chapter nine; 

                  surprises

» Ding dong.

I wake up to the sound of the doorbell being rung more often than needed to.

Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.

"SOMEONE GET THE DOOR," I shouted before covering my head with my pillow, trying to drown out the sound.

Ding dong, ding dong.

"OH MY GOD," I groan, flipping over in my bed and glanced at the clock. 12:54. My mom probably left for work and my older sister probably went out. My dad was probably out shopping with my little sister.

Dinnnnnnng dooooooooong.

It was still too early for visitors. Bella and Jordan won't be here till 6. I groan in my sleep, shifting around in my bed. Maybe if I ignored them long enough, they'd leave.

Ding dong, ding dong, dinnnnng donnnnng.

Obviously not.

I groan once more, crawling out of bed and shuffled downstairs. I peeked through the eyehole to ensure that yes, it was indeed not a robber, before opening the door. "Can I help you?" I asked, not bothering to hide my annoyance.

"Morning, Lisa!"

I frown, rubbing my tired eyes before opening them as I yawned. My eyes grow wide as I blink once, twice, three times to clear my vision. Was my eye sight working properly? "Doyoon?"

He smiles at me, eyeing me carefully before smirking, poking at my stomach. "Was my sweater comfy enough for you?"

I grimace, looking down at the large grey sweater that he had lent me yesterday. I forgotten I had slept in it. "I was too lazy to change into anything else," I mumbled.

He laughs. "Did you sleep well?"

"I was," I muttered, continuing to rub my eyes. "Did you come to get it back?" I asked, looking at him with wide eyes. "Gosh, sorry. I'll go quickly change. Just wait and - "

He laughs again, his eyes smiling. "Actually, I came for the dinner today!"

I blink, staring at him to see if he was serious. When his smiling, excited face didn't faze, I was assured that he was indeed not kidding. "It's barely noon. Dinner is at seven."

He makes a face and glances at his watch that he wore on his right wrist. "I'm a few hours early. Is that okay?"

"You're six hours early but you can come in." I step aside and let him walk past me, taking off his shoes before hobbling into the living room. He stands in the middle of the living room, looking around with a large smile on his face. I laugh, his expression amusing me. "What is it?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing. Is anyone else home?"

"No one is home so it's just you and me." I stand at the foot of the staircase, nodding upwards. "We can go up to my room if you want."

"Sure."

We head upstairs, pass the pictures that hung on the wall and entered my room. I pushed open the door and cleared some of the stuff on my bed before sitting down and smiling at him. "Sorry if it's messy. I woke up like five minutes ago."

He doesn't reply, glancing around the room. He stares at the posters on my wall and gestures at the Seventeen poster that I hung up yesterday. "Did you have fun?" I nodded as he walks towards me before noticing something peeking from underneath a pile of clothes in my closet. He walks over, shoves the clothes aside before picking it up. "What's this?"

"Just a photo album," I answered, taking it from him. If I didn't want Bella to see it, I'm pretty sure I didn't want him to see it either. I place it on my desk, hoping he wouldn't ask any more questions. However, I'm not so lucky. He walks over and picks it up again.

"It's pretty," he states, feeling the cover. He glances over to me and says, "do you mind if I look through it?"

I grimace. "Well..." But he's already sat down next to me, flipping open the pages. The first few pages are fine but then we reach the point of first grade where photos of me and someone I wasn't fond of appeared. I grabbed the photo album and closed it, putting it back on my desk. "Sorry. I just don't really want to see some of these people from the past. It's embarrassing." I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts.

He stares at me for a moment, shrugging and lying down on my bed, grabbing the stuffed peas that I had on my bed. "Hey, this is identical to the one you gave me." I nodded as he looked over to me, still holding onto the stuffie. "Did you name it?"

I blink. "Excuse me?"

"I don't know, sometimes people name their stuffed animals."

"Peas are a vegetable," I pointed out and he shrugs.

