Minah woke with a start; her alarm was ringing.  Right. Next. To. Her. Ear.

 

Her eyes flew open and she quickly slammed her hand onto the Snooze button. Minah then turned the alarm off, her ears ringing painfully.

 

“Oww….” Minah groaned as she sat up. Hayoung must’ve repositioned the alarm so that it was next to her ear… She sighed and got ready for school.

 

Minah  approached the Calculus room, her mind racing. Today was the day of the exam…

 

Minah entered the room, ignoring the dirty looks. Her eyes roamed the room, searching for an empty seat to sit in. She saw Kris looking at her, and raised her eyebrows when he lifted his index finger to beckon at her. “Come here,” he seemed to be saying. “Come here.”

 

Minah obeyed, and made her way to the back. She sat down next to Kris, and they smiled in greeting.

 

“This is a nice seat, “ Minah observed. “We can lean our backs against the wall.”

 

“Yep,” he agreed. “You should sit here with me from now on! It’s much more comfortable.”

 

“But I can barely hear Mr. Lee from this distance,” she objected. “Plus, I know I won’t pay attention in class if I sit this far back.. And then I’ll really fail this class.”

 

“It’s okay, you won’t fail,” he reassured. “I’ll tutor you!”

 

Minah laughed. “No.. It’s quite alright. I need to rely on myself more. Thanks, though,”

 

“Feel free to ask me whenever you need help,” he said kindly.

 

Mr. Lee passed a test copy to them both, so Kris and Minah ceased their talking, but they whispered a ‘good luck’ to each other first.

 

Minah began to solve the math problems on her paper.

 

“This is so easy…” she thought. “Too easy.”

 

Ten minutes later, Minah had her head in her hands. “Oh, I spoke way too soon! This is so freaking confusing..”  While she struggled on some of the problems, she managed to solve a few others.

 

When she finally finished, the black-haired girl stood up and walked to the teacher’s desk. She handed him the test, and he took it wordlessly.

 

“How do you think you did?” Kris whispered when Minah returned to the back.

 

“”I think I did okay. I probably didn’t get an A, but I think I passed!”

 

“That’s good,” he smiled. “Next time you’ll get that A!”

 

“Yep!” she whispered. “I bet you got full score on this exam.”

 

“Probably,” he responded cockily. “I am a genius, after all.”

 

“No talking during the test,” the teacher scolded, staring directly at the two. “Eyes on your own papers. Please remain silent until everyone has finished.”

 

“Oops,” Minah thought. She and Kris were quiet until the testing session was complete.

 

When Mr. Lee concluded the test at last, class was already almost over. The bell rang after a few moments, and students began to pile out the door.

 

“See you later!” Minah waved.

 

“See you,” Kris responded brightly.

 

 

 

“Hey, wanna hang out today?” Taeyeon asked Minah. “Are you free?”

 

“Yeah, I want to! Where?”

 

“I was thinking… karaoke,” she grinned. “I MUST hear that wonderful voice of yours again!”

 

Minah blushed. “It’s not that great… but sure! I’m down for karaoke! Do you want me to invite the EXO boys?”

 

“Yes, please!!!” Taeyeon beamed. “Yes!”

 

Minah laughed. “Okay, we can ask them later at lunch!”

 

Taeyeon squealed softly and smiled at her best friend.

 

 

At lunchtime, Taeyeon, Junhyun, and Minah all raced to the private café, where EXO was waiting.

 

“Hello!” Taeyeon and Junhyun chorused.

 

“Hello,” a series of voices replied. “Hello. Hi Minah!! Please sit, guys. Order whatever you want.”

 

 

Minah could tell that Taeyeon was simply bursting with anticipation, so Minah asked the boys out immediately. Now that she thought about it… it was her first time asking the boys out, instead of them asking her out.

 

“We were wondering,” Minah smiled. “Are you guys all free today afterschool?”

 

“I am, noona,” Sehun replied. “Why?”

 

Chanyeol’s words flashed in her mind for a brief moment, but Minah quickly brushed them aside.  *He’s got something of a crush on you, you know!!!*

 

“We were thinking that we could all go to karaoke together,” Minah grinned. “Anyone down?”

