan was the only person I have yet to wake up.

Quietly, I opened Luhan and Sehun's door and tiptoed to Luhan's bed, careful not to disturb Sehun.

"Luhan," I leaned in and whispered, gently shaking him. He stirred and turned his body away from me.

"What?" he groaned, throwing his blanket over his head lazily.

"Do you want to go shopping with us?" I continued after going to the other side to face him again.

"Sure," he responded. I don't think he knew what he said because he began snoring a second later. 

"Wake up," I shook him again. 

I looked up when I heard the door creak open. Lay had a whistle in between his lips. He pointed at it and then at Luhan before taking a deep breath. I immediately made a giant X with my arms. 

"NO," I mouthed clearly with wide eyes. Lay took the instrument from his lips.

"I'm joking," he chuckled. 

I signalled for him to wait outside with the others, but he just cautiously made his way beside me. He glanced at Sehun and then looked down at Luhan. 

"Just pour water on him," he quietly suggested.

"I can't do that."

"That's what I did last time. Or just push him off the bed like a log. I don't think he'll even feel anything when he lands on the floor, so just push him really hard."

"Lay!” I whispered loudly.

“Just try it! He’ll immediately blame me once he wakes up, anyway.”

“Are the others ready?" I asked, ignoring his last statement.

He nodded and held up the whistle, "I had to use this on Kris though. He smacked me with a pillow afterwards. There's a pillow fight happening in the other room right now."

"Please go. I'll handle this," I softly pushed Lay to exit himself out. 

"We'll wait downstairs," he gave up and closed the door behind him. 

Luhan eventually got out of bed and went to the bathroom to shower after a number of tries of waking him up. Before I left the room, I decided to check up on Sehun. He was lying on his side, his hand hidden underneath his pillow and his bangs covering his eyes. Carefully, I used my fingertips to brush them away. 

"You're cute when you're asleep," I muttered under my breath as I bent forward. 

Yes, I knew what I was saying. There's no point lying when he's unconscious. This may be the only chance I get to be honest in front of him. Thank goodness his ears are turned off for it. 

"If only you weren't a huge flirt. Then I'd probably consider liking you. Maybe."

I've already acknowledged long ago that Sehun's good-looking, smart, funny and sweet at times. His arrogance is just the only thing I truly cannot stand. It always drives me to the wall. Each time he does something nice and sweet, those annoying moments he had ever done leaves my mind for a while, but the second he irritates me, my anger returns and those moments come flooding right back, making me hate him all over again.

"I hate you," I jokingly whispered. I gave a short blow of wind onto his shut eyes, causing them to automatically close more tightly on their own. He then his bottom lip. "So, you do that in your sleep too?"

Watching him intently do that looks attractive actually. 

I immediately froze when he groaned and stirred, moving forward to me. I took a step back, fearing that I would get caught any second. Then glancing at his now calm, sleeping figure, I ran out of the room. 

 

♦ ♦ ♦

 

Before Exo-M and I left the hotel, I visited Myungsoo at the restaurant. He invited me to attend a club on Friday night stating that Haneul would be there and that he'd gladly introduce me to her. 

Well, too late for that. 

"Guys, I need you to help me buy an outfit for Friday night, okay?" I told them as we walked around the mall. 

"We'll do that at the end. It's too early to look for girly stuff," Xiumin carelessly waved a hand. 

"Then what are we going to do now?"

Chen shrugged, "Look for games and toys."

"Hyemi, you don't expect us to enter every clothing store with you, right? That'll be boring," Tao frowned. 

"You can just wait for me in front of the shop when I go in one," I replied. They all groaned.

"Maybe there's a small contest we can enter here to kill time," Luhan hoped, glancing at the shops we were passing by.

God must've heard his prayer because we noticed a large sign in the middle of the shopping centre saying 'Sticker Contest!' We all exchanged knowing glances and hurriedly went up to the stall. 

"What's this sticker contest?" Tao curiously asked the person in charge. The manager handed a flyer over to us which showed a grid of pictures for the stickers to be stuck on. 

