RUINED 《 EXO 》

CHAPTER FIVE △ #304

Chen's fingers slithered over the keys of his phone as he constructed the perfect party invitation text. Under the morning light filtering through his bedroom window, I could see every little strand of him that made him... well, Chen. The strong concentration in his eyes coupled with his knitted eyebrows, the way the tip of his tongue peeked out from between his teeth as he backspaced half his message. He seemed deep in thought. I, on the other hand, was bored as hell.

                "Are you done yet?" I whined after ten minutes of agonising silence. I had draped myself across his bed in the most lazy fashion. As we all could see, I liked to take advantage of my weekends. Every now and then I checked my phone, hoping for a text of the updated Social Ladder. Since this week's dance meeting, I had risen up twenty three spaces - yes, twenty three! - because of Sehun. I knew he would never admit it, but who else was high up enough on the list to make such a big change?

                "Patience, young one. Almost there," he said for what must've been the nineteenth time this afternoon. Not that I was so spiritless that I had resorted to counting or anything. But I couldn't blame Chen for wanting this to be immaculate. His seventeenth birthday should be special, just like any other birthday. Crawling across the soft carpet, I sank down on the bean bag he was on.

                "So, who are you inviting to your party?" With curious eyes I tried to read what he had typed up so far but he shyed away, hiding it from me.

                "It's not a party, Chun, I told you that." He reached over and ruffled my hair, entangling his fingers in it by accident. He desperately tried to shake them free with no such luck. I stifled a chuckle. "I'm just going to ask some friends if they want to hang out or something."

                "I better be one of those friends," I muttered under my breath, evoking a short laugh from Chen. His thumb hovered after the send button, before finally tapping down on it. My phone buzzed happily.

                "Yeah, I'm free then." I finish reading his text, grinning like crazy. "Except you know I suck at ice skating."

                "That's why I chose it," he blew a raspberry at me and I swung my fist at him, missing him by an inch. He sprinted out of his room and down the corridor with me hot on his heels. Several pillow fights later with Chen begging for mercy, I stopped, falling into a fit of giggles. Then, with my guard lowered, he hit me in the face with a giant cushion.

                "Oh, shoot," he said between his teeth, trying not to laugh. "We should get going, K-Pop club starts soon."

                Rumpled and tapped out, I retreated to their family bathroom to brush my lacklustre hair a bit before heading out. We always took Chen's mum's adorable vermillion mini cooper on weekends because she didn't have work.

                I had never been to Southwood during the weekend before and today it gave off the same vibe as a deserted ghost town. We quickly found the classroom of the K-Pop club. The desks and chairs had all been roughly pushed against the walls, and a big projector was set up at the front. Sometimes we watch videos and listen to music and just chill, Chen had said, and sometimes we do karaoke. Judging by the backing track blaring out of the speakers, as well as the gaggle of girls clutching microphones up front, today was a karaoke day.

                We slunk in at the back and immediately I was transfixed by the flashing words on the screen. I recognised the song; it was one that Chen had on his playlist. Humming it unconsciously, I clapped as the girls finished singing. I couldn't help but think that some of them were definitely tone-deaf.