Evelyn's POV

My eyes fluttered as the first ray of consciousness returned to my mind. Where was I? Why did it feel like I was being carried? Slowly opening my eyes, I found myself looking up at Himchan who had me in his arms. He is handsome. I wanted to punch myself in the face for thinking that, although I was probably right. 

"Ah, Himchan? I am alright now, you can let me down." I called gently and poked his chest. 

He looked down at me with a sly smile. "Are you feeling better?" He asked kindly like an overprotective brother.

"Yeah." With this said, he released his grip and I hopped out of his warm embrace. 

I walked alongside him and took his hand. I tried to recall everything that had happened while gazing at the quiet night scenery. I went to the club to help Himchan out with the flyers. Then Chanyeol that freak chased me around the building. I found a staircase to hide in and met Xiumin. Then, I fainted? My eyebrows furrowed up in confusion as I tried to piece everything together. 

"Himchan, mind telling me what happened?" I asked and looked and the boy beside me for help.

"Well, from what I have heard, Chanyeol was messing with you and you were saved by Xiumin. Then I found you in Chanyeol's arms being carried around the club. I took you from his arms into mine, and here you are!" Himchan explained with a smile on his face. 

I nodded. "So, you got to meet them?" 

"Yep, Xiumin is a nice guy, and Chanyeol isn't so bad. He was so upset when you fainted. In fact I think we are good friends now. Especially after I found out Chanyeol was so good at messing with you. I wanted to be there to see your face when he scared you so much!" Himchan laughed

I punched him hard on the arm. "Wow, what a good friend you are."

"Ouch," he rubbed his arm and looked at me with puppy eyes. "I know right, I am a really good friend who just carried you here all the way from the club. Don't I at least deserve a thank you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, my good friend," I said sarcastically.

He looked at me strangely for a second but quickly looked away when the atmosphere around us became awkward. “So, want me to sleep over tonight? I know you are going to be lonely,” he said and looked away from me.

He was right. I would be lonely since I am home alone every single day. I nodded, “that would be great. Thank you, Himchan…” I said quietly under my breath.

“Wait, I didn’t hear you, say it again louder.” He started grinning like an idiot.

I shoved him with a smile on my face. “Get lost!”

"Home sweet home!" Himchan exclaimed as he stepped into my house. "Hey, your house still looks the same from the last time I came. That book I was reading is still on the counter," he said as he walked around and looked at everything in the room.

I took my shoes off and changed into a pair of big comfy slippers. "I didn't bother to move it. I don't think I've even touched the counter since the last time you were here." I said and placed my bag on the ground by the door.

"Evie, you totally sound like you don't care about your house. I mean YOUR house. Do you know how much some people would give to own a big house alone like this at the age of 18?" He shook his head in disbelief and changed into his slippers.

"Himchan, do you know how much I would give to live together with my family? Please don't talk about my situation like such a good thing, trust me, it's not…" I said and rubbed my temple. It was so hard to be living like this, alone with no one to wake me up in the morning, lecture me when I am slacking, cook me hot meals and treat me like a treasure…

"I'm sorry Evie…" He apologized and looked at me with sincerity. I looked at Himchan who had himself comfortably seated on the sofa with a can of coke in hand and nodded.

"It's okay. If you are hungry, there is some pizza in the fridge, microwave it and help yourself. I'm really tired today. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed, okay?" I said walked up the stairs.

Standing in the bathtub, I closed my eyes as the hot water trickled down my body. What was happening to me? I felt like a depressant today…  Was it because of the bad memory Chanyeol triggered in my mind?

I opened my eyes and casted my gaze down at my bare body. Visible scars could be spotted all over my tender skin.  Most of them were cut marks on my thighs and arm while dots of cigarette burn marks spread on my abdomen like a neat connect the dot game of the children.

I lost myself for a moment upon the sight of the disturbing signs of my dark past. I scrubbed my body harshly and furiously, trying to rid the tainted scars. 