"It's actually only for children ages 6-12, but you're all more than welcome to enter," the manager explained, showing encouragement. 

Although this contest was only for children, the thought of rejecting the invitation to participate never crossed Exo-M's minds. If it was something fun, they would never let the opportunity pass. Ever. 

"We'll be happy to join!" Chen chirped happily. 

"There are fifty stickers to collect in the mall. One or two stickers are found stuck on most windows of a random shop, so keep your eyes open. If you spot one, go up to a staff member working there and ask for the exact sticker. All shops know about this contest so they will be able to provide you the stickers their shop was assigned to. Also, as part of the contest, there are five items you must buy. They’re listed there on the paper," the manager explained the instructions.

"That doesn't sound so hard," Kris read the contents of the flyer with a raised eyebrow. "What's the winner's prize?"

"A trip to Disneyland.”

At that moment, their eyes sparkled brighter than the stars.

"OH MY GOD!" 

"We have to win this!" Luhan pumped a fist in the air. 

"At least give the children a chance," I crossed my arms, amused. 

"Hyemi, did you not hear what this kind gentleman just said?! D-I-S-N-E-Y-L-A-N-D," Luhan shook me by the shoulders.

We thanked the manager for his assistance and scanned the fifty pictures. 

"Oh, wait!" the manager called for our attention again. "I forgot to mention. You need to collect them all by four o'clock. We announce the winner by then. Good luck!"

"Four o'clock? We have five hours," Lay calculated in his head. 

"Okay, thank you!" we bowed before beginning the contest.

Kris then snatched the flyer from Tao and examined it again. After a minute, he looked up with determined eyes. 

"I can totally find these faster than all of you," he confidently said. 

"No, we're supposed to find it as a team," I reminded, grabbing it from him. 

"I'm just saying," he folded his arms coolly. 

I narrowed my eyes, taking up his challenge, "Oh, yeah?"

"Hell, yeah," he nodded sharply with a smug look. 

"Then let's split up into two teams and compete against each other.”

"I'M WITH HYEMI!" they all, except Kris, suddenly clung onto me. 

"Hey! What is this?!" Kris glared at them, making me laugh. 

"Choose your members," I told him. 

"Chen and Xiumin, you're both coming with me. You're on the winner's side," he pulled them towards him by their shoulders.

"May the best team win!"

 

♦ ♦ ♦

 

[Kris' POV]

Two hours have passed and we’ve already found twenty-five stickers and bought two items from the list.

We have to win this! I can't lose to a bunch of girls.

Having leadership qualities is surely an advantage and maximizes our chances of winning. Chen and Xiumin must be blessed to be in a presence with a genius. 

"It says to buy crazy glasses, right? What about these?" Xiumin turned around with massive pink star glasses on and colorful strings hanging off of it. Chen burst into laughter.  

"Focus, people," I authoritatively said. 

"No, no. Let's get these!" Chen turned around and the glasses he was wearing suddenly released springy eyes. He shook his head and it sprung wildly in every direction. 

I smacked my forehead. I chose the wrong members to come join me. 

"GUYS!" I shouted.

They suddenly lunged at me and placed something in front my eyes. Laughing, they pushed me in front of a mirror. Three eyed glasses covered the upper part of my face. It had a pair of normal eyes and an abnormal one on my forehead. 

"Oh my god, it suits you!" they laughed hysterically as they slapped their knees. I could feel my head ready to explode in frustration. 

"We've already crossed this off the list an hour ago!" I raged, throwing the crazy glasses off. 

“Hey, Kris,” someone suddenly patted my back, making me turn around. My eyes instantly widened with hope.

“Suho, I’m so glad to see you! Thank, god!” I hugged him desperately.

“Whoa,” he stumbled back a bit.

“You have to help me. These idiots are driving me insane!” I let him go and pointed sharply at my two team members, who were now having fun putting stupid hats on.

“What are you even doing here at a toy store?” Suho asked curiously.

