“Unni!!!” You reached across the table and only just managed to grab Soojin’s wrist, preventing her from leaving.

“Don’t be mad.” You pleaded while tugging gently on her arm to get her to sit back down. “Please?” You aimed your best sad and pitiful face at her, even adding a pout on top of it all, and it worked, because she took one look at you, and sat back down even as an audible sigh left her lips.

“How can you expect me not to be mad?!” She asked crossly, but you could tell that she was already beginning to calm down.

“I didn’t mean to keep everything from you. I just….” You chewed your lip, wondering what you could say.

“If you’re going to say that you don’t want to worry me, then I’m really going to leave.” She warned.

You quickly shook your head. “No no. It’s just I know that you don’t like Junhyung so I didn’t want you to get upset about him wanting to meet me. I also didn’t want you to get mad at me for not listening to you and replying his text.” You admitted sheepishly.

She reached over and rapped you on the head. “You knew and you still did it anyway.” She scolded before sighing and adding an afterthought, “But I can sort of understand why you did that.”

“So you forgive me???” You looked at Soojin with wide eyes and a pout, knowing that she hated you doing that.

“Don’t give me that look.” She scrunched up her face and quickly turned away. “It won’t work this time.”

“Please? Unni~” You whined, pushing your lips out even more to emphasize your pout.

She eyed you from the corner of her eyes before letting out a defeated sigh. “Oh, alright.” She resigned. “Now wipe that pathetic look off your face before everyone thinks I’m bullying you.”

Your expression brightened immediately and you sat there with the widest grin on your face. “You’re the best, unni!”

She narrowed her eyes at you. “Are you sure? You’re not going to replace me with Junhyung now that you’ve decided to take him back?”

You feigned a hurt look. “Do you really think I’d do that?”

She reached over again and you closed your eyes, thinking that she was going to knock you on the head again but instead she only gave your forehead a little push, causing your head to tilt back before falling forward again. “Aigoo! Just what do I do with you!”

You sat there with a silly grin on your face. “Let’s order, unni!” You quickly waved the waiter over, knowing that you were already forgiven.

“So when are you going to tell Kibum and Junhyung your decisions?” Soojin asked while the both of you were walking to the bus stop.

“Soon?” You shrugged lightly. “I need to find an opportunity to speak to them.”

“Shouldn’t Kibum be easy since you know, the both of you are neighbours and all?”

“Actually… I think he’s been avoiding me. I haven’t seen him or heard from him since that day and he doesn’t show up for breakfast anymore. I can’t figure out why he’s avoiding me though.” You revealed while trying not to sound too affected.

She knocked the top of your head with her knuckles before shaking her head and folding her arms across her chest as she stared at you.

“Ow! What was that for?” You pouted and rubbed the spot that got hit.

“That was for being an idiot.” She chided. “How can you not know even after all that he has told you?!” She shook her head in disbelieve when all you gave her was a confused look.

“Oh gosh. I really should have known better.” She said while rubbing her temples. “Ok, there are only 2 possible reasons why Kibum would avoid you. First, he wants to give you space and not make you feel pressured into making a quick decision because of him. Actually, I think he’ll probably use this as his reason if you ask him.  But anyway, the second reason is because he’s feeling insecure.”

“I think you should be able to understand what I’m trying to get at and I know you don’t want to believe me but think about it and I’m sure everything will come together.” She said when she saw the frown that appeared on your face.

You nodded without actually hearing what Soojin had said, your mind filled with far too many thoughts at the moment.

___

You bustled around the house trying to get as many things done as you could while Minhyuk was sitting in the living room, blissfully unaware of your worries. He was so engrossed with the episode of SpongeBob that was on the television that even his toys laid out conveniently around him were left temporarily forgotten.

It was the eve of Christmas and you had invited everyone you knew over for a Christmas get together, which meant that even Junhyung was coming and he was bringing Dongwoon along so that he, at least, had a friend to hang out with.

Your mom would have been helping you out with the preparations if she hadn’t gone back home 2 weeks ago. You had tried to convince her to stay for the holidays but she remained adamant, insisting that she had far too many things to take care of back home after having been gone for so long as well as wanting to spend the holidays with her friends (your ex-neighbours), so you ended up with little choice but to help her pack.