 

“I’ll come!” Sehun smiled. “for sure! I love karaoke.”

 

“I’m down, too,” Baekhyun grinned. “We can finally have that duet, Minah!”

 

“I’ll duet with her, too!” D.O announced. “Or we can… truet? Triple duet? What’s the word for that?! Triet..? Ah, I don’t know! Anyways, I’ll come too!”

 

The boys all began to smile and accept the invite.

 

“I can’t go,” Kris announced. “I have to drive my brother to the airport, remember?”

 

“Ah, that’s right,” Chanyeol said, snapping his fingers. “Damn it, Kris. Why you gotta ruin everything?”

 

“Sorry,” he smiled sheepishly.

 

“Well, maybe we can … just go some other time..?” Taeyeon suggested shyly.

 

“Tomorrow?” Luhan offered. “Or Sunday?”

 

“I can’t do tomorrow,” Baekhyun frowned. “My parents are flying me back for the day. They need something from me, I bet.”

 

“What if they’re arranging a marriage for you?!” Tao shrieked. “Oh no!”

 

“Calm down, Tao,” Suho smiled. “If it was for marriage, then they’d tell him to bring back formal clothing… or to get a haircut. Stuff like that.”

 

“Yep,” Baekhyun agreed. “They mentioned nothing like that, though, so I’m still safe for now!”

 

“That’s good,” Lay sighed in relief. “Our time is running out, guys. We’ve got to enjoy life while we still can! Soon we’ll be tied down to our businesses and families like slaves.”

 

“Which is why,” Xiumin began. “We’ve got to go to karaoke!!”

 

“Tomorrow, then?” Chen asked. “We can just leave Baekhyun behind.”

 

Baekhyun’s jaw dropped. “Oh no, you did not just—”

 

“Actually,” Minah interrupted, stopping the boys from bickering. “I can’t do Saturday either. Chanyeol and I are working on another song project.”

 

“Aww..” Sehun pouted. “What about Sunday? Is everyone free Sunday?”

 

“I’m probably going out Sunday,” Kris announced. “If I am, then I can’t go after six.”

 

Minah blushed a little. “Same here.”

 

Kai raised his eyebrows. “Why? What’s at six?”

 

“Dinner,” Kris muttered.

 

D.O stared at Kris curiously. “Well you can just eat dinner with u—”

 

“It’s dinner. Out. With someone,” Kris muttered again. The corners of his lips twitched upwards in a small smile.

 

D.O and Luhan’s eyes both bulged. “Kris is going on a date!!!”

 

“ANYWAYS!” Kris said loudly. “We should all just go next week!”

 

Junhyun spoke for the first time. “A date? With who, Kris?”

 

“Nobody,” he mumbled. “just someone.”

 

Taeyeon grinned. “She must be special, then, if you’re blushing!”

 

Kris grabbed his cheeks. “I’m not! And I never said it was with a  girl!”

 

Chanyeol giggled. “You are now! Kris is blushing! Aww~”

 

“Don’t tell me..!” Junhyun gasped. He looked at his girlfriend in wonder, and they spoke in unison.  “If it’s not a girl, is it a guy?!”

 

Luhan, Kai, Tao, and Kris all began to choke on their food.

 

“Absolutely not!!” Kris cried, pounding on his chest and coughing. “I’m going with a girl, okay!”

 

“That’s a relief,” Taeyeon sighed. “That means there’s still a chance that you and Minah will get together.”

 

Now it was Minah’s turn to choke. “Back to the main topic, guys!” she shouted with forced enthusiasm. “When is everyone free?!”

 

“Look at her, changing the subject,” Chen grinned. “Everyone except Kris is free today. The next time everyone is free is… next Friday, I think?”

 

“Okay, we can just go next Friday, then,” Baekhyun nodded. “Everyone alright with that?”

 

Fourteen heads bobbed in reply.

 

“Okay, then that’s settled,” Suho grinned. “It’s nearly time to go. Let’s finish our food and clean up!”

 

Everyone followed the caring leader’s words, and soon the bell rang.

 

“Time for Music,” Minah and Chanyeol grinned. They ran off to class after announcing their goodbyes with the boys and the couple.

 

The day was almost over.