CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: On My Mind

{ She couldn't help but second-guess this time. } * Click for BGM!

Luhan and Hyejung deftly stepped off the bus. The tomboy stood at the bottom step for a few moments, taking a quick gander of her busy surroundings. A lot of people from young families to cute couples strolled around the streets, enjoying themselves.

Once Hyejung set her foot on the sidewalk, she awkwardly called out, "Um, Luhan?"

"Hmm? What is it, Hyejung?" Luhan curiously answered, spinning around with a map in grasp.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but I never been in this part of Seoul." Hyejung timidly admitted, scratching the back of her neck uncomfortably.

Luhan chuckled harmoniously, lightly patting Hyejung's forearm with assurance. "Ah, don't worry Hyejung. We won't get lost! Besides, I got this awesome ma--"

Right at that moment, a Lamborghini Reventon sped right pass, making Luhan lose his hold on his map with a yelp. It flailed high in the air, landing all the way across the numerous lane street. 

Hyejung seriously crossed her arms, raising an arched brow. "You were saying?"

Luhan swallowed, but then he coolly shrugged it off in optimism. "Eh, who needs a map? It's more fun to adventure into the great unknown, right?" 

"Oh yeah, uh-huh. Of course," Hyejung nonchalantly nodded, sarcasm in her tone of voice. "Let's just go. You dragged me to this place, so let's not waste any time." she mumbled, but in her heart she secretly was excited for exploring. She yearned for it in a way.

With her hands stuffed bulkily in her loose hoodie, Hyejung sauntered down the market streets with Luhan. Honestly, she thought it would be weird hanging out with Luhan alone, but she didn't really mind since she mainly grew up playing with boys. It did feel a bit nerve-racking at first, but Hyejung soon adjusted and became somewhat comfortable. 

"Hyejung?" Luhan spoke up, snapping the girl back into reality.

"Huh?" Hyejung blinked, drawing her gaze up at Luhan. "Oh. Yeah, what is it?" 

Luhan chuckled, elbowing Hyejung's arm lightly. "I'm sorry. Did I disturb you of your thoughts?" he teased, a boyish grin on his face. 

"Yes. Wait, what? I, er, I mean no!" Hyejung exclaimed, hating herself because her brain was turned off for too long. Luhan held his fist over his lips, fighting the urge to laugh. 

"Don't overwork you brain, Hyejung. It's Saturday." Luhan smirked, making Hyejung heat in embarrassment. 

Hyejung let out a heavy, frustrated huff so she can finally get to the point, "Okay, seriously, what is it Luhan?" 

Luhan cleared his throat, smiling, "Oh yeah. I was wondering what that is." he pointed to a food stand, his attention mainly focused on the delish treat it sold. It looked similiar to an American corn dog.

"That? That's fish cake." Hyejung answered. She peeked up at Luhan, raising an incredulous brow. "Shouldn't you know that?"

Luhan scoffed at her, harmlessly of course. "I'm Chinese, Hyejung. I never saw that kind of fish cake before." 

"Psh. I knew that." Hyejung knowingly waved her hand.

Luhan slowly nodded, unconvinced. "Sureee. Of course," he laughed, making Hyejung shove him with her shoulder. 

"So, do you want to some freakin' fish cake or not?" Hyejung eyed the boy, tilting her head.

The lad nodded eagerly. "Yes please~" he jokingly sang.

Hyejung pretended to gag. "Ugh. On second thought, get it yourself. You have a working brain, right?" she poked the space between Luhan's eyebrows, strutting ahead to the fish cake stand.

Luhan watched as Hyejung stormed ahead, a soft glow in his eyes. He shook his head in disbelief and amusement, following after her right at the heels.

Once Luhan came up to Hyejung, the girl abruptly spun around with two fish cakes in hand. She jolted a bit, "Woah! Geez, not so close dude!"

Luhan jokingly bowed ninety-degrees, a playful grin upon his face. "Sorry about that. Is that for me?"

Hyejung scoffed. "Heck no! These are both for me!" she exclaimed, gesturing her fish cakes.

"Really? Wow, well thank you, Hyejung," Luhan obliged in taking one of the fish cakes, quickly taking a generous bite before Hyejung could snatch it back.

"Yah!! That was mine!" Hyejung protested. Luhan chewed happily, giving a sly wink to the tomboy. With a bitter huff, Hyejung took a huge bite out of her fish cake, forcefully munching on it with a pout.

~*~

"Come on, guys! Why do you guys have to be a bunch of slow-pokes?!" Sehun complained.

"Oh please. Sehun, it's not like the freakin' PC room is on fire! Geez!" D.O. rolled his eyes, tiredly flailing his arms.

