When she returned home everyone were looking at her with pitifull looks in their eyes. Ahra knew the story must've spread among the group but she didn't want them to feel sorry for her or pity her. Yes she was hurt and embarassed but this is more embarassing, to be pitied at. She tried to joke and talk more during dinner and they smiled and laughed but she could see nothing actually changed. They talked to her carefully, thinking long before opening their mouth as if trying not to hurt her. Dinner wasn't as pleasant as the ones before and she went back to her room, feeling worse than when she returned home. There was a knock at the door and there Luhan was, standing by her open door.

 

"You alright?" He could see what was going on. She had left the dining room feeling much more worse and burndened. 

"I'm fine." she answered shortly putting down the pen she was holding.

"Do you mind if I come in?" he asked with his careful words.

Ahra was a bit taken aback because she had never let a boy into her bedroom before. "It's not as if he's going to do anything bad to me." so she let him in. Luhan walked in and sat by the edge of her bed.

None of them knew how to start the conversation. It was Luhan who initiated the talk, "So we heard about it." He paused to check her reaction. " I know you felt uncomfortable during dinner. We just can't help but worry about you. Part of it was because of Kai's fault and he's regretting it. We felt it's also our fault not only his." 

"The thing is I am not blaming anyone here. Kai wasn't at fault so he really should stop feeling sorry like that. The girls hated me since the start and I know that they're going to do something like this sooner or later without Kai or anyone else involved. I am fine and I just don't want you all to pity me this way." She closed the english book she was studying and faced him. " You all should just ignore me, i've been through hard times before so don't worry. I won't let something small like get on my nerves. " She gave him an assuring smile which faded his worries.

Luhan took a deep breath and stood up, "Alright. I'll make sure to tell the others. I trust your words that you're alright." he smiled with his eyes.

"Are you all leaving for the part time job again?" she asked as he was about to leave the room.

"Eung. Go and sleep." and he was gone.

 

               .......................................

 

Ahra climbed on the bus and sat on one of the empty seats. Everything had return back to normal. The awkwardness was gone. Like the first morning, there were lots of shouting during breakfast and preparation for the school. They were all doing their morning routine as if nothing happened. Atleast they were trying to act like so.

 

Ahra was looking out of the glass window when she felt someone sitting beside her. Sehun had occupied the empty seat beside her and was about to put his headphone on. She looked at him before remembering something. Her hands reached into a pocket in her bag and pulled out a piece of cloth.

"Here. I washed it yesterday to get rid of the stain and smell, thank you." 

He took his handkerchief back and put it into his pocket. Both of them were silence as Kai and Tao were joking on the seat in front of them.

 

"What time will your class end today?" Ahra looked back at him and hide her laugh. This awkward guy trying to be nice to her. Sehun seemed like he was regretting him word as she gave him no reply. She must be thinking of how weird he is talking something out of the blue like that.

" Two thirty for today. Why?" she tried to sound calm. She knew he was kind of nervous like how she was when she first talked to Baekhyun and facing nervousness with calm is the best way to get rid of the awkwardness in him.

"If you have time, can you show me a cd shop around here? I need to buy something." his voice changed a little.

"CD shop? I think I know a good one somewhere near the bookshop that I work in. I can show you the way." 

His face brightened up as she showed him a sincere smile.

"Thanks. Just wait for me in the library for half an hour." he replied back and put back his headphones on. Ahra nodded her head and continued looking out of the window.

 

                 ...............................

 

Ahra flipped the pages of the book she was reading. There were some studens in the library but most of them had went home. She was waiting for Sehun and decided to read a book from one of the shelves. The gang hadn't been messing up with her and they seemed like they were eyeing around for Sehun's presence whenever they're near her. Just like yesterday she could feel the bubbling jealousy from the girls as she sat with the guys during lunch. Even worse today because Sehun was there with them. The guys gained popularity so fast but she just couldn't blame them.

 

Three in the evening and the library was almost empty. Ahra could hear sound of footsteps echoing along the corridor outside and soon Sehun appeared. "Sorry, I'm a bit late." He looked at the watch on his wrist. Ten minutes later than the promised time. 

 

They exit the school and walk beside each other. There was awkward silence as they passed shops and houses heading to the cd shop with Ahra leading the way.

