"Ahh, I'm so nervous." Lay clasped his hands together to keep him from shaking. The boys were carpooling to Saehee's house for a second chance at meeting her. This time, they wanted to make it right. Minseok was already there at her house, comforting her whenever she became too insecure.

"Me too, I still feel like an about last time." Jongdae mumbled. The all nodded, agreeing about feeling the same way. After seeing Saehee run out, they reflected on their actions. Though they weren’t unaware of her mental condition, they still felt  terrible about being insensitive. Anyone would feel uncomfortable about having a ton of questions thrown at them at first meeting.

After a few minutes, they had arrived outside her gate. They exited the car and stood outside to wait for Minseok to get them. The guard eyed the group, surprised to see so many people there at once. "Excuse me, but who are all of you?" The guard confronted them. The boys turned his way. "We're Saehee's friends," Luhan smiled sincerely.

"Oh," the guard was astounded by the teen's answer, "I see." Since the guard had been working there for many years now, he was very familiar with Saehee. Out of all those years she never once invited friends over, so to see such a nice group of friends here made him overjoyed. Not only him, but the other workers also worried about Saehee's well-being and if she would ever overcome her condition.

“Mr. Guard, please let my friends in,” Minseok lightly jogged to the gate once getting a text from Luhan.

“Ah, of course,” the guard immediately went to open the gate. The boys bowed to the guard one by one as they entered into the property.

“By the way, my name is Seunghyun,” he waved at the group as he closed the gate behind them.

“Thank you Seunghyun Hyung,” Minseok cheerfully called out to him.

---

The boys cautiously walked in through the front door. Minseok escorted them into the living room area that consisted of an antique long sofa, a smaller sofa, and a coffee table. A sliding door that led to the backyard allowed natural lighting to filter the room. Unlike other homes, this one didn’t have many electronics such as televisions and video game consoles. Everything was very old fashioned and to Jonguk’s liking.

Saehee was seated in the middle of the long sofa with her hands in her lap. She had her gaze fixed to her hands. She looked up when hearing feet shuffling into the room.

"We're sorry Saehee-ah!" The five boys stood in a line and bowed at a 90 degree angle. Saehee blushed at their actions. "N-no, it's fine, there's n-no need to apologize." Saehee stuttered.

"Even if you say we don't need to apologize we're going to do it anyway, so just accept it," Kris straightforwardly told her. Saehee relaxed a bit and chuckled at the playfulness in his tone.

"Thank you...everyone," her tears began to fall out contentment. She was touched at how kind they were being to her; it's something that she's still not so familiar with. The boys watched her crying face in awe. She’s so cute, they all couldn’t help but think that. Minseok took a seat next to Saehee, lending her his sleeve to wipe her tears away. “She’s a crybaby,” Minseok , while patting her head. The boys gave each other knowing smug looks at the sight of the couple being so close.

“So did you really confess?”  Lay raised a brow. Minseok stopped wiping Saehee’s tears, quickly getting flustered at the question.

“Confess? Confess what? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Silly Lay,” Minseok’s speech came out jumbled. He went over next to Lay in order to shut his mouth from saying anything more. Saehee remained silent during their strange behavior, having no clue what they were talking about. Minseok looked over to Saehee who looked restless. Her eyes kept darting up at to look at everyone’s faces, and then back down at her hands. Her trembling came back. “Take a seat, make yourselves comfortable,” Minseok motioned his friends to find a seat. Everyone gladly obeyed, not sensing how standing in front of her made her uneasy.

Minseok claimed his spot next to Saehee, and then scooted her down to the end of the couch to make room for the others. Though Saehee followed his lead without thought, Minseok knowingly seated them there for a reason. He knew for sure she would feel uncomfortable sitting next to anyone else besides him.

"Let's restart our self introductions. I'm Luhan." Luhan smiled. His smile was gentle and soft. Saehee was mesmerized at how peaceful he looked while smiling.

"I'm Tao." Tao did a saluting gesture. He had distinct dark circles under his eyes, making him easily recognizable from the rest for Saehee.

"Kris," Kris bobbed his head. Kris gave off a cold exterior, but his comment from earlier definitely made Saehee aware of his caring interior.

“Hello, I’m Lay,” he smiled, exposing his dimples. His cheeks were a little red due to his embarrassment about bringing up the confession that didn’t happen.

"And I’m Jongdae,” Jongdae rose from his seat and took a step forward to offer Saehee a hand shake. But she immediately leaned back into the sofa to avoid his touch. The atmosphere suddenly became tense. “S-sorry Jongdae-shi,” Saehee whispered, guilt shown in her voice. She wanted to shake his hand, but her natural instinct told her to run.

“It’s fine, it was my bad,” Jongdae bent down to her eye level and gave her a reassuring grin.

“Waah, this scene is so beautiful,” Tao gave Jongdae a back hug, while wiping away a nonexistent tear of happiness. The others boys applauded out of also being proud of Jongdae who was usually self-absorbed.

“Thanks,” Saehee mouthed to him. Jongdae blushed at all the attention being put on him. “Yeah yeah, no problem,” Jongdae rubbed his face, and then sat back down on the smaller sofa next to Kris and Lay.

“I was just wondering Saehee-ah, but what do you like about Minseok?” Luhan asked curiously. Luhan could tell that it takes time for Saehee to open up to people. He couldn’t help but wonder what Minseok so different for her to open up to him so quickly.

Saehee thought for a moment before answering. “W-well I think we have a lot of things in common. And…he’s really kind and patient with me,” she shyly answered.

“He’s actually really mean. He’s the oldest, but he doesn’t buy us food.” Tao jumped in with a complaint.

“Yeah, he even uses aegyo to take food from us,” Lay added with a chuckle.

“Not true! You guys come to my house all the time and eat everything out of the fridge!” Minseok pouted.

Saehee couldn’t help but quietly giggle at how close the boys were. Watching Minseok joke around with his friends made Saehee really happy to see a different side of him; a side that she hadn’t seen before.

 As the hours passed, the teens stayed in the living room, exchanging conversations to help Saehee be open up to them. The boys carefully kept the conversation topics mutual in order to avoid bringing up something too obtuse. At times she would not say a word, while the others comically bickered at each other. Other times she would laugh along with them at a bad joke someone would tell. What she loved the most was how they looked at her. They’re eyes showed no signs of confusion or disgust; they were just bright. Overall, she enjoyed everyone’s company.

A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all! c: What do you think of Exo-M so far?

(updated: 12-25-13)