As everybody would have it, especially Fei and Jia, Shin found herself seated beside Kris, the boy they have always claimed was looking at her. She did not believe it to be true but it did make her a little uncomfortable, especially since they were almost pressing up against one another. The little Chinese restaurant they had dinner at every Friday was not spacious to begin with and now that there were four more bigger-sized people with them, there was hardly any space to speak of. 

But she found tension leaving her shoulders after a while. The younger boys - Lay and Tao - dived straight into animated talk as soon as orders for dinner were placed. And their laughter was so contagious, she could not help but join them as well. It felt like she knew them when she did not; easing into their conversations, even as a mere listener, took no effort at all. 

"Kris-ge loves fried rice too!" Tao shared as he passed the two plates of fried rice to Kris. One for him and one for Shin. "I'm almost certain that he can survive solely on fried rice."

She smiled a thanks to Kris when he placed the plate in front of her. "Then you'll love ahjumma's fried rice." And a rare moment where she turned to look at the person sitting beside her as she talked to them. It was a habit he long knew of, though, and as much as it did not bother him, it surprised him when she actually made eye contact with him. 

"I'm sure I will." He answered, barely holding his smile back as he quickly dug into his food. 

Over dinner, she learnt that Tao was the youngest, although he did not look like it. He pouted when the three girls voiced their disbelief, putting a further distance between his appearance and his personality. Since he was the same age as her own sister back home, Shin found herself wanting to baby him. She jumped to his defense several times when they had too much fun teasing him. 

Luhan also revealed that he was the eldest and Jia gave a look of envy and, strangely, horror at the revelation. "Excuse me, that was kind of insulting," he joked in response, continuing that most people simply exclaimed at how baby-faced he was. "Your reaction is the first I've ever gotten." 

They also learnt that Lay and Kris had gotten to know each other first through the university's basketball club, where the older male was captain. That was when the subtle teasing from Fei began. That was also when Shin realized how quiet Kris was. 

His quietness took her by surprise. She was not expecting such a soft side to him, especially when his friends had much louder personalities. He seemed to prefer sitting back to watch his friends have fun, joining in for a short while before retreating again. Just like me, she thought. Then she saw how vibrant he was when he and the boys got really excited about what they were talking about and decided maybe not. 

Then she noticed how his eyes would crinkle into an almost-crescent whenever he laughed. How he had a laughter that was neither too deep nor too light; it was comfortable on the ears. How the others were just as good-looking and charming as he was. How Fei and Jia fitted into the group perfectly while she did not. 

And then she remembered that they were the popular kids who excelled in sports, studies and everything else, and she was just the dull girl who locked herself up in her room with books. 

You really have to stop thinking this way, Lee Shin, a voice said. You know very well that this isn't the case. 

"…right?" It was Fei's nudge that brought her back. Her friend caught her puzzled look and repeated, "We were saying how we can form a group for Chinese Literature whenever necessary. It's better than looking around and waiting for people to ask if we have enough people. Right?"

It was more of an instinctive than an actual response when she nodded and answered, "Right." She tried getting back into the flow of the conversations but found herself giving half-hearted responses, the lightness long leaving her body. Then she decided to excuse herself, "I'll go freshen up for a while." 

Everybody could see that Shin did not look too good; concern flashed in Kris' eyes as his gaze followed her until she disappeared into the back of the restaurant, where the bathroom was at. Silence took over temporarily but the mood was not at all dampened. 

"Is Shin-jiejie okay?"

Fei shrugged. "Nah, it's just that she takes a while to warm up to people but I've never seen her open up as quickly as today. She definitely feels comfortable enough with you guys." Then she gave Kris a look, who merely raised his brows slightly as response before looking back down at his empty plate. 

"What do you mean?" asked Lay. 

"If you haven't already noticed, she prefers to listen than to talk," Jia explained. "It's not that she doesn't like to talk, she just doesn't feel as comfortable speaking as when she's writing. I've never seen anybody enjoy not speaking as much as she does!" Their new friends nodded in understanding and she continued, "Don't worry, she'll loosen up pretty soon. And then you'll see a brand new side to her." Then she chuckled. "That's when you should worry."  