"I need to explain something to you." Sehun's words shocked her as normally she was the one initiating a conversation with him.

"I don't want you to misunderstand. I didn't mean to leak the story about the incident to everyone in the house. I just asked Tao what probably went wrong before with you because I saw you went and spent your break time with them. But then Kai passed the room and overheard our conversation and as he left everyone started questioning me and I needed to explain everything to them." He had felt guilty as he saw the discomfort in her when the others started to act more carefully around her after the incident and had wanted to explain to her but couldn't find the right timing.

"Never mind. I know you didn't mean to hurt me or something. It wasn't your fault."

Sehun looked down at his shoes not really sure what to say next. It took him lots of courage to actually talk to her and apologize. He was scared she was hurt by what he did but he was glad she understood. 

"We are here. This is the shop I've been talking about. I've never bought any cds from here but I think they've got a pretty wide range of cd collections to choose from." Ahra opened up the door to the orange colored building as they stood infront of the glass doors. Sehun was busy checking the albums on the rows of cds as Ahra kept herself occupied by listening to some classical songs through the headphone.

It was something new to find out how Sehun who look so cold-blooded turned out to be so shy and timid around her. He was too nervous to tell her in front of everyone else so he asked her to accompany him so they can talk eye to eye. Ahra hadn't even thought of him being the reason for all the awkwardness yesterday but apparently he hadn't thought the same way. 

 

A tap on her shoulder and she took off the headphones returning them back to where they belonged. Sehun was holding a plastic bag in his hand and they were ready to go. 

"I need to go to my part time job in the book store now. I'm sorry but I won't be able to accompany you back." she took another look at her watch.

"If you don't mind can I stay?" Sehun looked at her with his two brown eyes waiting for an answer.

"Well, sure. I thought you will want to go." Ahra was once again taken aback by his unpredictable nature. He's so interesting.

Jungshin was in the shop putting the newly arrived stock on the shelves when Ahra entered. He was about to greet her when he realised she was not alone. There was another guy behind her with the same school uniform on. Ahra was the one who ended up greeting him first before changing to shirt and skirt appropriate for her work. She was busy serving customers, accepting their money and giving them back their change as Sehun calmly sat himself on a corner with his books on his lap.

 

"Nuna, can you help me take that book?" it was a ten year old boy pointing to an animal encyclopedia on the top shelf. Ahra put down her pen and walked towards the tall shelf. The heavy thick book was somewhere on the fifth row. She tiptoed on her feet and stretched as high as she could but only the tip of her middle finger touched the corner of the book. She looked around for a ladder or stool to stand on when she felt a body standing so close to her with his long arms stretched high, grabbing the book easily with his long fingers.

"Here." Sehun handed over the encyclopedia to her and returned back to his corner. Ahra felt her cheeks blushing and her heart beat gradually increasing. That was the closest she had ever been to a guy in her life beside sitting near or standing close to them. Ahra shook her head and calmed herself before returning to the cashier.

 

Someone poked her with his elbow, "Is that a friend or your boyfriend? How about the other hot boy who picked you up yesterday that I heard from the others?" Jungshin as she hit him lightly on the back "What are you talking about. He's another tenant in the house. Stop gossiping like the others. What if he heard you." 

Jungshin rested his chin on his folded arm on the desk, "So you're sharing your house with your boyfriends? You never told me before. Indeed Jung Ahra is the oppa killer." 

Ahra shook her head depressed. Once he joke he'll just never stop. A smile formed on her face as Jungshin laughed rolling on his chair looking at her expression.

Sehun lowered the book he was reading and stared in annoyance.

 

              ..................................

 

Ahra closed the door behind them. Her shift was over and she's ready to go home. 

"So what were you doing at the corner?" she asked. She hadn't paid any attention to him once they separated inside. What she could see was he was busy with books.

"Doing my homework and reading my book. It was nice." he replied as they made their way back.

"Is this where you normally do your homework?"

"Yes, sometimes when the shop is  not so crowded or during my break. The place is cozy and quiet. Beside it helps me reduce my load once I reach home." 

Sehun nodded his head in agreement. The book shop wasn't fancy but it was comfortable and peaceful inside, "The next time, can I come again?" he asked shyly.