When I had calmed down, I heaved a sigh and decided to stay positive. The scars weren't such a bad thing, right? They will be there the next time to remind me of the consequences of falling into the hopeless empty pit called love. I applied shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and all that stuff before rinsing myself clean.

I stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around my body and when I opened the door to find Himchan standing there, I flinched, a little surprised by his suddenly appearance. 

"What are you doing? I thought you were downstairs." I asked and clenched the towel tighter and shifted uneasily in front of him.

"You took a long time, so I just wanted to check if you are okay, just in case you didn't die in there," he explained and looked at me rom head to toe. I was intimated by his gaze. 

"Okay then. I am alright, stop staring at me like a freak and go back to what you were doing before." I quickly said and walked away. 

He nodded, "yes, you should rest now and let me do your homework." 

I froze on the spot, not sure whether if he was being sarcastic. Then, I suddenly remembered, we had a lot of math problems for homeword tonight. I frowned at the thought and turned to Himchan. "Thanks for reminding me, I start after I put some clothes on," I said to him.

He looked at me in confusion. "I could do it for you, you need rest. I know it's been a tough day for you." He said seriously and stared into my eyes. 

So he wasn't being sarcastic... I nodded and walked back to my room. Shutting the door behind me, I called out, "Himchan, thanks you for everything today..."

I dried myself more thoroughly before putting on a baggy pajama shirt and crawling into my giant comfortable bed. Yawning, I curled up into a ball and quickly difted off into a deep slumber. 

It was all so calm. I lay on the green grass hill, feeling the gentle night breeze on my cheeks and looked up at the dark night sky. Stars twinkled around the cresent moon which hung brightly high above the world. I spotted the big dipper, Orion, the Canser, and many other constellations. 

It had been a while since I've been to such a quiet and peaceful place to gaze at the stars.

Suddenly, the peacefulness was disturbed when I heard a low rumbling noise close by. Sitting up quickly, I gasped when I saw a giant tide storming toward my direction, mercilessly swallowing everything in its way. I tried to run away, but my legs didn't work. I stood there, frozen in horror as the tall tide closed in.

It was about twenty feel tall and was as wide as my eyes could see on both sides. It charged at me in full speed and swallowed me in one gulp down to it's deep, wet enclosure.

I swam around blindly in the dark murky water, trying to find the surface. I swam up and up, but the underwater currents me back to the bottom. My lung began to burn as my cells craved for oxygen. I couldn't hold it anymore. With one last cry of despair, the remaining air escaped from my mouth, and soon, everything became bright. 

"C-can't breath..." My eyes fluttered open to find Himchan grinning at me with one hand tightly pinching my nose. I immediately smacked his hand away. Quickly sitting up, I looked around from left to right, only to find myself on the bed, in my bedroom. I inhaled a big long mouthful of air and thought back to my nightmare. 

"Good morning Evie, raise and shine!" He sang and ripped my covers off my body.

I yawned loudly and rubbed my eyes. "I'm still really tired..." I whined and flopped back down on the bed. I snuggled my face into the soft pillows and relaxed my body, savoring that very moment of sleep. 

Himchan poked my head. "Wake up, sleepy head!" He exclaimed and I mumbled in unhappiness.

"My alarm haven't gone off yet... Let me sleep in peace..." I said sleepily and turned away from my annoying best friend.

"Evie, you slept through the alarm. Get up now or you'll be late again!" Humchan exclaimed and dragged me up by my arm. I groaned and pulled away before once again falling onto the pillow. "Evie, I'm not giving up until you get out of this room." He said and gripped my wrist. 

After what seemed like eternity, I finally removed my bum from the bed and was now on my way to wash up. Himchan had an apron on by the time I got downstairs. He was frying some eggs at the stove. I took out a bowl of cold milk and poured it into two glasses before setting them on the table. When we were all ready for breakfast, I sat down by the table and stared eagerly at the hot breakfast in front of me. It had been a long time since I had warm food in the morning.