 You scurried past the living room and into the kitchen for the nth time that day to check on how the food was coming along before hurrying back out to get back to tidying the rest of the house. Despite all the chaos, you somehow still managed to get the house in order and even successfully got Minhyuk to start learning to put his toys back into the basket where all his toys were kept. Even though he really only ended up putting 2 (out of the many) of his toys back, it was still good enough for you since it was his first time doing it.

By the time you were almost done with the cooking, Soojin and Seyong had finally arrived and you could finally hand over the kitchen to them for a bit while you got Minhyuk and yourself ready for the party. When you left the bedroom with Minhyuk balanced on your hip, it was already close to 6. Soojin was tossing the salad on the kitchen counter while Seyong busied himself with setting the table.

“Hey, thanks for coming earlier and helping out, you have no idea how close I was to going insane.” You admitted, feeling rather amused that you were so stressed out just moments ago because you and Minhyuk still weren’t ready but you couldn’t leave the food in the oven and on the stove unattended.

“You should thank him.” Soojin stuck her chin out towards Seyong who was just across from the kitchen at the dining table. “He was the one who suggested that we come early to see if you needed any help.”

“Thank you, oppa!” You piped happily, still standing in front of your bedroom.

“It’s nothing really.” He brushed it off with a shrug and a small smile.

“Oh right, since the both of you are here, remember I told you that Junhyung would be coming as well?” You paused and looked at the both of them to make sure that they had heard what you just said. They didn’t respond verbally but you could tell from the displeased look on Soojin’s face and Seyong’s hardened expression that they had heard you. “Will the both of you please relax? The both of you look like I just said that I’m going to marry him or something.” You huffed, placing the hand that wasn’t supporting Minhyuk on your hip.

Soojin ended up being the first to give in after a few extra moments of silence. “Sorry.” She breathed. “It’s just that I don’t think that we can ever be fine with him again.” You saw Seyong nodding and agreeing silently but you just couldn’t allow this to happen today.

“I know, and I’m not asking that of you.” You removed your hand from your hip but kept your voice firm. “But I want today to be fun and I want everyone to enjoy the food and be happy. So can you promise me that you’ll play nice? At least for today?” You looked at Soojin with a raised brow.

She held your gaze for a bit and you could see that she was thinking about what you just said. “Oh, alright.” She finally gave in. “But this doesn’t change anything. I don’t like him and I still won’t after today. I’m just agreeing to keep my opinions to myself just for today.” She wagged her finger at you.

You then turned your attention to Seyong, giving him the same look that you gave Soojin. He eyed you for a bit before saying, “I’ll behave if he does.” A satisfied grin spread across your face when you heard his answer and you walked towards him and clapped him on the shoulder before placing Minhyuk down into and strapping him into his high chair.

“Just so you know…” Seyong began while you were walking towards the kitchen, making you turn back to look at him. “If he tries anything, I’m definitely not going to hold back this time.” He said with a hint of a smirk.

You nodded and forced a smile. You could only hope that Junhyung doesn’t do or say anything that would get him in trouble.

The next to arrive were Lee Joon, the SHINee members and their hyungs– Leeteuk, Eunhyuk and Donghae. They filed in after a quick greeting but you noticed that Kibum was still avoiding your eyes but you just let it pass knowing that everything would be resolved by today. You were mildly surprised that Donghae had showed up though. The last time that you had checked with Leeteuk, he had told you that only Eunhyuk and himself were going to come.  

“Donghae was at the dorm and didn’t want Eunhyuk to leave him there by himself…” He eyed the said person who was clinging to Eunhyuk’s arm and smiling really cutely while exploring the house. “So we had no choice but to let him come along.” He leaned in and whispered.

You breathed a laugh and nodded. “It’s ok, oppa. The more the merrier, right?”

“Right!” He agreed with a laugh before becoming serious, looking around briefly and then, leaning in again to ask, “Is he here yet?”

You shook your head. “No, not yet but he should be here soon. He’s coming with Dongwoon but… could you help me keep an eye on him? I really don’t want any trouble to start.”

“Don’t worry! Oppa will make sure that nothing happens.” He ensured, puffing out his chest and thumping it.

“Thank you!” You beamed, throwing your arms out and giving him a quick hug before going to find Seyong to tell him to set the table for one more person.

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There will be a double chapter update~ So if you're reading it and don't see the next chapter yet, you're probably just extremely quick!! Give me a few minutes to get the next chapter up ^^