Bang!

My eyes shot open and I was immediately greeted with blinding sunlight. I squeezed them closed and rolled over, only to faceplant into the wooden floor. I felt around with my hand and groaned. Oh right. Couch.

The source of my wake-up call continued on its rampage. I rolled over again to see Sungyeol rummaging around in the kitchen, opening and closing cupboards, all while making more noise than should be humanly possible that early in the morning. Somehow, I managed to hoist myself onto the couch. Sungyeol caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and turned around, grinning when he saw the glare I was trying to burn into his skull.

"Morning sunshine!"

"Hardly." I scoffed. He snickered at me and went back to his scavenging. I kept sitting there, desperately hoping this wasn't a daily ordeal.

Dongwoo emerged from his room a bit later. His blonde hair was sticking up in every direction and his eyes looked swollen from lack of sleep. Actually, he looked more like he wanted to kill someone. He shuffled his way over to the couch and plopped down next to me, glaring murderously at Sungyeol, who didn't notice. He did seem to enjoy the absolute havoc he was causing, though.

The cushion next to me sank under someone else's weight. Woohyun leaned back, eyes still closed. His hair hung messily in his face, his shirt was wrinkled and partially pulled down over his shoulder. I surpressed a gulp. How is it possible to look that y at this godforsaken hour? He cracked open an eye and smiled at me.

"Sleep well?"

"More or less." I spared another glare in Sungyeol's direction, earning a laugh from Woohyun.

"He's always here in the morning. It's starting to get on my nerves." Hoya groaned and joined us on the long couch. He looked about the same as Dongwoo - hair sticking up everywhere and eyes half-closed. Oh great, it was a daily ordeal.

"That's because there's no food in my dorm."

"You have plenty of food!"

"No good food."

Hoya rolled his eyes before closing them and leaning back next to Woohyun. We all sat there, watching Sungyeol make a mess in the kitchen. At some point, Sunggyu shuffled out of his bedroom and sat down on the floor in front of Woohyun, more asleep than the rest of us. Dongwoo was starting to wake up, going back to his usual cheerful self - the complete opposite of the Mr. Grumpy he is in the morning.

The door rattled and in came Myungsoo, looking about as bright as Sungyeol was. He saw all of us zombies on the couch and laughed.

"Sungjong left. His mom needed his help with her move." He walked over to us and tentatively sat down on the sofa's arm rest, still wary of Dongwoo. From the war-zone, Sungyeol nodded.

Woohyun finally found enough energy to sit up and stretch.

"So, it's Sunday. What's the plan? We can't just sit around here all day."

"Oh! We should go downtown. We need to give Sam a tour." Sungyeol had finally stopped his mess-making and dug into his food, speaking around the mouthful he was consuming.

"Sungyeol, I've lived here for 5 years. I think I've seen everything downtown."

"Yes, but you haven't seen it with us. That's a whole new experience you've got to try. Besides, didn't you say you wanted to bleach your hair? Perfect time to do it."

"Oh yeah. I can't afford to get it done professionally though."

"What were you planning to do originally?" Hoya asked. He seemed to be waking up, too. I shrugged.

"I was just going to bleach it in a bathtub or something."

At this, Sunggyu snapped to attention. He shook his head vehemently.

"No. No way are you using bleach in our bathroom. You are getting it done at a salon."

"Ah, the leader has spoken." Myungsoo snickered.

"But the cost is-" I tried to protest, but he wasn't having it.

"'I'll cover the cost if it keeps the bleach out of our bathroom."

"If you insist..." I sighed, giving in. Well, if he was going to pay - who was I to refuse?

I don't even remember how long we were out there for. Sungyeol and Dongwoo happily pointed out all their favourite hang-outs and stores to me, practically pushing me down this street and that. The others trailed along behind us, chatting and laughing. Some of the people we passed looked us in puzzlement. Honestly, I couldn't help but feel self-concious. Here I was, a foreign girl surrounded by six other guys. I could understand why we were garnering so much attention.

Sungyeol pulled us into a coffee shop tucked away in between two larger stores. It was absolute chaos for everyone to order, but they managed (I still, to this day, don't know how). Just when I thought I'd be able to sit down and give my legs a break, we were back on the street, continuing Sungyeol and Dongwoo's "tour."

"I didn't know you liked coffee, Sam." Sunggyu appeared at my left and pointed at my drink quizzically.

"I'm half-French. I run off this stuff like a car on gasoline."

"You're half-French?" Woohyun joined us at my right.