“We decided to enter a sticker contest and Hyemi’s leading the other half of Exo-M. You have to join my team and help me win!” I shook his shoulders. He laughed and grabbed my shoulders too, calming me down.

“Okay, okay, I’ll help. I’m also with Kai and D.O. Do you want me to ask them to help?”

“Yes! Yes, please!”

"Oh, look! I found an item from the list to buy! Magical creatures,” Chen held up a plushie of a dragon and a unicorn.

I sighed in relief, realizing they’ve come back to their senses. I think.

“Wait, where’s Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Sehun?” I turned to Suho and asked.

“They’re at the food court having lunch.”

“Oh, okay. Anyway, here’s a copy of the sticker list. I’ve already scribbled out the ones we’ve found. Match these pictures with the stickers you find on random shop windows. Collect them and give them to me,” I ordered carefully.

“Okay. So, what about these ones we need to find?” he pointed at the five items.

“Don’t worry about them. I’ll buy those,” I replied.

“Okay, how long do we have left and what--”

“There’s no time to explain!” I quickly pushed him out the store. “Hurry up before Hyemi wins!”

He glanced at me over his shoulder with an amused smile before scouting Kai and D.O again. I suddenly felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Relieved, I turned to Chen and Xiumin.

“We don’t have to worry about the stickers. Let’s just buy these three remaining items,” I explained to them with a grin.

“You asked the others for help?” Xiumin raised an eyebrow.

“But isn’t that cheating?” Chen looked hesitant.

“No, because I know that Chanyeol will immediately ask Hyemi to participate with them once he finds out about this contest. If she says no, he’ll still force his way to join. Therefore, Exo will be playing this game as a whole, competing against each other. So, no. We’re not cheating,” I concluded with confidence.

“Whoa, this contest just got extreme,” Xiumin said.

“So, which one should we buy?” Chen held up the toy dragon and unicorn once again.

“Choose any so we can get out of here,” I waved a hand. However, I signalled with my eyes to choose the dragon as I stared intently at it.

“Okay, I’ll get this unicorn,” Chen teased, throwing the dragon carelessly back on the shelf. “Lay would love this.”

“No! You’re so bad at choosing things!” I grabbed the dragon and slapped his hand, making the unicorn jump out from his palm.

In the end, I got what I wanted. We bought the dragon and finally left the store.

“Three down and two more to go,” Xiumin reminded, looking at the list. I peeked over his shoulder and read it too.

A SHINee poster? A Twilight t-shirt?

“What the heck? Who would put these on here?!” I asked with a wrinkled nose.

“I know, right? We’re not kids, and we’re not girls either,” Xiumin stated with the same expression. I was suddenly reminded that this sticker contest was for children.

“Oh, I get it,” I muttered under my breath.

Ten minutes of searching and we found ourselves in front of the food court.

“Look! There’s Sehun, Chanyeol, Baekhyun,” Chen pointed in the distance. We spotted them sitting down eating noodles.

Just then, I saw our opponent, Hyemi along with her team, approach them. I quickly dragged the two boys with me and hid behind a large plant.

“Um, why are we hiding?” Chen awkwardly asked.

I don’t even know myself.

“We’re just secretly watching them. For fun,” I just answered.

“Why are you whispering? They can’t hear us. What’s wrong with you?” he looked at me stupidly.

“Stop asking stupid questions and just watch!” I grabbed his chin and redirected his attention back to Hyemi.

 

[Hyemi's POV]

“Baekhyun! Hey!” we walked up to him, Chanyeol and Sehun after noticing them. Baekhyun grinned, but was quickly replaced with a frown.

“Why didn’t you wake me up?! I’m your best friend. You’re supposed to be shopping with me. Not them!” he shouted.

“Sorry. I just wanted to hang out with Exo-M today,” I reasoned.

“Why? You hate Exo-K?” Chanyeol asked bluntly.

“No, it's not that!”

“What’s in your shopping bag?” he changed the subject almost immediately after he observed the bag I was holding.

“Just a few toys and a poster of SHINee,” I took out a dragon plushie and caressed it lovingly.

