The days seemed to be getting longer as they passed by. For a transfer college student, I had arrived in Seoul at arguably the worst time which was during the last semester of the year. This meant that I had to wait for the semester as well as the year-end break to end before I could commence my studies in the new semester next year. I would have had it planned out if it wasn’t for my irresponsible mother and my distant father who I still had not heard from since I've arrived. It gave me plenty of time to adjust to and explore Seoul but unfortunately, it also meant I didn’t know anyone to spend my free time with. I hung with the guys next door every now and then but only in the late evening and night time when they were all at home. They always had schedules on during the day from the early morning to late evenings which sometimes extended very late into the night, well past midnight. However, whenever they came back home, they always had the energy to be their usual silly selves despite being tired from whatever the day threw at them and would invite me over for dinner when they could. They were starting to become more like my new roommates instead of just my neighbours. 

One Thursday night, after dinner, I was watching a Korean drama called Pinocchio on television when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. It was a message from Seungyoun.

soccerfan96: Chiiiiiiii~
                    what are you up??
You: watching pinocchio
        why?
soccerfan96: Come over come over
soccerfan96:
You: lol okay

It only took me a minute or two to be ready to head over to their place. Yixuan once joked that we should connect the two balconies together so I could come over whenever I needed to. When I had arrived, they were already gathered in the living room.
‘Ah, Chi’s here!’ Seungyoun cried and waved to me. I put on a pair of their oversized slippers and walked over to the glass coffee table in front of the plasma screen that was mounted on the wall.
‘What’s all this for?’ There were bowls and plates of various snack food and candy spread all over the top. I spotted stacked glasses in the corner. ‘Are we drinking soju?’ I casually asked. Yixuan was taken aback by my comment.
‘No, we’re not drinking…’ He crossed his arms. ‘Are you even of legal age?’
‘I am over here!’ I joked, giving him the peace sign.
‘Woaaahh, you don’t look like an alcoholic.’ Seungyoun exclaimed. Sungjoo came over and sat down beside me.
‘Sungjoo, Chi’s an alcoholic just like you.’
‘Yah! Don’t lie like that!’ Sungjoo lightly kicked Seungyoun down, who then started rolling on the floor and laughed maniacally. I had gotten used to it.
‘So, what’s happening?’ I asked, already reaching for the bowl of gummy bears.
‘Movie night.’ Sungjoo replied. ‘We take turns picking movies every Thursday and tonight is Seungyoun’s turn which probably means we’re watching…’
‘Horror.’ Yibo sharply finished off Sungjoo’s sentence. I could see the life slowly drain from Yibo’s face as he sat down on my other side. Sungjoo started chuckling at Yibo’s expense beside me.
‘Do you like horror movies?’ Sungjoo asked.
‘I’m alright with horror movies it. Wouldn’t say I’m a fan though…’
‘Don’t worry, you can hold onto me if you get scared.’ Sungjoo teased, lifting up his arm in front of me. ‘I’ll protect you.’ I laughed off his absurd suggestion and pushed his arm away.
‘Guys, I’ve chosen an absolute classic for tonight…The Grudge!’ Seungyoun excitedly announced as he danced around and waved the DVD in the air before eventually hopping over to the screen to pop the disc in. Yixuan turned off all the lights one by one until it was pitch black and our only source of light was the big screen. Sungjoo, Yibo and I sat on the couch whilst Yixuan, Seungyoun and Wenhan sat on the floor in front of us, closer to the table of food.

The movie had barely just begun and Sungjoo had already grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl on my lap and shoved it down Yixuan’s shirt which started a mini popcorn fight between the two. Seungyoun then got mad over the waste of popcorn and actually paused the movie to go make some more. He was very serious when it came to food. Seungyoun, Sungjoo and Yixuan didn’t show any signs of being scared and instead, just ate and drank a lot. Throughout the movie, Sungjoo repeatedly shoved food into my face unexpectedly. I started off just eating what he gave me but eventually I had to whack his face to stop him from giving me handfuls of food. I saw Wenhan flinch slightly a few times but it was nowhere near as bad as Yibo. As the movie progressed, I could feel Yibo shift uncomfortably a couple of times next to me. There were a few times where he flinched towards me, held his hand up to his face and then swore under his breath before moving away from me again. It didn’t worry me initially but at one point, he was holding onto my arm tightly, probably unknowingly, and started trembling.
‘Are you okay?’ I whispered to him.
‘What!? I’m fine.’ Yibo quickly let go of my arm. ‘The m-movie isn’t even that scary.’ Yibo scoffed loudly and crossed his arms, leaning back into the couch. I slowly nodded and smiled, amused by his attempt to put on a brave front. Wenhan looked back at Yibo and grinned as if he had an evil scheme in mind.

