We were the last to disembark, and the minute our feet touched solid ground, a pair of arms draped themselves over our shoulders, separating us as the owner sidled his way in between.

“Hey. Didn’t hear from you for most of the ride,” Jongin said as he led us towards a large group of students congregating in the hotel lobby.

“I didn’t see you either. Had fun?” I asked, seeing that Joonmyun didn’t seem much inclined to answer. I didn’t know why, but his expression had turned increasingly darker ever since Jongin decided to grace us with his sudden appearance.

Jongin didn’t seem to notice it, though. “Just me, my ear phones and my good ol’ cell phone. I was looking forward to sitting with you,” he said with a pout. “But then, Hyung just had to steal you away.”

I laughed lightly, chancing a glance at Joonmyun’s direction. He didn’t even want to look at us, much less respond.

“There’s plenty of me to go around,” I reassured Jongin as Mr Park clapped his hands and called for our attention.

“Alright guys, as you’ve already guessed, we’ll be staying here for the next few days,” he said, grinning when cheers greeted him in response. “Anyway, let’s get through the protocol. The girls would be on the sixth floor with Ms Hwang and Ms Kim, and the boys will have the seventh with me and Yunho –I mean, Mr Jung.” He grinned sheepishly as Mr Jung shot him a glare and the boys laughed; it was a known fact that the two teachers were close friends. “We have about two people to one room. That okay with you?”

He received a chorus of yeses as his reply and nodded in satisfaction. “Alright then, we’ll let Ms Hwang do us the honour of checking us in.” He nodded at her and watched as she walked away, high heels clacking against the marble tiles. “So, any questions?” he asked, addressing us.

“Do we get to choose our roommates?” a boy asked.

“Yes,” Mr Jung replied. “We have agreed that, for the sake of avoiding violent fights and harsh disagreements, you can choose your roommates.”

Everybody breathed a sigh of relief. I peered through the crowd, trying to find Hyunji’s figure within the sea of bodies to send her a quick sign. I spotted her on the other end, Yixing on one side and Jonghyun on the other. At the moment, she caught my eyes and waved cheerfully, sending me a cheeky grin as she gestured towards the two boys standing next to me.

‘Later,’ I mouthed at her just as Ms Hwang returned with the key cards.

“Okay, pair up everyone,” Mr Park said.

I detached myself from Joonmyun and Jongin, uttering a quick goodbye before crossing the threshold towards Hyunji. She greeted me by liking her arm through mine, as if she wanted to hug me, but instead, she leaned forwards so that her lips were just inches from my ear and whispered: “Help me.”

She pulled back, a distressed look etched clearly on her features as she gestured with her eyes towards the two boys who flanked her sides. I glanced at them, and once again, all I saw was something of a glaring contest between them. There was no verbal abuse, but open resentment cackled between them, thick and heavy. I knew that something had happened in the bus.

Figuring that I would make a cruel friend if I left Hyunji to fend for herself, I tugged her arm and quickly detached her from the two boys. Their heads snapped up by instinct, as if her withdrawal had triggered some kind of invisible switch that alerted their senses. I smiled at them as I led her away.

“I think you two better find your roommates,” I told them as I backed away, pulling Hyunji with me. “Otherwise, you might end up with each other.” I winked at them before we were separated by the crowd.

Hyunji heaved a sigh of relief. “I love you, Aeri. I thought I was going to die over there. What the hell is wrong with those two?”

“Boy will be boys,” I answered vaguely, tugging her towards Ms Hwang. “Now let’s get our key cards.”

“You two together?” she asked with a smile as we approached her. She scribbled something onto her clipboard and handed us two key cards with the numbers 1431 on them. “Your room. Just a quick reminder: you can’t switch roommates.”

We nodded, thanking her and walking off to wait for the others at a corner. While we waited for the rest of the students to pair up and wait for the assignment of their rooms, Hyunji and I took time to fantasise a little on our room and the hotel facilities. We could already picture the nights of watching the stars from the balcony, the mornings where we would be served with the finest hotel breakfast and the evenings we would spend watching the pool glisten from the light of the setting sun. It was certainly a heavenly prospect, and the idea of having an entire room all to ourselves made it all the more appealing.

