When we arrived at Baekhyun’s house later that morning, we were expecting him to be up and ready to learn. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The woman who answered the door raised an eyebrow at me whilst wiping her hands on her apron before looking beside me and latching her eyes onto Sehun. She let out a little squeak that seemed a little odd given her age and spread her arms wide, embracing Sehun with all her might. He looked a little awkward in her embrace as he sort of patted her shoulder. Releasing him, she looked him up and down. “Sehun, my love, you’re getting thin! Come in and eat.”

“Uh… we’re actually here to see Baekhyun. Is he about?” Sehun replied, sending a glance my way. The woman then peeked to me again. I bowed my head a little in response to her cold gaze.

“Is she your girlfriend?”

I threw my hands up and began profusely shaking my head. “No, no, no. We’re just friends.”

She looked between the two of us and raised an eyebrow once again as if she doubted my words. I wanted to nudge Sehun for backup but somehow I didn’t think I’d get any.

“Come in, Baekie’s in his room. You two can just head up.” It seemed like the done thing to call Baekhyun ‘Baekie’ in this family. That was the second time I had heard him be called that here, and on only two visits as well.

Sehun led the way through the house, knowing where Baekhyun’s room was and I followed behind, once again looking at all the pictures of Baekhyun with his parents and other family members that were planted all over the place. I felt a little envious.

Stopping at a door towards the end of the corridor, Sehun lifted his knuckle and rapped on the wood gently. “Baekhyun? It’s us, can we come in?” My suspicion told me that if I weren’t here he would have just walked in, and that he had only knocked to make sure that Baekhyun wasn’t half- or something like that. Ironic since he didn’t seem to have a problem prancing around almost around me. This boy had serious double standards.

There was no reply. Again, Sehun knocked on the door. This time harder. “Baekhyun! Are you in there?”

This time there was the sound of a deep groan and what sounded like someone falling. I glanced up at Sehun who looked just as befuddled as I was. The door creaked open a fraction to reveal a bed-headed Baekhyun with eyes only half opened. He looked sleepily between the two of us several times as if trying to tell if it was really us or not. Opening the door more, he revealed that he was still wearing his pyjamas; a pair with reindeers on them – clearly someone was feeling festive.

“You’re not my mum…” he groggily stated, still looking between the two of us.

I rolled my eyes, it seemed he had forgotten. “Baekhyun, we’re here to help you study, remember?”

Walking over to his bedside table, Baekhyun picked up his phone and swiped it a couple times. He then looked up at us incredulously. “But it’s a Saturday!” he whined, stomping his foot. Slowly, it seemed like he was waking up.

Beside me, Sehun muttered, “I know, right…” I went to throw him a glare but then saw he had an eyebrow raised towards me. It seemed he was still carrying a grudge about being woken up so early.

Sighing exasperatedly, I threw my arms up in dismay. “Look. You didn’t have to agree to my offer to come study,” I said, pointing to Baekhyun before doing the same to Sehun. “And you didn’t have to come along.” They both blinked at me stupidly. Maybe I had been louder and more aggressive than I had planned it to be.

Sehun let out a shiver beside me and began shutting Baekhyun’s door over, “Get changed quickly before the angry gnome explodes again.” Although I couldn’t see Baekhyun, I heard him making a noise of agreement. The very fact that he knew who Sehun meant by that irked me a little.

I stared at Sehun in the hallway, a hard expression on my face. He seemed to be deliberately avoiding eye contact with me as his eyes roamed everywhere but in my direction. Even after I cleared my throat several times to get his attention, he still didn’t look at me. Maybe I was like an angry gnome that he didn’t want to anger even further. But even so, he wasn’t succeeding as my temper began to grow hot.

Pursing my lips, I took a step towards him. “Oh Sehun,” I began but his eyes only flicked to mine for a fraction of a second before flicking back to the oh-so interesting wall in front of him. I took another step. This time I saw his Adams apple bob up and down as he swallowed. “Is there a particular reason you are avoiding eye contact with me?” I asked in a bitterly sweet voice.

His lip twitched a little. The sight caused me to close my eyes over. I could tell he was trying to fight a smile. It seemed that once again he was trying to wind me up. It seemed like a favourite pastime of his. I sighed, a small smile forming on my lips. What was most annoying about it was the fact that I never seemed to learn. “What is it, then?” I asked, ready for his latest and dumbest joke.

Sehun didn’t even seem annoyed or surprised that I had worked out what he was planning. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a short bark of laughter. Covering his mouth with his hand, he tried to compose himself again. He reached beneath his jacket and pulled out the picture from the shopping mall. “I was just worried in case our newlywed children get your angry gnome-ness. It could be genetic.”

I shook my head at the