Ahra smiled, "Sure. You can come any time you want.

 

                 ..............................

 

Soon it was autumn as the leaves turned to beautiful bright red and orange. The weather turned colder and drier and everyone started walking around in their jackets and trench coats. For the past couple of weeks Ahra had felt a huge change in her life. There is no more loneliness and fear of being alone. Whenever she return home there will always be greetings and noises in the house. Her trip to school was never boring as there will always be a topic to discuss and talk about with the three boys. Rather than wishing for her shift to never end, now she wishes for it to end quickly. She just could never wait to go home. Once in a while Sehun does visit the book shop and as usual sat himself in the corner to do his homework or reading. Almost every week Ahra will visit the supermarket with D.O to do grocery shopping with Tao or Kai following them once in a while. Every weekend they will gather in the living room playing cards or games as Chanyeol and Baekhyun will be brightening up the atmosphere with their jokes and comments. She felt her life had changed and definitely for the better.

 

They were doing their grocery shopping one day, Ahra with D.O and Tao coming along. They were busy shopping when they pass a row of gift sets on the shelves. The area was crowded with housewives checking the prices and the seller promoting his goods. There were a variety of cookies and snacks and spam.

"Ahra what are these for?" Tao took a closer look at the rows of parcels.

"It's for Chuseok. Did you not know them?" Ahra looked back at him as he nodded innocently. 

"What do people do during Chuseok?" Tao asked again checking the parcels with cookies in them.

"People go back home to their families. They give parcels like this to friends or business partners. I think you call this the moon cake festival in China.."

Tao looked at her for a second, "Then can you buy me this? I'm your friend." he pointed to the bigget parcel on the shelf with loads of cookies and biscuits in them. Ahra laughed at him. How cute.

"You don't need something like that Tao, let's get you some cookies." and they left for the cookie shelf. On their way home Ahra took over one of the plastic bags D.O was holding.

"Aren't you guys coming home for Chuseok?" she asked after he gave her a thankful smile.

He kept quiet for a while, "Umm I'd know. I'm not sure about that. Maybe I guess." and that was the end of the conversation.

 

They reached home and Ahra helped D.O stored the things in the copboards and shelves before she returned to her room. It was a Sunday and she had finished all her homework so she decided to recheck the list of things her class need to prepare for the school bazaar in two weeks time. Tuesday will be Chuseok so the school will be closed for three days and so will the bookshop so she'll have plenty of time to spend. There were knocks on the door and Baekhyun appeared, "Hey."

 

He sat on the empty chair beside the table, " How's your day?" She had gotten used to them knocking on her door that they can just come in and sat on her bed anytime they want. For the past few weeks she had gotten closer to them especially Baekhyun that she for some reason felt a connection with.

"We went grocery shopping just now. And preparation for Chuseok was everywhere."

"How do you normally spend your Chuseok holiday? I heard you got some time off from the jobs."

She shrugged, "Yes, I normally stay at home and got to do something I rarely do, watching tv." she laughed but Baekhyun seemed confused.

"Don't you go and visit your friend? Who was her name? Sora?"

"Not during Chuseok, we are close but she should spend it with her family members. How can I disturb the moments?" Ahra forced a smile. Eventhough Chuseok is the time for hapiness and family gathering, it just felt like as a holiday for her. No celebration , no food because there's no family.

Baekhyun paused for a second,

"Well you can spend this year's Chuseok with us."

"Wait what do you mean? Aren't you going back home? To your family?" she was shocked by what he said.

"We are home and this is our family. Where else are you asking us to go to?" He smiled warmly at her.

"How about your family? I mean your real blood-related family?"

"We've decided to spend this year's Chuseok with you. Our family never really forces us to go back home. Besides we've got important things to do here." His reassuring words convinced her. Ahra felt like she could be jumping and running around the house with happiness but she only smiled, "Thank you."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: Hi there^^ I decided to add Chuseok into the story because EXO returned home to their families to celebrate Chuseok together. They deserve some time off right? Poor Yixing missed his plane and everone were wishing we can send him home but.. yeah T.T I don't know if the story is boring for the readers but I'm trying my best in writing .. Sorry guysT.T