“Okay girls, follow me.” Ms Hwang said as she picked up her pink suitcase.

We trooped after her, excited chatters rising to a crescendo as we hoisted our bags and separated ourselves from the boys, who were awaiting further instructions from the two male teachers. Obviously, the elevator wasn’t large enough to accommodate all of us, so we had to go in turns and then wait for everyone to assemble on our designated floor.

Hyunji and I decided to let most of the girls go first, figuring that cramping ourselves into the tiny elevator while trying our best to not jostle people with our elbows made an unnecessary exercise that was best avoided. We idled a little, chatting lazily amongst ourselves until we realised that we were the only ones left –us and Choi Minhee.

Hyunji and I grimaced and turned to each other with pained looks in our eyes. Meanwhile, the elevators doors had opened and Minhee had already dragged her neon green and pink suitcase inside.

“Are you getting in or not?” she snapped at us, manicured fingernails tapping impatiently on the metal interior.

I scoffed, but grabbed my bag and dragged it into the elevator, Hyunji trailing after me. The elevator dinged as the doors closed and we waited agonisingly for the elevator to ascend to the sixth floor.

“So, still not getting the hint?” Minhee asked, shooting me a sharp glare from the mirrored panel. “Didn’t I make my opinion clear enough?”

“Well, it certainly cleared off all doubts I had on you not being a spoilt witch,” I stated calmly, smiling tantalizingly at her from the panel. 

She scoffed, flicking her hair over her shoulders. “You’re getting way too arrogant for your own good.”

“Sounds like a case of the pot calling the kettle black.”

Her eyes flashed, narrowing into a hard glare that could have drilled a hole through my head. I merely cocked my head and raised my brows at her.

“Snuggling up to Joonmyun like some puppy –you disgust me,” she spat, just as the door dinged open and she haughtily stepped out, head high and proud as she purposely bumped her bag into mine. She plastered on a sweet smile when she spotted the two teachers turning to us, delicately tugging her bag behind her and skipping over towards them.

Hyunji and exchanged looks and pointed our fingers down our throats, pretending to throw up, before reluctantly following her. As Ms Kim was explaining the few rules we had to follow and advising us to keep our phones with us at all times, Hyunji leaned over towards me to whisper:

“Good thing that you can still hold your own around Choi Minhee. I was beginning to get worried that you were getting submissive.”

I shot her a look. “Why would I be?”

“I don’t know. Contrary to how you would usually act, you let go of that flour incident pretty graciously, so to speak. You’re not even planning on exacting your revenge.”

I waved my hand dismissively. “Not worth the trouble. Remember how nicely everything went the last time I did something to her? I don’t plan on sitting through another hour with another stack of papers again.”

Hyunji patted my back sympathetically.

“Let just go to our room,” I said as everybody began to disperse. “I need a break.”

Our room was the last one at the end of the wall, near an open window where  the fresh afternoon air breezed in to tickle our cheeks and toy with the leaves of the potted plant that stood, as still as a sentry, next to it. The door opened smoothly and quietly when we inserted our key card, and we were delighted to find our lodging area to be large and spacious. Although not as picturesque as the luxurious splendour Hyunji and I had envisioned during our idle wait, it was still quaint and homely. The hotel had made it apparent that they made a sizable profit by receiving well-acclaimed guests (the lobby itself was proof enough), but apparently the management wasn’t given to ostentatious displays of wealth in the design of their rooms.

It was fairly simple, with beige walls and two beds that faced the flat screen TV mounted onto the wall opposite. There was a small sofa set near the balcony, along with a dressing table made out of fine marble that glistened as the light streaming in from the glass doors of the balcony pooled on it. The floor was wooden and polished, and when we inspected the bathroom, we were delighted to find that at least one of our prayers were answered by way of a marble bathtub –perfect for soaking while wallowing in one’s thoughts.