"But Sehun has a point. I've been wanting to play Starcraft all week!" Baekhyun added, stuffing his hands in his pockets. The six rambunctious boys of Exo-K were walking down the bustling streets, only a couple blocks away from the beloved PC room.

With all the chattery and guffawing coming from the other boys, Kai walked quietly walked along. He sighed thoughtfully, drawing his gaze up to the heavens, "I wonder what Hyejung's doing right now." 

"Huh? Hyejung? You mean our Hyejung?" Chanyeol repeated in his deep voice. The boys all fixed their attention on Kai, wondering if Hyejung was really on his mind. As a matter of fact, she was. 

D.O. snorted, "Chanyeol, I'm pretty sure there's only one Hyejung we all know."

"Oh, oh! Actually, I have a second cousin-in-law named Hyejung!" Sehun chimed, glancing over his shoulder.

"Ehh? Wait, what...how is that...argh, my brain! I can't think!" Chanyeol gripped onto his locks, shaking his head desperately.

Suho chuckled, patting Chanyeol's back. "Take it easy," the leader looked over at Kai. "Hyejung told me she was going to go jogging today since she had nothing to do."

Kai scoffed, muttering, "That's stupid. She could've asked me to hang out or something." 

"I don't mean to sound blunt Kai, but since when did you like being around Hyejung? You already see her everyday and at practice." Baekhyun raised his eyebrows in interest. "Isn't that enough for you?"

*Actually, no.* Kai remained silent, nonchalantly sliding his hands in his jean pockets. To Kai, it seemed impossible to say that he had enough of Hyejung. Through the months of knowing and growing closer to her, Kai honestly never felt that way. If he did, it would be considered a filthy lie in his book.

The boys shrugged, focusing on getting to their destination. But something didn't seem right when Sehun suddenly stopped, wide-eyed as he stared ahead. "Uh, Suho-hyung?" he distractedly called.

"Oh! Yes, Sehun?" Suho responded, looking up from his quick talk with D.O.

Sehun spun around, rushing over to his hyungs. "When you said Hyejungie was going on a jog, did you say she was going with someone?"

Exo-K looked at the eldest boy as he slowly shook his head. "No...I'm pretty sure she was going by herself. Why you ask?"

"Well, I was just asking because I'm pretty sure I saw her with Luhan-hyung just no,." Sehun innocently beamed, brightly smiling like it was the most ordinary thing to say.

Kai instantaneously jerked his head up and stared at the maknae in utter disbelief. "What did you just say?" 

"Him?" Chanyeol pointed at Sehun. "Yeah, he just said he saw Hyejung with Luha-- wait, what?!" the giant's eyes shot wide open. "You mean that little Chinese pipsqueak is out on a date with Hyejungie?!"

*Date?* The thought made Kai cringe, his stomach churning. He would've choke if he was eating or drinking something, but he fortunately wasn't.

"YAH! My hyung is not a pipsqueak! He's absolutely amazing and very, very manly!" Sehun roared in defense, pushing Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol snorted mockingly, "Says the maknae who can't even sleep without a freakin' nightlight." 

"But you can't do that either, Chanyeol." Baekhyun stated. Sehun laughed victoriously as Chanyeol loudly whined, "Yah, Baekhyunnn!"

D.O. gritted his teeth, hopelessly trying to separate Chanyeol from murdering Sehun and possibly even Baekhyun. "Yah, yah, yah! Would you stop the stupid bickering?! You're making my ears bleed, dammit! YAH!" 

Standing safely to the side, Suho clapped his hands happily, "Ooh, that's nice! It's good that Hyejung's making friends outside us!" he chuckled heartily. "Isn't that right, Kai? Kai? Huh?" the leader hesitantly looked around with round, surprised eyes. "K-Kai? Where did you go..?"

All the boys immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at Suho. D.O. had Chanyeol in a deadly head lock, Chanyeol was strangling Sehun by his shirt, Sehun was hugging onto Baekhyun's arm for dear life, and Baekhyun was trying to escape the hectic brawl. He obviously wasn't successful.

The eldest boy stared back at the four other boys, and in complete sync, they all turned their heads to the right. Kai was always storming ahead, determined to find Hyejung.

After a silent moment, the boys yelped, "Wait! Kai, wait for us!" Exo-K immediately released each other's grasp on each other, and scurried after their friend. 

~*~

A few good hours passed. Luhan and Hyejung greatly enjoyed themselves exploring the fascinating city. Although Hyejung lived in Seoul for several months, she was surprised to some of the places she missed on going. They got lost a couple of times (well, sever