After you met Kyungsoo, he has been hanging out with your group since. He sat with you, Ellie, and Luhan during lectures, came over for occasional weekend dinners, and had many study sessions with you guys. You thought it was nice to meet a permanent friend. Those were really hard to find when you were in college, and especially when classes change every three months.

 

Today Kyungsoo was supposed to come over to your apartment to study for the second chemistry midterm of the quarter. You set up all the necessities for another study session. You sat down at the dinner table and opened your laptop. You hear someone yawn and footsteps coming closer. You turn around to see Key.

 

“Morning.”

 

“Mughning,” he says, half yawn.

 

“What time did you come home last night?” you ask casually.

 

“Ugh, I don’t even know. Around 3?”

 

You look at him with a surprised expression. “Where were you so late?”

 

“I was at Jonghyun’s.”

 

Realization dawned on you, “Ahh... I see. So, are.. are you guys like official yet?”

 

“Hnnn,” he whines, as he drops his head in his arms on top on the table.

 

“I take that as a ‘no,’” you guessed.

 

“He’s still in denial! I know, 100%, that he can’t resist me! I mean come on! I’m hot!” he exaggerates.

 

You chuckle slightly at his whining.

 

“I don’t even know why we aren’t official yet! It’s been a week since he practically forced me to--”

 

“WHOA. Okay. Too Much Info. No need to go that far, please,” you interrupt, thankfully just in time to save your poor ears. This has happened one too many times. After so many attacks, you finally learned the art of interrupting Key’s outbursts.

 

“KISS HIM! Gosh, stop thinking such dirty things,” he pouts and continues his whining.

 

You make a disgusted face at him because really, you did not need to know even that much of his personal life. You hear him sigh dramatically again. Your face softens a little.

 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure it will happen soon. And, plus. If you really like him, you should be willing to wait for however long.”

 

“Really? Do you really think I could wait that long?” he sniffles a little at your encouragement.

 

Confusion crossed your face, but you continued to encourage him, “Uh.. yeah. Of course. I know you can wait. Hwaiting!”

 

“You’re right, if I put my mind to it, I could do anything! Thanks!” he exclaims before getting up from his seat.

 

“Sure...” you hesitantly say, unsure of what you did, “Are you going to see Jonghyun right now?”

 

“No. I need my sleep. If I am willing to wait for him, he better be willing to wait for me to get enough beauty sleep,” he snaps, before heading to his bedroom.

 

“Well, that was an interesting morning,” you thought quietly to yourself.

 

Your phone rings from the table, and you immediately pick it up.

 

“Hey ______! I’m going to be a little late.”

 

“Oh okay,” you reply through your phone.

 

“Yeah, I got caught up doing my math homework. But, I’m on my way now.”

 

“That’s fine. Just ring the doorbell when you get here. Okay, bye.”

 

You hang up the phone.

 

“Who was that?” Chanyeol’s deep voice states from the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of milk.

 

“When the hell did he even get there?” you wondered.

 

“It was Kyungsoo. He’s coming over so that we could study some chem.”

 

You turn around before you can see a scowl set across Chanyeol’s face once he heard the name.

 

*Ding Dong.*

 

“Oh that must be him,” you say, as you walk over to the front door.

 

“Hey,” you greet excitedly, but was quickly replaced by confusion, “..Kris?”

 

He gives a small wave.

 

“Uh, what are you doing here?” you ask.

 

“Doesn’t Chanyeol live here?” he asks in return.

 

“CHANYEOL,” you shout. He walks up to the doorway and bro-fists Kris.

 

“A-yo, Waddup Kris?” he asks excitedly.

 

You look from Chanyeol, then to Kris, then back to Chanyeol. Both of them are having a friendly chat as if they’ve known each other for the longest time.

 

“WAIT. You.. you guys know each other??”

 

“What? Yeah, we play basketball together at the gym every week,” Chanyeol explains.

 

“Wait, what? You play basketball?” You suspiciously look at Chanyeol with disbelief.

 

“What? I can’t?”

 

“No, it’s just, you’re so clumsy! Isn’t he clumsy?” you direct your question toward Kris.

 

Chanyeol throws his arms in the air in frustration. “What do you mean I’m clumsy? I’m perfe--”

 

“Uh, hi?” you hear a voice say from outside. You crane your neck to the look behind Kris.

 

“KYUNGSOO! Hey! Come on in!”

 

He saunters forward, waving to Chanyeol and Kris, and steps into the house. You lead him to the dinner table, ignoring the twin towers at the doorway. Chanyeol scowls at the action and turns back to Kris.

 

“So, you up for some b-ball?” Kris asks casually.

