I wiped the soda from my eyes, the disbelief apparent on my face.

"Oh my god Lian! I'm so sorry!" They both screamed in shocking unison. 

"You don't just say things like that!" They reprimanded Luhan simultaneously. They looked at each other in suprise before resuming in apologising to me.

I let out a breath of resignation before walking back towards the bathrooms. 

KRIS POV.

I looked towards where Lian had disappeared into the hallway, hesitating for a moment before following her to check that she was alright since Suzy was too preoccupied in wrestling Luhan. My steps halted as I spotted her but before I could approach her I spotted another figure. 

Chanyeol.

He seemed shocked by her appearance. It was shocking how much liquid had come out of Tao and Suzy's mouths combined. Her hair and upper shirt were almost completely drenched. He tugged a strand of her hair to his nose, making what I suspected was a joke because she laughed. 

I was surprised by how comfortable she looked around him. 

She still fidgeted nervously but she managed to look at him from time to time. 

Perhaps they were dating.

The thought gave me this unfamiliar feeling. I didn't like it. 

I shook aside the thought. She would have told me- well Yifan- if she was dating someone. However, as much as I wanted to believe that, why had she never mentioned Chanyeol to me before? 

I headed back to the cafeteria where the others sat. I knew Lay was looking at me, searching for an answer to where I had been but I refused to give anything away. There were 3 girls at our table who I assumed to be Min, Jia and Fei. I was well acquainted to them through Lian rather than Suzy. I liked when she told me stories. I could almost imagine her saying them through the screen.

Somehow I'd been smiling at the thought of it and Suzy happened to notice. She never missed a beat in teasing me. I rolled my eyes and picked at the chips Lay had placed in front of me.

Lian didn't return for the rest of lunch and it annoyed me and it annoyed me further because I didn't know why. I grabbed a giant cookie from the cafeteria on my way out and headed back to class early. As I'd assumed, much to my relief, Lian was sitting in her seat. She was combing through her wet hair. Clearly she had to use water to get rid of the stickiness so her hair was even more damp than earlier. She had changed uniforms too, notably. So she kept a back up uniform with her. For some reason I felt like it was more for Suzy than her.

She looked up at me but almost instantly looked back down.

I grinned at her actions but I used to hand to make sure she didn't see it.

Before I sat down, I placed the small bag, containing the cookie, on her desk. Her eyes rounded in baffle but the comprehension was apparent once she opened it.

"Thank you."

Her voice was so soft. So pleasant to hear.

"No worries." I was usually a man of few words but every time I heard her talking, I just wanted to prolong the conversation.

I savoured the solitude of us alone in the room as I looked out the window, smiling at the sound of her soft bites into the cookie.

Ahn Lian.

LIAN POV.

I dusted my hands against my skirt, scrunching the wrapper into a ball before walking towards the bin. 

I couldn't help but smile at how thoughtful the people around me were. Aside from Kris and his unexpected gift, Chanyeol had helped me wash the drinks out of my hair. It was still really awkward being alone with them but I didn't hate it. I enjoyed their company. I guess it was safe to consider them my friends.

The rest of the school day was boring and I would have been able to sleep had it not been for Suzy who kept throwing things at me everytime my eyes drooped. At least it was Friday so I'd be able to hibernate for the next two days.

"Why did the teacher keep adding 'right Lian?'everytime he spoke about tests?" Lay asked innocently during the walk home.

He blinked as Suzy burst into laughter and I elbowed her hard in punishment. She wheezed painfully as I thundered ahead to shelter my wounded pride.

The 6 boys seemed to share a common confusion and I could still hear Suzy's explanation behind me, making my cheeks flame in embarrassment.

"Lian has a reputation in our school." She chuckled, "It's the blonde princess."

"But her hair is black and red." Xiumin pointed out.

"Not literally blonde." Suzy added. 

Somehow they still didn't seem to comprehend and it was making my face turn unheard of shades of red. I had created the 50 shades of embarrassment.

"It means I'm stupid!" I screamed, unable to take the humiliation. Without looking back I ran ahead, reaching home in record breaking time. I shut myself into my room, lying on my bed hoping that if I concentrated hard enough then I'd be able to dissolve into it. Suzy didn't arrive for at least 10 minutes and I could tell she had been running by her huffing and unbelievably unstable breathing- she'd always been a useless runner.

I didn't open my door.

I wasn't mad. I was just hopelessly ashamed.

The nickname had started circulating after I'd been called to answer a question of where humans consumed ethane gas and I answered "petrol stations" completely skimming over the 'consume' aspect of the question. Everyone had found it adorable even though I was internally dying of embarrassment. After that, my blockhead nature only lived up to the nickname since I'd often walk into things or space out. I didn't particularly care about it since it was true, but for some reason I didn't want the guys to know that side of me. I didn't want to look dumb in front of them.

Tao had come too and reassuringly told me I wasn't "stupid" but that wasn't such a blatant lie.

They'd given up after Lay had kindly suggested they give me some space.

I paced around my room nervously, wondering how I'd be able to face them ever again. My thoughts were drifting to flying to England when I spotted my laptop screen light up. I had been talking to Yifan late last night so I must've forgotten to sign out.

I sat down, deciding to check his message. 

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:21PM]: How was school?

LILI [20/10 04:22PM]: Surprisingly, went well.