“Do you know how long it took her to choose that SHINee poster? There were over ten posters. Each time we were ready to line up and buy one, she goes back and chooses a different one!” Tao complained, slouching beside Sehun.

I noticed that Sehun was wearing a blue and red cap.

Luhan chuckled, “Well, I was enjoying myself. I just stared at the posters of Girl’s Generation until they were ready to leave.”

“How long have you all been shopping?” I asked them after sitting on the other side of Sehun. Before answering, he took off his cap and placed it on my head, adjusting it for me.

“Not long. Actually, we just arrived,” he replied as he smiled at the sight of me wearing his cap.

“We ran away when D.O said he was going to buy vegetables for dinner tonight,” Baekhyun added.

“So,” Chanyeol leaned in towards me and stared at me with so much interest. “Is there something you want to ask us?”

“Um, how are you?” I looked at him unsurely, not knowing what he wanted me to ask.

“No, not that! I’m good, by the way.”

“I don’t know then,” I shrugged.

I grabbed Sehun’s chopsticks and ate some of his noodles. I didn’t bother fighting myself with this action because I was too hungry to care.

Chanyeol sighed heavily, “I’ll go straight to the point. What’s this about a sticker contest?”

“How did you find out about that?” I tilted my head.

“D.O just texted me.”

Nodding, I swallowed and grabbed more noodles.

“Oh, okay. So, are you thinking of competing against us too?” I asked. He blinked at me and then glanced at Sehun and Baekhyun.

“No, we want to be a part of your team,” he simply said.

“We’d love to, but we have enough members,” Lay spoke up.

“Hey! You can’t decide! Hyemi’s the leader!” Chanyeol protested.

“Give me one reason why we should let you in our team,” Lay crossed his arms and waited for Chanyeol’s answer.

“Because Sehun, Baekhyun and I are the only ones not part of it!”

“Wait, what about Suho, Kai and D.O?” Luhan raised an eyebrow.

“Kris asked them to join his team.”

I suddenly choked on my food. Sehun patted my back. Catching my breath, I slammed the noodle box on the table.

“Kris what?!” I shouted.

“Yeah, Suho told D.O that they were helping him collect stickers,” Chanyeol dangled his phone in front of me.

“Kris can’t do that! That’s not fair!” I continued.

He was planning to win this way behind my back?! No! I refuse! I’m taking him down! He will feel my wrath!

“All three of you are on our team now!” I told them.

“Yes,” Chanyeol quietly said.

“How many stickers have you collected so far?” Baekhyun took the sticker paper from Lay.

“Thirty-five, and we just need a Twilight t-shirt,” Lay responded.

“Twilight t-shirt? Really?” Baekhyun laughed through his nose.

“I didn’t make the list, okay?!”

“It should be easy to find the remaining stickers. We just need to look at the shops we haven’t past yet,” Tao said.

 

♦ ♦ ♦

 

Another two hours passed. We’d forget about the contest once in a while as the silly toys became a huge distraction when we enter each shop.

“I think I found a sticker. Are they the same?” Sehun looked back and forth at the paper and a sticker up on a window. I stood next to him and did the same.

“Yes, they are! Good job!” I excitedly said. We now only have five more to collect and a t-shirt to buy.

“Be right back. I’ll just get it,” Sehun walked inside.

I turned around to chat with the boys, but realized I was the only one standing there. They must’ve gone inside a different stop to get a sticker. Or perhaps they got distracted again.

Refusing to be alone, I followed Sehun. I admired some paintings on the wall as I waited for him.

“Can I have the exact sticker you have at the front over there?” I heard him ask a staff member. I peeked through the gaps of the shelves. The staff member was looking at him questioningly.

“Sure. Are you with a child?” she asked.

“Um, no,” Sehun awkwardly replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you the one participating in the sticker contest?”

“Y-yes, I am,” Sehun the back of his neck in embarrassment, making me cover my mouth to hold in a laugh.

“B-but I’m doing this for my little cousin! She really wants to go to Disneyland!” he added.

“Aw, that’s really sweet of you,” the staff member cooed.