"Same thing."

I did name it something actually. I had named it after my childhood friend. But after he left, I renamed it to just D. "Yeah. I named it D."

He laughs. "D for what?"

I hit him lightly, laughing along. "D for dumb because that's what you are." He laughs again, putting the stuffed peas down and sits up, staring around my room again. "Hey, I thought you had practice today."

He shrugs, frowning as he shakes his head. "I talked the PD into letting me come. I said it was a family dinner. The other members are still at practice though. Poor things." He laughs, looking over to me. "We're like family, right?" 

I laughed. "We barely know each other."

He stops and gives me a small smile. He wore an expression I couldn't read. "Right."

There's a noise downstairs and I climb off the bed and walk towards the staircase. Without taking more than one step, I peek my head down to see my older sister walk through the door. "Hey Jamie."

She glances up, surprised. "Oh. Hey. What are you up to?" She asks, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge door, bending down to see if there was anything to eat.

"Nothing. I just have a friend is over."

"Bella?"

"No, Doyoon."

"Who?"

"Doyoon."

She looks back at me at raises her eyebrows. "Doyoon? I haven't seen him in years."

I frown. "Not him."

"Oh." She bends back down, continuing her search. "Who, then?"

"From the band Seventeen."

"Ah." 

She wasn't big on k-pop so I didn't expect her to know. I look back and call for Doyoon and he appears at my door. "Come meet my sister." I hop down the steps and slide into a chair at the dining table as Doyoon follows slowly, eyeing the kitchen. My sister's head pops up with a bottle of Aloe Vera and glances at Doyoon. She takes a double look and laughs.

"Hey, you look exactly like the other Doyoon."

His face flushes and I rub my forehead. God. "Other...D-doyoon?" He asks, making a face. He walks over to me and sits down, staring at his hands. I sensed he was feeling uncomfortable and I tried to catch my sisters attention to get her to stop. Sadly, she was too busy searching for a glass.

"Yeah, Lisa's old friend." She gestures to me and he stares at me, blinking. "I haven't seen him in forever. I'm pretty sure you'd look alike if he was your age." She pauses. "How old are you, Doyoon?"

"Seventeen."

"Ha, seventeen years old in a band called Seventeen." She laughs, sliding into a chair in front of mine and pours herself a glass. "Hey! I bet the other Doyoon is seventeen now too! Do you by any chance have a twin, my friend?"

"Jamie!" I shout. This was getting out of hand. 

She makes a face. "What?"

"Stop asking him so many questions," I hiss, standing up. "Come on, Doyoon. Let's go back upstairs."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" She shouts in a singsong voice and I take a pillow from the couch and throw it at her as she laughs, dodging it. 

I roll my eyes, tugging the poor guy after me and storm into my room. "Sorry about that. She's a little..." I pause and I grimace, making a face. He sits down on the bed and grabs the stuffed peas again, hugging onto it.

He laughs. "It's alright." He pauses, "so who is this Doyoon anyways?" A wary laugh. "How weird is it that we have the same name?"

I shrug. "Really weird, I guess." I did not want to talk about this. Especially with him. "Why are you here anyways?"

He looks at me surprised. "What?"

"No, sorry, that didn't come out right. I meant, why are you trying to be friends with me?"

He shrugs. "I feel like I already know you." I blink. I'm about to open my mouth to say something but there's noise downstairs again. "Who could that be?" He asks, already getting up from the bed.

"I don't know. It could be my dad and little sister. Or my mom."

"Let's go see."

I nod. "Hold on, let me change out of your sweater so you can take it home," I said, grabbing a tshirt from my closet. I quickly changed and walked out, calling for Doyoon. He was standing at my desk, eyeing the photo album which (luckily) was still closed. "Doyoon?" He looks up at me, surprised before covering it with a smile and following me out. I then realise what expression that was written across his face when I told him we barely know each other.

It was disappointment.