Naturally, we had some disagreements as to the choice of our beds, but it was all settled when we agreed that we would both switch on the next night. Now, with our bags dumped haphazardly in the hallway and bar of chocolate between us, we were settled rather comfortably on my bed, both sitting cross-legged on the soft matters as we discussed the separate occurances in our respective busses.

“I could barely sleep!” Hyunji exclaimed, throwing one of her hands up in the air as the other s its way through the thin plastic to break off a piece of chocolate. “I mean, really, I thought it was a bus. I didn’t know that I’d set myself up for three hours of living in the zoo.”

“You shouldn’t have chosen to sit at the back then,” I said reasonably as I my thumb to rid it of the chocolatey mess that had somehow melted its way onto my fingers.

“I didn’t choose it,” Hyunji said, sticking her tongue out in a look of annoyance, “Yixing dragged me to it.”

I blinked in surprise but didn’t comment. “Where did Jonghyun sit?” I asked innocently.

“On the aisle next to mine. At least that’s one good thing; he keeps offering me free food.” Hyunji grinned with a shrug and proceeded to pop the rest of the chocolate in . “If only Yixing would be more gracious. Really, I don’t know what is wrong with that boy. He literally forces me to sit with him –which I would have done if he just asked –and when I do, he barely talks to me.”

“What did you do then?”

“What else? If he wouldn’t talk to me then fine. I have Jonghyun too,” she said with a huff.

Oh, you have no idea how ironic that sounds, I thought amusedly, but proceeded myself to listen to her like the good friend I was.

“Not only does he not talk to me, he keeps glaring at me too,” she continued.

I’m sure it’s not you that he’s glaring at. “Maybe he just wants your attention,” I suggested lightly, hoping that she’d take the hint.

“That’s quite childish isn’t it?” she said with a sniff. “Funny, because I thought Zhang Yixing wasn’t given to anything immature, judging by the amount of times he chided me about it.”

Everyone can be silly when it comes to love, I thought, smiling sympathetically at her. Just look at me.

“Forget about this!” she said, waving her hands around as if such an expressive display of her frustration could make the problem fly away. She leaned closer to me with a smirk. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing,” I replied automatically.

“Oh please. I heard what Choi Minhee said. You and Joonmyun, really?”

I buried my face in my hands to hide my red cheeks. “He was just being the gentleman and offering me a shoulder to lean on when I sleep. It’s nothing like how she described it.”

I clamped my hands over my ears when Hyunji allowed herself an excited squeal. “Don’t scream!” I hissed at her.

“I wish I could have been there,” she exclaimed exuberantly, her eyes resembling that of my cat’s whenever she watched me blunder my way from the bed to bathroom: amused and playful, as if she had been the cause of it all.

“I’m thankful you weren’t,” I said grumpily. “I wouldn’t survive it there if you were.”

“Are you saying that you prefer Joonmyun’s company over mine?” she said with a sniff, pulling one of her famous puppy eyes that were known (at least to me) to weaken Yixing’s most solid resolve.

“If you’re going to be this annoying, then yes. I do.” I angrily chomped down on more chocolate.

The grin she had on her face was remarkably evil. “And is it also because my shoulder wouldn’t accommodate you as Joonmyun’s had?”

I picked up a pillow and whacked her at the back of her head. Hyunji laughed and leapt off the bed, snatching the rest of the chocolate and disappearing off into the bathroom with a mad cackle.

“Yah, Lee Hyunji! Open this door and fight!” I screamed at her as I banged on the door with my pillow. My only response was the echoing laugh of someone bent over the sink, joyful and indulgent, as if this one of her most successful triumphs up to date.

A/N: Hello beloved readers. Sorry for the short update, but don't worry, there's more to come. As you can see, I decided to add a background to the chapters :P

Anyway, I'm happy to announce that I've started a new story, starring Chanyeol. It's not long; less than 10 chapters I'd say, but I hope you enjoy it, because I really enjoyed writing it :)

EXO Cafe:

http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/613808/exo-cafe-fluff-romance-exo-exok-chanyeol