"Yeah, on my mom's side. She met my dad on a business trip here in Seoul and never left. So yeah, I'm technically a French/Korean."

"But you grew up in America, right?" He seemed so interested. It was amusing. I nodded.

"Dad raised me speaking Korean, and mom taught me French. They're kind of a wacky couple." I laughed just thinking of them. Oh, how I missed my parents... I'd have to see if I could Skype with them over fall break.

"That's so cool." Woohyun was flashing me a huge smile. I'd been called many things, "cool" not being one of them. It was kind of flattering.

Hoya reached over my shoulder to point at a salon on the corner of the street. Sunggyu sighed, obviously remembering his promise to pay. We followed Dongwoo and Sungyeol in, who seemed to be having a heated discussion over something. The boys waited while I was led to a salon chair, the stylist prepping to wash my hair all while keeping up a constant stream of conversation.

After several hours of washing, pulling, and a burning scalp, I was turned around to face my reflection. I had to admit, I should have bleached my hair sooner. After years of dying and re-dying my hair, I was finally satisfied with my appearance. The stylist led me out to the boys to show off her work. They all wore bright smiles, except Myungsoo, who just curled the ends of his mouth up into a half-smile. From what I knew of him, I figured that was a good sign. Sungyeol clapped enthusiastically; Sunggyu sighed and took out his wallet. I mouthed a quick "sorry" to him before the lady led me back to give me a few styling tips.

I was still running my fingers through my hair when we continued our walk.

"It looks really good. It must have hurt though." Woohyun played with the ends a little. I tried not to think about the close proximity between us.

"It wasn't too bad. My scalp was burning, but it's nothing I can't handle."

Sungyeol appeared behind us and patted me on the back. He looked like a proud older brothr would. This kid was so strange, I swear.

"Now you really do look like a racer!"

"Racer?" Hoya turned around to face us, walking backwards. I nodded, but Woohyun chimed in before I could actually say anything.

"She races cars."

"Isn't that kind of dangerous?" Sunggyu gave me a concerned look.

"Depends on the situation I get myself into, honestly. It's not too bad though."

"Guys! I want to get some stuff from in there, okay?" Dongwoo pointed to a store much like a supermarket and walked in without waiting for the other boys' answers. Nevertheless, we followed him, each breaking off to go look at different things. My attention was immediately drawn to the small shelves lined with auto parts. I need a few little things for the Junk Pile, as I had so affectionately named my new project.

"Sam?"

I nearly dropped the part I was holding to the floor when I heard his voice. Crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap! I didn't want to turn around. But for some confounded reason, I did the opposite and moved to face him. His hair was the same, as was the style of clothes he wore - and that unreadable look in his eyes. He broke out into a smile when he saw that it was me indeed. I could feel my heart lurch and I immediately wanted to run and find the exit. I was having such a good day too...

"H-hey, Jisu."

"You bleached your hair! How long has it been since I last saw you? Six months? I miss you."

Well, he certaintly wasted no time with small talk. No "how's school been?" or "great weather today, huh?" Oh, it was just like him to cut to the infuriating chase.

"Yeah, around there. It's been a while hasn't it?" I couldn't even figure out why I was being so nice to him, or rather, why he was being so nice to me. If I recall correctly, the last time we spoke didn't end so well. Somebody, help!

As if it was rehearsed, Myungsoo appeared. My only guess would be that he was passing by and saw the look of obvious discomfort on my face. He ghosted to my side, giving me a questioning look. Jisu frowned.

"Who are you?"

"Kim Myungsoo. And you are...?"

"Park Jisu."

"Jisu and I... used to date." I gave Myungsoo a look I hoped he would interpret as an S.O.S. signal. Thank God the boy is smart. His mouth formed a small "o" shape and he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me into his side. Jisu looked between the two of us and sent a small glare in Myungsoo's direction, but the boy ignored it.

"Myungsoo's my current boyfriend, in case you were wondering. Oh! Look at the time - we should go. Nice seeing you again, Jisu!" I hastily said goodbye and dragged Myungsoo towards the store's exit, and auto parts and ex-boyfriends long forgotten.

How is it that running into someone can ruin your entire day?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, I'll be honest and say that I am not satisfied with this at all. Of course, this is technically just a filler chapter, maybe once the plot picks up I'll be a bit happier with it. Maybe I'll go back and renovate the thing later. On a side note - updates with more than likely be very sporradic on this thing. The Inspiration Bunny and I have a love-hate relationship. (Not bothering to check this for spelling/grammar errors either so don't kill me)