"Ahhh...yeahhhhh..."

"Don't move too much!"

"Oh....God...yes...Yeol....there...."

"You like it?"

"Uh-huh."

Satisfied, Se Ri got up from Chanyeol's lap and wriggled her finger in her ears. She shuddered as shivers ran down her spine.
Chanyeol stretched out his long arms and disposed away the contaminated Q-tips in the bin beside him.

"You're good. If you ever fail in life, just so you know, you could start a job with this." Se Ri commented.
"What? Clear people's earwax? Not cool." Chanyeol gave her a side look.
"Just saying." she shrugged.
"How long has it been since you had your ears cleaned?" Chanyeol asked as he kept the clean Q-tips in Se Ri's vanity dresser.
"I don't remember." she began to think.

Chanyeol clucked his tongue and made a face at her. "Heaven must love you for giving you a boyfriend."

Se Ri grabbed her pillow and threw it at him. It bounced off Chanyeol's head with a thud before he could dodge it.

"YAH!" he spun around with disheveled hair and an annoyed look on his face.
"You deserve that for making fun of me" she snorted with arms crossed over her chest.

Chanyeol huffed and turned back to the mirror to smooth down his hair.

"Yeol?" she called.

"What?" he snapped without looking at her.

"The other night, Kai called me Saejin."

Chanyeol froze at his spot. He shifted his eyes to Se Ri through the mirror for a few seconds before he turned around to face her. Confusion was written on his face. "What? Why would he call you that?"

Se Ri just shook her head. "Do you think he knows her? But then again, I could be wrong, since there's a population with a lot of Saejins around. In fact, this is not the first time that he's called me that."
"Seriously? Ask him then." he urged her.
Se Ri pointed to herself, wide eyed. "Me? I don't think I can." She shook her head fervently.
"Why?" Chanyeol enquired as he made his way towards her. He sat at the edge of her bed with a look that screams concern.
Se Ri sighed. "He's so......unpredictable...." she scratched her head, "...he could be smiling one minute and temperamental another minute. It's like....oh my god, I can't believe I'm saying this about my boyfriend....it's like, he's bipolar or something."
Chanyeol stared at her for a couple of seconds. "Do you regret....being with him?"
Se Ri looked astonished. "NO! Of course not! But....I can't deny that I'm a little..afraid of him."
From that look, Chanyeol got the answer he wanted. "Just take one step at a time. Have patience with him. Maybe, he's going through something that he's unwilling to share. And you, as his girlfriend, have to support him emotionally. Sooner or later, when he's willing to open up, you'll know." he smiled.
Se Ri looked up at her best friend with a smile threatening to form on her lips." I really want to be there for him. I hope he realises that I do care for him."
"He will I'm sure." He patted her head and pulled her into a tight hug. "Because my Lee Se Ri is one heck of a special girl." he whispered in her hair and kissed her temple.

---------------

It's been 100 days since Saejin's passing. Se Ri had decided to visit her grave and gotten up extra early that day. She threw on a black trenchcoat over a long sleeve cotton top that runs till mid-thigh and black tights. Chanyeol couldn't make it as he had to go back to his parents' place because it was his dad's birthday and he had to help out with the surprise party. Chanyeol had said that his dad had put Se Ri on the guest list, and as much as Se Ri disliked parties, she respected Chanyeol's dad and thought of him as her father which she had never had.

"Be sure to call me when you're done with visiting noona. I'll come pick you up." Chanyeol said as he wrapped a woolly red scarf around Se Ri's neck. "It's getting pretty cold lately, so please take care of yourself and send my regards to noona for me." He patted her head with a brotherly smile.

Se Ri nodded and smiled up at him. Chanyeol look at his watch and back at her. "What time is Kai supposed to come?"
Se Ri's face turned somber. "He's not coming with me."
Chanyeol's face registered shock. "WHA- Why? And you're going alone? And didn't tell me?" he asked, with a mixture of anger and dissapointment.
She nodded hesistantly, "He told me he had something important to do. I don't know what it is, he wouldn't tell me. But I totally understand, so I let him."
"What's so important that he couldn't wait another day to do it and ditch his girlfriend?" Chanyeol snapped at her, clearly furious.

It was hard to see Chanyeol mad but when he does, he spits fire from his mouth.

"It's okay, Yeol. Probably it was something really important. Like you said, have patience with him and he'll slowly open up to me." Se Ri said with a smile but Chanyeol knoew her heart says a different thing. He cursed, realising that was the exact same line he had told her the previous night.

"Do not turn off your phone, you hear me? Pick it up when I call." he instructed her.
"Yes I will. So stop being a worrywart. Come here, let me hug you." she opened up her arms and let Chanyeol into them.
"I'm starting to dislike your boyfriend." he grumbled in her hair. Se Ri chuckled and slapped his arm lightly.
"I'll be going now. See you later." she pulled back from the hug. Se Ri adjusted her beanie over her head, grabbed her sling bag and slipped into her boots. With a final wave at a pouting Chanyeol, she dissappered from the doorway.

She went to the flower shop to get her sister's favourite bouquet of lilies which after that, she headed to the bus stop and waited for the bus. It was a weekday and there wasn't many people around at that time, either they're in school or working their butts off in those high-rise buildings in the heart of Seoul. She admired the bouquet in her hands and took in the scent of the lilies. She closed her eyes smiled to herself. The lilies gave off a very sweet fragrant that was almost intoxicating.

"I see you still love lilies." A voice spoke up.
Se Ri opened her eyes and turned her head to the right to see a very handsome young man smiling brilliantly down her. He had dark brown hair and a cute face. His hands were tucked in his pants and he was carrying a backpack. He looked like a university student. She blinked at him, "I'm sorry, what?"
The young man gestured to the lilies with the smile still plastered on his face. Se Ri glanced at the flowers in her hands and back to the guy. Her eyebrows furrowed together. *Do I know him?*
"Do you know me?" Se Ri questioned, obviously not recognising the young man who just took a seat beside her. Se Ri shifted furthur, feeling uncomfortable at the closeness.
The young man continued to smile, "I'm surprised you forgot about me. I know we didn't go out much but I still remember you. After that kiss incident, I couldn't stop thinking about you."
Se Ri was stunned. *KISS?! When did I?* "I'm sorry. I think you got the wrong person."
The young man's smile dissappeared and turned to a confused one.
"You're probably mistook me for someone else." Se Ri nodded her head.
His face was even more confused.


Se Ri got up hastily and dropped the bouquet on the ground. The young man bent down at the same time Se Ri did. Their hands accidently touched but her thoughts were interrupted when a whiff of something familiar travelled to her nose and a sense of realization hit her.

*VANILLA!*