“Oh thank you Luhan! You’re such a sweet and caring young man to save my girlie here,” Aunt Yejin practically fawned over Luhan as I groaned softly, rolling my eyes. I caught Chanyeol stare at me as I blushed, hearing him chuckle. In the corner of my eye, I saw Luhan blush, but flip his hair arrogantly. I curled my lip, seething.

“Oh, it’s no problem. I’m always here to help,” Luhan replied cheerfully as I cringed on the outside. The way my aunt looked at Luhan was slightly creepy and worrying.

I was not yet released from hospital bed, since my aunt needed to take care of some papers by the hospital, which will probably take an hour or so. I was, though, deprived from the pointy needles. All I needed to do was to just stay in the bed and wait till I can go.

“Would you be a dear and stay with my girlie for awhile? I’ll just take care of a few things and I can pick her up from you.” Aunt Yejin batted her eyelashes sweetly at Luhan as I pretended to barf. It wasn’t unusual for me to gag at my aunt’s actions, but never in front of people.

“Sure! Does it eat dog food or regular food?” Luhan asked curiously, furrowing his eyebrows as I slapped my palm on my forehead. How can this guy be so-

I glanced at Chanyeol to see him make a pained expression as Baekhyun made a regretful one.

They sure know their hyung embarrassed himself.

“Dog? No! Girlie is the nickname of my niece, Namyoon! You silly boy!” Aunt Yejin laughed it off with Luhan, the both laughing as if they were old friends.

“Oh, okay! So, does Namyoon eat dog food or regular food-“

“Okay! I think we can take care of Namyoon just find, Ms. Kim,” Baekhyun told my aunt in a persuasive tone, smiling charmingly at her. I raised an eyebrow at Baekhyun’s way, but he chose to ignore it.

“That’s great! Play with her until I get back. Oh uh – and don’t mind her attitude. She’s like that to people she likes-“

“Aunt Yejin!” I whispered furiously as my aunt looked at me. I raised two shocked eyebrows at her as she smiled at me. I knew what that smile meant. She won’t come back for me, and instead, send me a text with an excuse like to feed our dog, ‘girlie’

“Have fun! Bring her home at a decent time!” Aunt Yejin waved in farewell as the boys bowed down to her.

“Wait! I thought you were coming back for-“

The door slammed shut as my eyes did too. I took a deep breathe and opened them again, seeing the three boys look at me weirdly.

“Goodnight,”

“Oh no you’re not! You’ve slept for too long. Yeollie, can you put the CD of the album XOXO in the nearby stereo over there? Thanks!” Chanyeol nodded, chuckling as he got the album on the table, going over to the stereo and putting the CD in it.

“I just love the group EXO. Anyways, where do you want to go after we get you out of this whacky place? I was thinking of the arcade but, patient’s choice.” Luhan leaned back on his chair, propping his legs up on my bed, crossing them. His arms were behind his head, him smirking as if he had won an unknown battle.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I grabbed his boots, yanked them upwards in the air, making Luhan fall backwards with a loud crash.

“HYUNG!”

“Oh come on!” I heard Luhan whine as he tried to get up.

“Don’t ever try to think about me going anywhere with you. After this hour is done, I am going straight home,” I stated bluntly, making Baekhyun glance at me in surprise.

“Do you even understand why Luhan hyung is doing this?” He asked me in a superiorly as I cocked my head to one side.

“To annoy me?”

“That and because you owe me,” Luhan answered for Baekhyun, getting up and dusting himself off from the invisible dust. I snorted, shaking my head in disbelief.

“I never owed you anything.”

“Yes, you do. Luhan hyung saved your life. You could at least agree to what he says, even for just one day,” Chanyeol countered as I looked away. I hate owing people. It means I have to be with them until they’re satisfied. I didn’t like being around people, if you’ve noticed.

“Whatever, I’m still going home,” I told myself, assuring myself. I casted my eyes down as an awkward silence situated on us. Everyone was quiet except for the stereo. I was really thinking of destroying the stereo with my shoes.

“To the ice skating rink it is!”

“I’m not going anywhere with-“

“You are so going to die,” I muttered as I tried to yank my wrist out of Luhan’s hold, to no avail. He had a grip of a cobra. He dragged me to the nearest ice skating rink, filled with tons of couples, families, and of course, people.

I made sure no one could look at me directly. I put my head down and hid behind Luhan’s back.

“Aww, then why are you hiding behind my back?”

“Believe me, if I had the opportunity, I wouldn’t,” I growled, feeling annoyed. How could he not take the hint? Is he that oblivious to my dislike towards him?

Chanyeol and Baekhyun drove us here, and left without any warning. So I couldn’t escape with them. And since I’ve never left my apartment that much, I didn’t know my way around Seoul.

I had to go home with his whack job, whether I liked it or not. And for the record, I didn’t like it one bit.

“Come on, old lady!”

And with that, Luhan went over to the cashier to rent our skating shoes. He told me to sit down in the nearest bench, so I complied. I sat down slowly on one of the many metal benches, my head and eyes down on my shoes.

“Thank you! Hey old lady! Here’s your skates!” I heard Luhan call out as a pair of skating shoes landed in front of my feet, making me flinch. I glanced to my right to see Luhan smiling like a little kid, removing his shoes and replacing them with the skates. I looked back down, picking up one skating shoe.

I turned it around, half-smiling. I remembered the time when my mom, my dad and I went skating…

I shook my head to clear those thoughts.

They’re gone. They don’t know you anymore, Namyoon. It’s time to move on. I told myself, but something in me made my head dizzy.

How could you move on from the people who brought you joy and happiness?

I glared at nothing in particular as I gripped my skating shoe with all my might.

Because they’re the same person who hurt me and made me feel unacceptable, a mistake.

“Yah old lady! You don’t know how to put on your skates?” Luhan asked loudly, bringing me back to reality. I glanced at him then at my skates. I put it down and shook my head. It was easier to pretend you lived a normal life, than explain why you weren’t.

“Don’t worry, I took skating lessons back in China! Here! Wow old lady, your feet are small! Didn’t you know, way back in the history of China, small feet were considered beautiful? But I think yours smell funny,” Luhan commented, wrinkling his nose as he stooped down to remove my shoes.

My jaw dropped in astonishment as I kicked his knee.

“Oww! Geez, why am I getting punished for being honest?” Luhan complained as I crossed my arms together, looking away. I let him remove my shoes and put the skates on me without a word. I only agreed to this because I owed him.

“There! All done!”

“Go Namyoon?” A distant but distinctive and familiar voice called my name as I turned around. My eyes widened at the person I saw. I quickly wobbled behind Luhan who stood up in shock, looking at the boy who called out my name.

”Old lady! You never told me you socialized!”

“Of course she socialized. She’s my girlfriend.”