We left for school after breakfast since Himchan kept nagging about being early makes a good impression from the teachers. If he was right, then my impression from the teachers wouldn't be so great...

I am usually a good student at school, I had never intended to skip any classes, but sometimes I just couldn' help but stay in bed for a little bit longer than usual. My grades were also fine, just a little bit above average, since I was planning to get go into the financial area in the future, my father told me he'll give me a decent place in his company. Although I was his only blood related child, he'll never give the company to me. He often said that I resembled too much of my mother, and I would ruin his life's work. Now, he remarried to another woman with a son about my age, the chances of me taking over is zero.

Walking down the busy morning sidewalk beside Himchan, I looked around and observed the morning senery. Himchan chatted while we strolled toward the bus stop. "Evie, are you going to try out for senior girl's soccer this season?"

I nodded and looked at him. "Of course, soccer is the only sport I am good at."

"You do realise that the tryout is today, right?"

I paused. "Are you serious? Oh crap, I left all my soccer gear at home." I sighed and shook my head in disbelief. "Oh well, I really don't care..."

Himchan had a grin on his handsome face as he held up a bag in his hand. "I knew you'd forget, dummy. I brought it for you. You're welcome." He said and handed me my sports bag.

"Thanks dude! You are such a good friend!" I exclaimed and gently shoved him in gratitude.

"Oh my little Evie, what will you do without me." He teased with a smile on his face.

~~~~

The first thing I saw at school this morning was Chanyeol outside the school gates, flirting with two girls in his arm. I rolled my eyes upon the sigh of that man . Just when I was about the ignore him and walk away, he spotted me and pushed the girls away from him before jogging towards me. I immediately frowned as he came closer.

The tall boy stopped in front of me with a sincere expression. I arched my eyebrows and looked at him. Himchan who was by my side quickly walked away and disappeared into the crowd of students. I cursed my best friend in my mind for ditching me in this situation.

Forcing a smile on my lips, I nodded at the tall boy who stood over me. What did he want, wasn’t yesterday enough already?

“Evelyn, listen, I am very sorry for what happened yesterday. I was out of my mind and I was an idiot for doing that.” He began apologizing. Some students looked at us weirdly.

I looked at him for a second, trying to think of a good response.

“I am truly sorry and I promise that will never happen again. Can you please forgive me?” Chanyeol apologized and bowed to me.

I looked at him surprisingly and pulled him away from the school gate. We were attracting too much attention, and all of Chanyeol’s chicks were glaring at me. I brought him to the back of the school and settled down. Looking at my watch, we still had 20 minutes before our classes start.

I fixed my gaze on him and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. “Chanyeol, what you did was too much last night. I wasn’t kidding when I told you to stop.” I said seriously.

“I know, but I felt like joking around with you. I would never have done anything out of your liking…” He said quietly and nodded.

“Alright then, my friend Himchan is quite fond of you and Xiumin. He told me you were a good person, so I’ll forgive you and let’s be friends. Okay?” I asked and held out a hand to him.

The tall boy looked down and firmly grasped my small hand. “Friends.”

I smiled and retracted my hand from his before pulling him by his hoodie and dragging him away. “Let’s get to class now. I want to make a good impression from the teacher.”

“Okay, I’ll introduce you to my group when we meet again, alright?” He smiled, showing off his perfect white teeth. 

I nodded. “Okay then, I’ll see you around!” With this said, I ran off into the school building.

~~~~

It was lunch time. I headed to the cafeteria to order some food. Standing in the line that stretched miles around the large busy room, I texted Himchan who was staying in English class for an essay.

Channie, are you almost done your essay?

Nope, not even close, I don’t think I could go to lunch with you.

OK, do you want anything? I’ll get it for you

A brownie would be great, thanks.

Alright, I’ll be there soon.

Finally, when it was my turn to order, I grabbed some chips and a brownie Himchan wanted. I took out my leather black wallet from my backpack and dug out some coins. Himchan always called me clumsy, and that was proved right when I accidentally dropped a coin on to the floor.

