♪ everything is pretty

“So Miyoung tells us you’ve made a new lady friend, hyung. Care to share something with us?” Kyungsoo cocked a brow at Suho whose eyes were the size of saucers now.

“Oh, a lady friend?” Tao repeated smugly, his interest in the matter boosting. “But Suho hyung never makes lady friends.”

“Yeah, is there something you’d like to share with us? Like her name and what she does?” Kris joined in as he lazily flipped through a Guess magazine without glancing up at the addressed party.

“You guys are over-exaggerating.” Suho argued feebly as he stirred the spicy tofu soup simmering in his pot. His insides were running wild and he felt completely flustered that Aejin’s existence had been made known to his friends. He wasn’t ashamed to introduce them to her but he was just uncertain on how they would handle the news when they discovered she had a son. They never met a single mother as young as Aejin before and although he shouldn’t be feeling such a way, Suho felt a tad bit embarrassed.

“I have plenty of friends of the opposite gender,” he declared as he turned the fire off and removed the apron wrapped around his body.

“Really?” Kyungsoo remarked skeptically. “Name at least five you talk to daily then.”

For a moment, it was silent as Suho tried thinking of five female acquaintances he conversed with daily. He was definitely having a difficult time but he wasn’t going to let it show. He had to prove his friends wrong. That there wasn’t anything really special about Aejin and their relationship. He had to assure them and himself that she was nothing more to him than just a friend. A pal. A buddy. A companion. As the minutes ticked away, Suho failed to meet Kyungsoo’s request and the three other men located in his home did not neglect this fact.

“Perhaps we should get Miyoung to tell us more about her.” Tao suggested evilly as he stood tall on his feet. “Oh Miyoung!” he bellowed out, causing panic to surface in the pit of Suho’s stomach. He whirled around and his heart pounded against his chest as he heard the small footsteps of his niece.

“Neh, samchon?” Miyoung beamed cutely as she arrived at the scene.

Next, Tao glanced at Suho with arched brows, a signal for him to start spilling the beans or else he’d interrogate his precious little niece. Suho chewed on his bottom lip, trapped in a hard place. Why his friends were making such a big deal about the whole situation had him winded. He couldn’t fathom what they were thinking or why they had become so nosy in his personal life all of a sudden. They acted like he had been living under a rock his entire life and never had the opportunity of interacting with the opposite before.

“Since your samchon won’t tell us, why don’t you tell us more about his new friend?” Kyungsoo asked as he stood up and strolled over to Miyoung. Suho felt like yanking out all of his hair as he watched them work in disbelief. He slapped his forehead and ran the palm over his face in frustration.

“Alright, alright. I’ll tell you guys about her.” He caved in at last, causing Tao and Kyungsoo to high-five each other while Kris shook his head apprehensively. “Now go back and finish your homework, Miyoung.” The child’s lips pursed out as her brows furrowed in confusion. Then she shrugged and skipped back to the room set up as hers whenever she visited. “That was just sly.” Suho stated as he dragged himself over to the living-room.

“What did you expect? They were going to get what they wanted one way or another. It would have been easier if you had just decided to tell them yourself from the start.” Kris pointed out bluntly, now checking his email inbox for any important business notices.

“What’s there to know? I already told you she was just a new friend I made.” Suho announced and as he lifted his homemade cup of vanilla chai off of the coffee table, he felt time stop as he thought back to the first time he had taken Aejin to his cafe. Everything from that day was so vivid; he felt like he was reliving the experience. Sure, it wasn’t perfect but none of that mattered as he recalled the soft and sweet smile which had graced her lips as she took a sip of the tea. The way her laugh sounded ringing beautifully in his ears.

“Look’s like somebody is a bit dazed,” Tao muttered as he waved a hand in front of his host’s face. Suho snapped out of his thoughts and quickly placed his mug back down. He coughed and then rested his back against the cushion of his rocking chair. “What were you thinking about just now, hyung?” he inquired, intrigued. “Could it have been something about her?”

Since his accusation was right on the money, Suho’s face flushed crimson red, having been caught. He met eyes with Tao and Kyungsoo but then swiftly averted his gaze. “D-don’t be ridiculous. I wasn’t thinking about her.” he blatantly lied.

“Geojitmal,” Kris countered without even looking up from his phone. “It’s written all over your face, Suho. And did you forget that we’ve also been friends since we were in diapers?”

“Well,” Suho paused and tried brewing up a reasonable rebuttal but couldn’t do so. “Aigoo, you guys really aren’t going to cut me some slack about this matter, are you?”

“I think you already know the answer to that question,” Kyungsoo replied, smiling victoriously. “Now start talking. What’s her name?”

“Do I really have to tell you guys?” Suho slightly frowned and closed his eyes.

“Yup. It’s too late to back out now.” Tao remarked.

“Arasso, arasso.” Suho sighed. “Her name is Park Aejin. There I told you something about her, now let’s eat.” he was about to run over to the kitchen but was hindered by Tao who sent him a pointed look. “Ah, jinjja. You guys are going to drive me insane. Isn’t it enough that Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Sehun and Luhan saw her already?” When he realized what he said, he agitatedly ran his fingers through his hair.

“They what already?” Kyungsoo gawked. And then he snapped his fingers when he placed the jigsaw pieces together. “Ohhhhh, so the cute girl you were out on a date with is her? Wow, this is more serious than we thought.”

“D-date?” he stammered dumbly. “Yah, I wasn’t on the date with her. Who told you that?”

“Chanyeol. He couldn’t stop blabbing on about how cute the two of you looked.” Kris reported nonchalantly.

“Yeah and then Baekhyun said that she came out saying something about not being a charity case? Did you say something that offended her, Suho hyung?” Tao pestered, his lips hitched to the side.

“Of course not. I don't even know what happened but let's get one th