“Yoora!”

I buried my head deeper in my pillow, trying to block out my mother’s voice. My bed felt soft and comfortable, my body encased under a thick blanket. The sun was just peeking through the curtains, a thin strip of light pooling on my carpet and running half the length of my room.

My body felt too heavy to move. I wanted to lie on this bed all day, reliving my time spent with Luhan yesterday in the form of a dream. I came back home yesterday happy and smiling foolishly, to the point that it scared my brother.

“You’re not... going off the edge, are you?” Jongdae asked nervously as he watched me with scrunched eyebrows.

“Oh, Oppa, how’s your day?” I said as I skipped up to him.

Jongdae stared at me with wide, baffled eyes before he shook his head and returned to his laptop. “You are off the edge.”

I was in too good a mood to argue with him. “I’m going up to my room. Night,” I said, hopping up the stairs two at the time.

“Yoora!” my mother called again. My eyes remained closed, and I continued to enjoy the feeling of my soft, sinking pillow.

“Yah, Kim Yoora!” another voice screamed at me, male this time. It was Jongdae, his voice scratchy from sleep and coming from the room next to mine. “Get up and answer her! I’m trying to get my sleep.”

I mumbled something incoherent under my breath and pushed myself off the bed, running my fingers through my knotted hair. I shuffled to the door and popped my head out. “I’m coming!” I yelled down the stairs and closed the door again.

Running a brush through my hair, I proceeded to untangle the knots and smooth it down from its ruffled state. I took a quick trip to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face, and then padded downstairs into the kitchen in my pyjamas.

My mother was wiping her hands with a dish towel, and for a moment, I paused at the door to squint at the person sitting on the kitchen stool. I recognised that dark hair and those gleaming eyes. Baekhyun grinned amusedly at my grogginess.

“Jongdae!” my mother screamed this time, loud enough to be heard at every corner of the house. “Get up, you’re sleeping away a good morning!” She turned to me and gestured at Baekhyun. “Someone wants to see you.”

I gave Baekhyun a dark look as he slid down the stool, still grinning.

“What the heck are you doing here this early?” I shot at him. I was not happy that I was interrupted from my sleep (and my dream of Luhan).

“That’s not a way to speak to a guest, Yoora,” my mother chided me.

“He’s not a guest; he practically lives here,” I argued. I shuffled over to the fridge to grab a carton of orange juice. “Now what do you want?” I asked Baekhyun.

“Let’s have something to eat first,” Baekhyun suggested. “Your mom makes delicious pancakes.”

He gave me a pleading look with his eyes, which I easily translated to “Can we talk in private?”

I nodded grudgingly, and then took a seat on the stool and dragged a stack of pancakes towards me. As I was half-way through my meal, my mother sighed in frustration and turned to look at me.

“Yoora, go wake your brother up.”

I sighed and placed down my fork. I stomped over towards the stairs and cupped my hands on my mouth. “Hey, Kim Jongdae, wake up! Your laptop’s on fire!”

There was a loud thump and the slamming of a door. Footsteps rushed towards the staircase and a wide-eyed Jongdae appeared, his hair sticking up all over the place as if he had been jolted up by electricity.

“What? Where?!”

I gave him a look. “You idiot,” I said, and then marched back into the kitchen, ignoring the curses my brother was throwing at me.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” I asked as I settled myself below the base of the large tree.

This was our refuge besides the river. Baekhyun and I lived in the same neighbourhood, but his house was on the other side from where mine was situated. We were used to visiting each other, hence his familiarity to my house and family and me to his.

Our neighbourhood was atop a hill overlooking the city, so it was hike to get there. There was a park about halfway up, with a small playground and a sand box in one corner for the kids. The other side of the park was empty, but well kept. The grassy area was too small to be made into some sort of playing field, and because of the large tree that grew right in the middle of it, most people tended to avoid the area. That was the exact reason why Baekhyun and I chose it as our playing spot all those years ago when we were children and as our little private meeting place now that we’d become teenagers.

The trunk was wide and rough; only the tips of our fingers would touch if Baekhyun and I hugged the tree on opposite sides. It shadowed everything under its drooping leaves, and faced the fence that kept people from going beyond the edge and down the sloping hill. Baekhyun and I had sat there on numerous occasions to watch the sunset.

“I have a problem,” Baekhyun said as he settled next to me with his legs crossed.

“About Soojin? You didn’t find her to your liking now that you’ve met her?” I asked him with raised brows.

“No, no! Not that!” Baekhyun looked horrified, waving his hands in front of him frantically. “It’s me; the problem’s me.”

“Okay, how so?”

“I ...” Baekhyun hesitated, playing with the grass. “Everything was awkward when I walked her home yesterday.”

I stared at him sceptically. “Really? I find that hard to believe, considering how well you two hit it off when you met.”

“I don’t know, but that’s because I already planned everything I was going to say in my head. When you left, I sort of ran out of things to say and then...” He shrugged helplessly and plucked the grass out in frustration.

I watched him as he tore the tiny blade of grass apart and then lean back against the trunk, sighing heavily. “How am I supposed to make her fall for me if I can’t even make a conversation with her?”

I reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, sighing. “Alright, fine. You got my sympathy. Looks like you're gonna need more of my help.”

He tilted his head downwards to look at me. “Are you going to make her fall for me?”

“No, I’m going to teach you a thing or two so she will fall for you on her own account,” I said as I got up. “Come on, there’s a lot to be done.”