It rolled and rolled until it stopped in front of someone familiar, Xiumin. He looked at the coin on the ground and picked it up before handing it back to me.

“Thanks.” I quickly reached out to take my money, and that instant, out hands brushed against each other. It was stupid for me to notice such a thing, but for some strange reason, I did.

We walked together to a table after ordering. He smiled gently at me as he set his tray down on the table. “How are you feeling today?” He asked gently.

I beamed a bright smile, “great. Thanks for saving me yesterday. Hyung,” I replied with a little laugh.

Xiumin eyed me weirdly. “No problem. HYUNG? You are a girl, you can’t call me hyung.” He argued.

I smiled and pulled my hood up and lowered my bangs to cover part of my left eye to create a tomboy appearance. “Can I call you hyung now? No one would suspect a thing.” I joked around.

He pulled off my hood and ruffled my hair. “Nope, others might not see you as a girl, but I do.” He said with a wink.

That moment, my heart skipped a beat as I stared at him, his handsome features and his playful smile. What was with this boy? He warmed up my heart.

“So, how about oppa, call me oppa?” He suggested with a grin on his face.

I shook my head. “Sorry Xiumin, but no oppa for you. The word oppa is very special to me. Even Himchan doesn’t get called that,” I said and apologized.

"Oh really..." He nodded and took out a steamed bun before munching on it. 