Fei joined in chuckling, nodded as she did. "I promise, she isn't half as quiet as she's now when she's just with us. Ah, I can already see us all being very good friends!"

"Does that mean we can join you for dinner in the future too?" Tao asked, blinking innocently as he sipped his drink. Fei and Jia chorused of course you can! and he beamed happily, sticking his tongue out at Kris and Luhan who chided him for being so straightforward. "Now this is something to look forward to every weekend!" 

The conversation continued and when Shin returned, she too tried to join in whenever she could again. Tao kept pulling her back into the flow of conversations whenever it seemed like she was about to pull out. He would blabber a string of questions and then reasoned that he wanted to know her better, especially since she was the only one who took his side when the others . That made her smile - and she happily answered everything he asked, even if some were unexpected. Anybody could tell that she had a soft spot for the younger ones, especially Tao. 

As her smiles for Tao got warmer and brighter, Kris, who was sitting beside her, found it increasingly difficult to take his eyes off her. Different sides to her, sides he never expected existed in her, unfolded as she slowly warmed up to them. Before he realized it, he was mentally urging Tao to ask her more questions so that he, too, could get to know her better. 

Before tonight, he always thought of her as someone who felt quite faraway; she always had a vacant look in her eyes, like she was in a world of her own. Perhaps it was that look, doubled with her quietness, that had others deeming her as unfriendly. He knew better then - he always thought her eyes beautiful - and he definitely knew better now. 

Jia suggested ordering dessert, to which they all agreed. As they enjoyed their sweet treats, they learnt that even though Shin was born to Chinese parents, she had a Korean name as she was born and raised in Korea. Her good grasp of Mandarin came from her parents teaching her the language since she was young; she also studied in Shanghai for two years before. 

"Kris also learnt Mandarin from his parents and studied in Shanghai for two years before!" Lay pointed out, to which the mentioned male could only nod and acknowledge the facts before they pulled the focus back onto Shin again. 

But as all things naturally would, dinner eventually came to an end. Together with it came the customary fights over who should pay the bill - they eventually decided to go dutch, with the boys saying that they will pick up the tab for the next dinner - and the usual so what are you all going to do next?. 

"Fei and I are going to the new club that opened not too long ago!" The enthusiasm was clear in Jia's voice and her eyes lit up with excitement. "You all can join us if you want to!"

"Sure, it's Friday night after all," Luhan nodded, looking at his friends. He pointed at Kris, who seemed ready to say something. "Kris doesn't club, though. So I guess it's just the three of us joining."

"Really?" Fei's voice picked up a higher pitch as she turned to Kris with a gleeful look. He raised a brow at that, then he realized what she must be thinking of. "Wow, what a coincidence. Shin doesn't club either! Why don't you be a gentleman and send our little lady home?"

It was Shin who shook her head as she waved off her friend's absurd suggestion. She should know better than to put her together with someone she barely met a few hours ago, not to mention a guy whom they claimed has been looking at her every chance he had. "I can make it home by myself. No need to bother Kris." 

"Oh, it's no bother at all." He cursed inwardly when his voice came out weird, croaking a little at the first word. He had no idea where the sudden courage came from, although he believed that it must be when she said his name for the first time. 

"We don't live very far from you, jiejie," Tao chimed."Don't worry about bothering Kris-ge. It won't take him more than fifteen minutes to walk back to our place from yours."

Everybody else, except Kris, nodded. 

They had learnt during dinner that they lived only a few streets away from each other when Lay shared that he used to live at the same building the girls did now. "Ah, so you were the ones who moved in when I was preparing to move out," he had said, putting one and one together. "Now I can finally put faces to the voices I heard."

"It's settled then." Fei said quickly, grabbing each of Shin's and Kris' elbows and pulling them together before pushing them in the direction of the bus stop. "You two will head home now and the rest of us will go have some Friday night fun." She stopped to give the girl's cheeks a pinch, something she always did out of affection for her friends. "You don't have to stay up and wait for us, okay?"

"But--"

"We'll see you when we see you!" Fei hurried back to the waiting group, waving at the two of them with both hands. 

