♪ ma boy two

“Guys, this is Aejin...” Suho paused as Aejin awkwardly bowed to the six strange men from her seat. “And Aejin, this is Kyungsoo, Kai, Lay, Kris, Tao and I’m sure you remember Chanyeol.”

“Ah, neh.” She answered meekly before she sent a small smile to Chanyeol who did nothing but blink blankly at her. She grew very uncomfortable as twelve eyes watched her every move. Suho was seated next to her while his friends bordered the other side of the large table they had to get in order to fit everyone. The atmosphere was quite unsettling and Aejin didn’t know what she should do. She had never been in the presence of so many men especially ones who were all charmingly handsome.

“So you’re Suho hyung’s new friend?” Tao questioned, breaking the silence.

“Neh.” Aejin confirmed almost immediately. “It’s very nice meeting you all.”

“Actually, the pleasure is all ours.” Kyungsoo disagreed as he took a sip of the hot cocoa he had ordered. “Hyung has told us a lot about you. If I’m not mistaken, you’re our noona with the exception of Luhan hyung, Xiumin hyung and Kris hyung.”

“Oh really?” She nodded her head and hitched her lips to the side as her eyes wandered back to Suho. Those were the only logical words her mind was able compute at the moment. She was too busy feeling flustered as Kyungsoo’s words echoed in her head. He talked to his friends about me... a lot? Why would he do that? This stirring feeling in her stomach suddenly appeared and she tried to quickly subdue it.

“So what were the two of you doing in the bathroom?” Kai intervened in a rather teasing tone, catching the duo off guard. Well mainly Aejin since Suho was already expecting this.

“She was helping me that’s all.” He explained curtly, shooting the younger male a look of disapproval. His body was tense and his friends were amused at the sight of their most gentle and kind companion being so uneasy.

“Yes, Joonmyun-sshi was injured so I was assisting him with cleaning up.” Aejin added in to be more detailed and specific. She accidentally went back to using honorifics but to be frank, she felt like it was the right thing to do. Suho on the other hand however, didn’t like it all too much. She was being super formal with him again. It was like she was forming this imaginary boundary between the two of them. He attempted to hide his displeasure as he looked back at his friends with a neutral expression this time around. It was then that they noticed the discoloration near the corner of his lips.

“Care to tell us what happened?” Kris questioned as he skimmed through his phone, seeming to be completely uninterested in the conversation.

“It was nothing. Just some rude guy who tried to cause trouble.” Suho announced, his voice flat and emotionless.

“And you couldn’t talk your way out of it?” Tao gawked. “But everyone likes you, hyung. How could this happen?”

Aejin was nibbling on the insides of her cheeks as she felt another wave of guilt crashing strongly against her body. Under the table her hands were clenched into nervous fists as she tried to remain calm. The guys seemed to really care a great deal about their friend and if they were to find out she was the reason for his injury, they would surely crucify her for it. She could already picture the scowls and glares they would be sporting as they scolded her for not being able to fight her own battles.

“I-it was actually my fault.” She confessed softly as she focused her gaze on the table. “Some guy has been stalking me constantly and today he nearly kidnapped me but luckily enough Joonmyun-sshi was here to save me.” The guys’ eyes rounded in surprise, discovering that Suho had really defended someone against another person publically. They knew he wasn’t big on confrontations, especially ones which could lead to violence, and to find out he had done something out of his comfort zone for Aejin amazed them tremendously.  

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t punch me,” Suho countered sternly as he turned and stared at Aejin. She met his gaze for a few seconds and she instantly felt her cheeks grow red and hot. There was something in his eyes which made her heart swoon and beat irregularly. Aejin wasn’t able to label the feeling but she was certain the alteration in skin color would be recognized if she didn’t control herself.  

“Yes but you got punched because of me.” She argued back with condemnation.

“I told you already it wasn’t,” Suho rebutted almost like a child.

“But it is.” Aejin huffed. The six guys who witnessed this found the scene before them to be rather cute as they stifled their chuckles and wide grins. These two were really arguing over whose fault it was like a bunch of five year olds. And speaking of five year olds, as Aejin and Suho were locking eyes, Minwoo suddenly popped into the scene. The guys were a bit stunned because they assumed he might have been a worker’s son or something.

Minwoo tugged on Aejin’s arm and she shifted her attention to him. He was drawing circles with his feet as he hung his head low, scared of the foreign strangers seated a few feet away from him. He didn’t feel all that comfortable speaking out loud with them present, so he motioned his guardian to bend down, allowing him to whisper into her ear. “Noona, who are they?”

Aejin sighed and pulled away. “I’ll tell you when we go home.” Then right on cue, Aejin’s watch beeped, stating her free time was now over. The feeling was a tad bit bittersweet as she prodded Minwoo to return to the table and gather his belongings. As she looked back at the six friends of Suho she gave them a tiny smile. “Again, it was nice meeting you all but we have to head home now.” Another bow was displayed as she climbed to her feet. She was just about to leave when Suho impulsively stopped her by clasping onto her hand.

An audible gasp reso