We chatted and had lunch together. I got to know Xiumin a bit more. He was a very charming and nice guy. According to him, all Exo members were close friends as their parent were also in the same company. When the company had to be moved to Seoul, all of the boys came and that was how they ended up here. Before lunch ended, I didn't forget to bring the brownie to my poor best friend Himchan who had to write an essay. 

~~~~

The soccer tryout was after school. As soon as the bell rang, I hurried down the hall with my gym bag in hand to the change rooms. Himchan insisted on coming to watch me, and I agreed. He would meet me out on the field. The change room was already crowded with girls by the time I got there.

One girl in neon pink bra caught my eye, she was no one but Tiffany in my grade. Being the most 'pretty' senior girl in school, she was popular and rich with a bunch of followers behind her, worshipping her like a goddess. 

I avoided the crowded area and found a nice empty corner in the change room. I hated changing in front of people, even if they were the same as me. I just felt so exposed without my hoodie covering my tainted skin. I tried to change as quickly as possible without catching the unwanted attention.But the unfortunate happened when I was putting my shin pads on. 

Tiffany spotted me and eyed my legs. Her gazed paused upon a long knife scar near my inner thigh. I pulled my soccer shorts down a bit more to cover up that mark on my leg. 

She eyed me weirdly before turning away to the other girls. "You know, I just can't stand it when a girl can't even take care of her skin properly. Like, gosh, how do you get scars on your thigh?" 

I grinded my teeth in anger and stood to leave, not wanting anymore of this shameful torment.

I walked into the big gym to find our coach standing there, checking something on the sign up sheets. Behind him stood eleven handsome boys. I recognized Xiumin and Chanyeol in there. They were all dressed ready for soccer as Xiumin already had a ball in his arms. What were they doing here?

I walked up to the coach with a smile on my face. "Good afternoon Mr. Lau." I greeted.

The young coach looked up and nodded, "glad you are trying out for soccer again this year." Mr. Lau replied.

"No problem. Coach, what are they doing here?" I questioned and looked at the 11 boys.

Mr. Lau looked back at the eleven boys and smiled. “They need some extracurricular activities in school to do. They turned out to be great soccer players so I decided to let them help me train the team and pick the right players.” He explained.

I nodded at his words. “Oh, okay. That’s great to hear.”

I did some drills alone outside on the soccer field. For the tryout, all the girls had to demonstrate our skills, speed, and agility with the soccer ball. During the activities, I did all the tasks required in ease and earned some approving smile from some of the boys. I glanced around the field to scan for Himchan, but he was nowhere to be seen. I thought he was going to watch me?

While I worked hard, the other girls in the group were being total es. They all whined when we had to get their shoes dirty. When the boys gave them some tips on soccer, some clung to them like and started flirting. I shook my head in disbelief at the scenario in front of me and sighed. Near the end, Mr. Lau split the group of girls up and we played a small game against each other.

I was proud to say that I did pretty well during the tryout, of course, unfortunately, so did Tiffany.

After the session ended, Mr. Lau told us the team list will be posted on the sports bulletin board and excused everyone. All the girls headed to the change room. Just before I was about to leave, two boys came up to me.

“Hey Evie,” Chanyeol said with a wave.

I quickly turned to the two boys and waved back. “Hey.”

“So, you like soccer eh?” Xiumin asked with a grin.

I nodded. “Yep, the only sport I am good at.”　

“Well, you did amazing. You were the best player here, I’m sure you’ll make it.” Xiumin praised.

“Nah, I’m not that good. So, are these the rest of Exo?” I replied and pointed to the group of boys approaching us.

Chanyeol nodded and tugged me by my arm. “Yep, we have eleven members in total, come on, I’ll introduce you.” He said with a wink.

I smiled and glanced at Xiumin who nodded and walked alongside me. My eyes twinkled when I saw all eleven boys up close. They were handsome. Like, ‘I want to marry them and have a baby’ handsome. No wonder the girls were so crazy and love struck. Now, please don’t get me wrong, I didn’t like them that way.

Before I could start, the boys all started speaking at once in excitement.

“You must be the girl Chanyeol was talking about at home! Evie, is that right?” One boy exclaimed with a smile on his face.

I looked at them, dazed, “Chanyeol talks about me at home?” I asked.

Xiumin chuckled, “you have no idea...”

“It’s not like you don’t talk about Evie, hyung!” Chanyeol exclaimed to defend himself. Xiumin’s cheeks reddened a little. I laughed at the silliness between the two.

“Guy, let’s introduce ourselves to this pretty lady.” Someone suggested, and immediately, they lined up and all looked at a boy who stood at the end of the line.

He cleared his throat. “One, two, three…”

“Hello, we are one, we are Exo!” They all said in unison before starting each of their introductions. They began at the other end of the line. It was as if they had rehearsed this before.

“Hello, my name is Luhan!”

“Lay.” A boy said and smiled, showing off his cute dimples on either side of his cheek.

A tall boy, very tall boy stepped out. “Hi, Tao’s my name.” He reminded me of a panda bear…

“Hi, I’m Chen!”

“You already know me. My name is Minseok, but you can call me Xiumin like you always do, maybe add the oppa at the end?” He said playfully and I smiled and shook my head.

A gentle looking boy bowed a little and held out a hand. “Hello, I’m Sehun.” I shook it before moving on to the next person.

“I’m Chanyeol, and you already know me. You can call me Chanyeol, no other complicated name,” he said and looked at Xiumin before continuing, “and maybe add the oppa at the end?” I smiled and gave him a light smack on the head as a no. He pouted cutely.

“My name is Baekhyun, and I am Chanyeol’s best friend.” Another boy said and clung on to Chanyeol’s arm.

“My name is Kyungsoo.” The boy beside Baekhyun said. “But call me D.O please.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because it sounds so much squishier and cuter!” Chanyeol exclaimed from the side, earning a deadly glare from D.O.

“Yo, I’m Kai. And Chanyeol is right, D.O is actually very squishy.” Kai introduced with a grin on his face.

Finally, we ended back at the last boy. “Hello Evie, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kim Joonmyun, but everyone called me Suho. You can call me both if you like. I am the leader of our little group here, and I am in charge of our financial problems and drama in our circle. Luhan is a responsible member, he often helps me out and-“

“Shut up old lady!” Tao interrupted and the others laughed.

“Is this how you talk to me?” Suho demanded and tried to make a seriously face, but no one took him seriously.

These boys, they were so funny and carefree. I liked them already. I hope we can all become good friends in the future.

Word count: 4330 words.