Both Shin and Kris stood in silence - and awkwardness - as they watched their friends scurry away. Then she turned to him. "I suppose we're taking the same bus?" 

"Yeah!" The word slipped out of his mouth instantly and he immediately gave himself a mental face-palm. He could not tell what she was thinking from her expression, so he prayed that she did not see it as a sign of nervousness. He could tell, though, that she was not too comfortable with this arrangement. He did not want their friendship to begin on this foot, so he quickly suggested, "Why don't we take the bus and I'll just see you until your stop? You're going to alight before me anyway and it's no bother for me too."

Slowly, she nodded. "That's a good idea." Looking at how flustered he was, she suddenly felt bad. Whether or not what her friends said were true about him - looking at her and all - he must have been left baffled by Fei's antics. So she added a smile after that, albeit only briefly. 

"Let's go then," he said, moving aside so that she could go first. "Ladies first."

The walk to the bus stop was quiet but littered with attempts at a conversation. Mostly on Kris' part, though, because Shin could not think of anything to talk about with him. She did reciprocate to the best of her abilities, except her short answers mostly did nothing but extinguish his efforts. 

The wait for the bus was not so bad but that was only because another writer from the editorial team called her. She was mostly on the phone, although she bowed her head apologetically at him whenever she turned to look at him. Or when she caught him looking at her. He always gestured an okay sign at her, smiling in understanding. It was only when their bus arrived and he patted her shoulder did the other writer finally - what perfect timing, she thought - end the call. 

"I'm sorry," she apologized again. "That was really rude of me."

Kris merely shook his head, chuckling softly. "Don't worry about it." Then he pointed at the empty seats behind her. "Do you want to sit?"

"Yeah, sure." 

They were once again engulfed by silence after sitting down. Shin kept her gaze straight in front as she hugged her bag to herself, while Kris balled his fists and steeled himself whenever the bus made sharp turns, trying not to lean into her. It was around ten minutes into the ride when she cleared and spoke up. 

"I'm sorry, Fei really didn't have to--"

"No, it's okay," he cut in. He could feel the muscles in his neck creaking as he slowly turned to look at her. "It's only right that a guy makes sure that a girl gets home safely. I would've offered to even if she didn't suggest it."

Then he gave himself another mental slap when the girl's eyes widened a little. Great. Now she's gonna think that you're a creep, Kris Wu. Way to go!

"Oh." She nodded, her lips pressed into a slight smile. "Thank you."

The rest of the bus ride was less quiet. Seeing that she was less uncomfortable whenever the topic of the conversations included their friends, he talked about them. Told her how he met Lay and Tao even though they did not share any classes, including how even though he and Lay were in the university's basketball team, they did not really talk to each other until their very first inter-school match. Told her about Tao's strange habit of needing someone with him in the showers - he took note of the look of amusement on her face - and about Lay's and Luhan's pranks. 

He talked most of the time; he remembered Fei saying that Shin preferred to listen. It must have worked, because he found her tilting her head at him, when before she was keeping a straight posture. She was more relaxed now, more generous with her replies and smiles now, even if they were still brief. 

When she initiated the next topic - on Fei and Jia and how they came to live in the same apartment - his heart nearly burst in joy. He was, however, more relieved that she was now comfortable enough with him. So when the bus finally neared her stopped, he found himself wishing that the bus ride would go on longer. Much longer. 

"Thank you for seeing me home, I guess?" She said as she slung her bag across her shoulders again. He smiled in return, pressing the bell for her. "I'll see you," she paused to think, "on Tuesday?"

He nodded, letting his smile grow a little wider. His cheeks hurt - not from smiling too much but from trying to hold back. It was not easy finally coming this far, so he was not going to take any chances at letting a bigger-than-needed smile scare her. "Right, Tuesday. Chinese Literature."

The bus stopped. She glanced at the door then back at him. "Yeah, I'll see you on Tuesday."

Kris spent the rest of the bus ride home trying to calm his racing heart down.

---

It's already Christmas Eve where I'm at, so here's wishing everybody a Merry Christmas Eve! I hope you have a good day with your loved ones and friends! ^^