“Y-yeah, thank you,” he turned his head and made eye-contact with me for a quick moment. Before he turned away, he scowled as he knew very well that I was witnessing this.

I rotated his cap on my head so that the top was facing the right way. I then lowered it to cover my eyes. With my head down, I suddenly saw a Hello Kitty wrist watch.

“This is so cute!” I gasped. I tried it on and looked at the mirror next to me.

I used to love Hello Kitty when I was little. In fact, I still have accessories of it decorating my room.

Just then, Sehun’s reflection appeared behind me.

“I’m not doing this anymore,” he said with a blank face, placing the paper on my hand. “What are you doing?”

“Just admiring this on me,” I turned around to face him and flashed the watch. He didn’t reply and just slightly lifted the cap for our eyes to meet.

“I don’t like it when I can’t see your face properly. Always look at me when we talk,” he leaned forward so that both of our heads were sheltered under the top of the cap, our noses almost touching.

“Hey!” I quickly pushed his shoulders back, but was only able to move him by a few inches.

“So, what did you say before? Did you say you were admiring this on you?” he nudged the cap.

“N-No. I said I was just…you know…t-this…not…hey!” I pushed him much harder. He stood up straight and smiled.

“It looks good on you.”

“Stop,” I glared at him as I quickly removed the watch from my wrist and left the store.

“There you are! We’ve been looking for you,” Baekhyun said.

“Look! We collected four more,” Chanyeol held the stickers up to my face.

“And we bought a shirt. Go, team Jacob!” Tao yelled with a pumped fist in the air.

“Actually, I was rooting for Edward, but oh well,” Lay shrugged.

"So, we finished the contest!" I cheered.

“Not yet. We have one more sticker to collect,” Chanyeol corrected. Oh, right.

“There’s one more store we haven’t visited yet and it’s at the other end of the mall. Let’s go,” I walked away and directed them.

We reached an intersection and just when we were about to turn, we saw familiar faces in front of us. They stopped in their tracks as well when they noticed us.

“Well, hello,” Kris greeted with narrow eyes.

“Hello,” I mirrored his expression. He glanced at the stickers in my hand.

“I see you’ve almost collected yours. So have we,” he held his collection of stickers and showed us.

There was a corner that was missing a sticker. The same spot in our paper that was blank.

“We were just about to go to the last store. So, we’ll just see you back at the Sticker Contest stall,” I said.

“Actually, we’re going to the last store too. We’ll win after we get that last sticker.”

"Not if we get it first."

“So, I think we’ll see you later,” Kris smiled at us. He then turned to the boys behind him. “Guys…RUNNN!!”

They suddenly bolted in full speed in the direction of the store we were also heading to.

 

 
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Lilbobaball
#1
Chapter 29: Oh my god ur backkk woohoo
nurynnuyen
#2
Chapter 30: Thank you for updating!!! I love this fic so much
bubblegum-
#3
Chapter 30: Oof~ Sehun is quite complicated now. It slightly hurtd to read this for Hyemi.
xoxowhite17 #4
Chapter 28: a pleasant surprise! welcome back :)
jongfinity
#5
Chapter 29: omggg you're back!! i'm so happy!
and thank you for updating!! :) ♥️
han-seonia
#6
Chapter 29: oMG YOU are BACK!!! its worth the wait<333
Yeollieswifey
#7
oOMG YOU OMG you are back?!?! i've been waiting and coming back to this story for the past few years... i was one of your readers at the time you were still updating and i can't express how glad i am that you're back!! WELCOME BACK ♡
bubblegum-
#8
Chapter 29: Oh my god I think I read this way back freshman college??? or was I a senior in highschool???? I am so happy you update! Welcome back ♡ Thank you for the update. Happy New Year!!!
mrsbyun20 #9
Chapter 29: Omg?! I just read this yesterday because i missed this fic sooo much?! I subscribed on my other account imagine how shock i was when I saw this fic on the sehun tag jsjssh

Anyways, welcome back! Thank you for updating I love this fic sooo much.