During a very dark and tense scene when the eerie music was ascending, I looked over to Wenhan who was sneakily moving closer to Yibo. All of a sudden, in time with the movie, he grabbed Yibo’s ankle which made Yibo scream and as some sort of reflex, accidentally kick Seungyoun in the back of the head. We all started cracking up except Seungyoun, who was rolling on the floor tending to his head wound, and Yibo, who was too busy angrily hitting Wenhan. Wenhan eventually got up and came back with 3 blankets in his arms. As he handed a blanket to me, he said, ‘Our Yibo isn’t very good with horror movies.’ I looked over at Yibo who already had the blanket over his head, glaring at Wenhan as he went back and forth handing out the blankets.
‘I’d actually say he’s absolutely terrified of them.’ Sungjoo added.
‘My head hurts, I think I need an ice-pack.’ Seungyoun whinged to Yixuan, pouting. 
‘We’ll get you one later.’ Yixuan patted the back of Seungyoun’s head. Once the blankets were all distributed, Sungjoo snuggled up right next to me and wrapped part of the blanket over himself. He was so close to me I could feel the warmth radiating off his arms. Yixuan opened up his blanket and wrapped the whole thing over Seungyoun’s shoulders. Wenhan, on the other hand, struggled to convince the angry Yibo to share third blanket and eventually gave up and only wrapped his feet with the blanket but he still had a satisfied look on his face.

~

‘Gyah, that was so gooooood!’ Seungyoun jumped up and stretched his arms out as the movie credits rolled. ‘Horror movies are the best!’ He then bent over to touch his toes. Yixuan the lights which were blinding for the first couple of seconds.
‘Will you be able to sleep tonight?’ Sungjoo teased. ‘Do you need me to hold your hand whilst you sleep?’ I pretended to puke to which he lightly chuckled.
‘I’ll be fine thanks.’ I looked over to Yibo who was sickly pale. ‘I don’t think Yibo will be though.’ 
‘He’ll be fiiiinnneee.’ Seungyoun exclaimed, overhearing me. ‘Every time we watch a horror film, Yibo always holds my hand and has his foot on top of me whilst we sleep.’ Yibo’s cuteness was warming my heart up.
‘This might actually be the first time he’s watched a horror film without listening to music.’ Yixuan chuckled as he folded the blankets with Wenhan.
‘Guys, shut up!’ Yibo shouted, embarrassed.
‘Maybe he’s trying to be cool because Chi is here.’ Wenhan added. I started giggling at the bashful Yibo.
‘Ah, our chic maknae is so cute!’ Seungyoun started squeezing Yibo from behind who was clearly very annoyed. Before they all left for their rooms, I put on my shoes and bid them goodnight at the door.
‘Yibo, sleep well!’ I cried out, grinning. Still annoyed, he glared at me and reluctantly waved back. 

~

dazhuzi: are you asleep yet?
You: soon
dazhuzi: okay, sleep well
dazhuzi: but be careful of that thing in your closet

I scoffed at his message but naturally, I quickly glanced at the closet which had the door ever so slightly opened. I could feel goosebumps already forming on my skin. Disgruntled, I tucked myself deeper into my bed and returned to my phone.

You: I hate you
dazhuzi: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

Next Chapter Preview: 
As soon as we got out of the elevator, Sungjoo jogged ahead of us and hopped into the driver’s seat of the black van. He rolled down the window and started waving at us. ‘Let’s go! Let’s go!’ He grinned widely. I halted my steps and held my arms out to stop the others.
‘Wait, wait, wait. Is Sungjoo driving us?’ I asked urgently. I wasn’t sure why but I had assumed Yixuan would be the one driving. It was probably because he was the oldest and well, he seemed like the most responsible in the group. Wenhan was the first to start laughing behind me and everyone joined in. Well everyone except Sungjoo.
 

Author's note: Yay! Horror movie night! I personally would love to watch a movie with all of them >///< (maybe not horror though). Really happy I got this chapter out! I'm looking at the current drafts for future chapters and it just looks like a collection of one shots...whoops. It won't turn out that way hopefully! I shall see how it goes. Thanks for reading! (￣▽￣)ノ