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:23PM]: You're using too much punctuation. Spill. What happened?

LILI [20/10 04:23PM]: You're too observant. It's borderline creepy.

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:24PM]: Tell me something I don't know babe ;)
DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:24PM]: No but seriously, tell me what I don't know.

LILI [20/10 04:25PM]: Honestly...I'm just embarrassed. 
LILI [20/10 04:25PM]: I did something embarrassing and I'm not sure how to face everyone.
LILI [20/10 04:25PM]: UGH.

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:26PM]: So? Everyone embarrasses themselves. 

That was true. I suddenly felt like I was over reacting for something no one even cared about.

LILI [20/10 04:27PM]: You're right! There's no shame in being dumb!

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:27PM]: Dumb? You're far from that, Miss Ahn. 

LILI [20/10 04:29PM]: Oh I don't know, maybe you should see my school marks. 

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:30PM]: Intellect cannot be equated with examinations.

I flushed. Yifan always had a way of making me feel as if I were so perfect without ever saying it, but that made it so much more impactful because it didn't give me the chance to deny it. 

LILI [20/10 04:33PM]: Once again Mr Dragon, you have dumbstruck me with your abilities in charming me.

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:34PM]: I live for it.
DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:34PM]: Aside from that, I hear you have some...interesting seating arrangements?

LILI [20/10 04:35PM]: Although that is true...I am beguiled as to where you would have attained such information.

There was no reply for a moment and it suddenly made me tense. Was he spying on me? Did he have secret cameras in my room? Subconsciously I found myself checking my surroundings.

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:41PM]: Before you get carried away with your fantasies, I'd like to assure you my sources are completely legal. Perhaps you've forgotten how we met?

Oh. Suzy.

I smacked my forehead at my lack of thought.

LILI [20/10 04:42PM]: It slipped my mind. 
LILI [20/10 04:42PM]: As for the seating arrangements, I'm rather pleased with them. Suzy, Kris and Tao are all around me and I've grown comfortable around Chanyeol. I'm just glad it's not someone insufferable.

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:43PM]: Chanyeol?

LILI [20/10 04:44PM]: He's a classmate- incidentally the one that helped me study to pass my supplementary classes.

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:45PM]: Ah. Mr one-sided crush? I thought you said you guys weren't close.

LILI [20/10 04:46PM]: We're not 'close', merely acquaintances or at most, friends. 

DRAGON_YIFAN [20/10 04:46PM]: I see.

After that he dropped the topic of school and I noticed his mood had lifted considerably- I assumed something good had happened on his side of the world.

I finally headed out of my sanction around the 6 o'clock mark, knowing Suzy would start preparing dinner. I'd feel bad if i didn't help her even if the only job she trusted me with was handling the raw ingredients like vegetables. Fire and me just did not get along. The conversation with Yifan had also made up my mind on the matter.

As he'd told me, no one seemed to care about today's events up until Tao had accidently called me blonde princess when I dropped the knife. Everyone seemed to freeze and wait for my reaction but I simply laughed, socking Tao on the shoulder before resuming with the task at hand. It seemed to make everyone relax visibly and they started using the nickname more comfortably- except Luhan who would just call me 'princess'. 

After dinner, I headed to the rooftop with my diary tucked under my arm and pen in mouth as I did every night. I almost lost my balance as I spotted Kris sprawled across the roof tiles, his hands behind his head as he stared up at the sky. He noticed me from my gasp and tilted his head to the side before sitting up.

"I'm sorry, did you not want people up here?" He looked sincere but before he could get up, I swallowed my nervousness and sat down beside him. 

"You can stay." I finally whispered, fiddling with the corner of my diary. "I always wanted someone to watch the stars with but Suzy's afraid of heights."

He smiled, following my gaze into the sky. "I can understand why. The view's very pretty."

We watched in silence and he didn't even attempt to peek as I wrote in my diary. I respected that. A lot. 

When it started getting cold, we decided it was time to head in. Kris climbed through the window first and held out his hand to me so I wouldn't slip. It was weird. I'd never had anyone else on my roof with me. Before he turned towards his room, he turned back, his brown eyes boring into mine. "Is it...alright if we do this again tomorrow?"

I blinked in surprise before displaying a warm smile, "I'd like that."

Considering the fact that it was Saturday, somehow I found myself curled up in my room with a book and a cup of coffee. Seemed like a rather appropriate way to wind down. Unfortunately, my day never managed to go uninterrupted- it explained why I'd been reading the same book for a little over 2 months.

"Lian! It's a Saturday!" Suzy stressed, using her arms to emphasise the word.

"Yes, I'm quite aware." I shook my head, smiling because I knew she was getting frustrated.

"We need some quality, bonding time!"

I shut my book, setting it on the bed beside me. "and what would you suggest?" I gave her a questioning look as she raided my closet, throwing random items onto the floor. "Thank you Suzy, for destroying my completely colour sorted wardrobe." I muttered.

She ignored me before shouting, "This is useless! Hold on a sec."

I picked up my book once more but she was back before I had a chance to open it, this time holding a stack of clothes I assumed was from her closet. She placed somethings against my chest, much too fast for me to register.

After scrutinising over 10 outfits, a victorious smile spread across her face as if she'd struck gold.

Ït's perfect!"