 

“Maybe next time, Kris. I’m busy.” Before Kris could even respond, Chanyeol shuts the door in his face, and turns his attention to you both at the dinner table.

 

Kyungsoo settles into the empty seat next to you and gently places his materials out onto the table when Chanyeol walks into the kitchen with the excuse of making a sandwich for his black hole of a stomach.

 

Kyungsoo sits next to you as you both work on the single, printed practice.

 

“What’s the pKa of HCl?” you ask.

 

“Um, I think it’s in the book...” he answers.

 

The book was laying open on the table more so to Kyungsoo’s side, so you stretched your body closer to the book, attempting to flip the page to find the pKa table, leaning into his personal space.

 

*Cling, Clang.*

 

You jump at the noise and turn your head to look behind you at the clumsy Chanyeol, but your view is blocked by Kyungsoo’s face, extremely close to yours. Your eyes meet for a split second, his widen at your close proximity. You flinch and move away immediately, mumbling an apology.

 

You look over to Chanyeol to see him holding up the knife that he dropped. He intensely stares back at you. There is a distinctly different emotion in his eyes, one that you’ve never seen before, one that you can’t say you really comprehend. You look back at him with confusion. His expression lightens. With a shrug, he turns around to wash the dirty knife. Your gaze lingers for a little longer, wondering if he was feeling okay. He seems as though he was back to his normal chirpy self. Content, you turn your attention back to your studying, never noticing a pair of eyes staring at you intently.

 

 

 

After about half an hour, Chanyeol decides to be a distraction as he sits on the couch to watch some television, turning the volume higher than necessary. For hours, the loud voices distract you from concentrating on the problems.

 

“Could you please turn it down?” you demanded, finally having enough of Chanyeol’s jerkiness. Chanyeol looks back at you with an amused expression on his face. He lifts up the remote, you silently pray that he listens to your pleas. He raises the volume and you immediately sulk.

 

“Of course he wouldn’t listen,” you groan.

 

“What? I couldn’t hear you?” he snickers. You throw a water bottle at him, but it misses, so Chanyeol continues his blatant laughter.

 

You apologetically stare at Kyungsoo and mumble an apology.

 

“I really had no choice when he decided to live here,” you explain.

 

Kyungsoo nods understandingly. “It’s okay. It’s not that distracting, although his laughter’s a different story.”

 

You burst out into laughter. “It’s obnoxious right?” Then you both are laughing together.

 

Suddenly the television turned off and you both stop laughing. You look over at Chanyeol to see that he has his feet propped up onto the coffee table with a book in his hands.

 

“Whoa. Are you reading?!” you exclaim, mouth dropping lower than Luhan’s when he’s surprised.

 

He turns to look at you, his glasses falling from his nose. He sticks his tongue out at you and resumes his reading. You stare at him, flabbergasted.

 

“He never reads. There’s something wrong with him,” you whisper to Kyungsoo. You glance back at Chanyeol and he’s still absorbed in his book. You shrug it off and turn back to the papers.

 

“I guess we should continue this.”

 

He nods and resumes writing into his notebook.  

 

“Hey, do you know how to do this problem?” you ask, pointing to the problem. Kyungsoo leans over to look at the paper in your hands. You raise the paper closer to him. He reads the problem with a sigh.

 

“I seriously don’t know how to do that problem.”

 

You both try look it up in the book and online. As you were clicking around for some online help, Chanyeol sits in the seat on the other side of you. He places his arm around your shoulders and pull you closer to him. You turn to him immediately and try to move away from him. Both you and Kyungsoo stare at him wide-eyed at his action.

 

“What problem do you need help on?” he asks, ignoring your surprised face, gripping your shoulder firmly.

 

“What are you doing?” you question, shaking his arm from your shoulder. His grip tightens.

 

“I don’t think she likes you touching her,” Kyungsoo speaks up politely.

 

Chanyeol glares at him for a second and his eyes begin to twinkle mischievously. With a small laugh, he pulls you in closer to his chest. “What are you talking about? She’s my best friend.”

 

You push him away violently and glare at him. “Chanyeol. Stop.”

 

“Fine,” he shrugs and walks away, presumably to his bedroom.

 

“Um. Sorry about that,” you say, “maybe today isn’t a good day to study.”

 

“Yeah, I think I should get going,” Kyungsoo says, packing up his things.

 

Once Kyungsoo is gone, you march your way to Chanyeol’s room. You knock on his bedroom door incessantly. Once he opens the door, you yell, “You are such an ! Stop embarrassing me in front of my friends!”

 

With that, you march back to your room and slam the door closed.