Uh, sorry that it took me FOUR FRKN MONTHS TO POST THE NEXT CHAPTER I SWEAR I DID NOT DIE I HAVE MY REASONS!
Please read the Author's note in the end!
♠ ♠ ♠
It was ten in the morning and I was in the middle of a strangely calm Seoul traffic, on my way to the grocery store. I had done my research of the list given to me and chose the largest one closest to the house, which was still a bit far away. Approximately twenty minutes later, I was parked in front of a grocery store the size of Tesco. I take a deep breath and exhale quickly. Time for some shopping.
♠
A little more than an hour later, all bags were standing in the car and I was on my way back to the house. Thank goodness I made a list beforehand, because this was the most confusing shopping I had ever done. I can't speak Korean even less read Hangul, so I was extremely out of my comfort zone. Thank heavens for Google, or I wouldn't have made it out of there alive.
It's almost twelve o'clock when I finish placing the new groceries where they belong in the kitchen. Okay, so the boys are arriving in roughly six hours, meaning that I must start cooking around three. Until then I decided to clean their wardrobes -- meaning folding their sweaters and T-shirts nicely, sorting underwear in individual drawers, hang up shirts and hoodies on hangers and sort them by colour. Since this only took me an hour, I had some time to clean their second livingroom -- which I'd rather call their gaming-room. It had everything I wanted and more, since I was a huge gaming nerd, especially when it came to Play Station. They had shelves covering a whole wall filled with all kinds of games for ps2, ps3 and ps4, even psp, ps vita, Nintendo wii, switch and 3DS. A huge, black sofa was placed against a wall, in front of it on the opposite wall hung a giant tv, which was at least 60 inch big. I was in awe. I squealed quietly to myself when I first had walked into this room, wishing I could marry it -- or at least take it with me to Sweden. Sadly enough, I couldn't. Hopefully they'll invite me here to play some games with them, or I'll sneak in when they're asleep or away.
♠
It's just past five and I'm almost completely done with the food. Before I started cooking, I noticed there were speakers in the kitchen and dining area -- naturally, I put on some music while cooking away with joy. Even though I was in exo's house -- still can't believe I'm even saying that sentence -- I craved some pumping music from BTS, and right now 'Not today' was on full blast with me dancing around the kitchen and singing without a single care or shame in the world.
I had just set the table nicely and made sure that everything on my to-do list was complete. I also had a quick shower and changed into a nicer casual outfit, since those were the rules for when they are around; must be clean at all times.
It's currently fifteen minutes left before it's time for their arrival, but I expect them to be late. So I keep the music on, humming happily along to 'I need u' as I keep an eye on the food that was in the oven and the stove. This is one of my favorite songs by BTS so I couldn't help feeling like the happiest person alive.
In fact, I was so happy humming along and dancing that I didn't hear the door open. Because soon enough, roaring laughter was heard from behind me.
Fuck, they came home early.
Horrified, I slowly turn around and see them standing there -- all nine, looking perfectly perfect -- wheezing for air.
"Well this is an interesting sigh.." Baekhyun smirks at me, still laughing while his face becoming red from the loss of oxygen.
"Why are you home earlier?!" I exclaim in exasperation, covering my burning cheeks with my hands.
After a good long embarrassing while, they finally stop laughing and proceeds to regain control over their breathing instead.
"The question is, why are you playing BTS music in our home?" Chanyeol asks, emphasizing the word 'our', while raising his eyebrows. I feel ashamed. Of course I didn't think it was a good idea from the beginning, but who would've thought they'd actually come home in time?
I bow in front of them all. "I'm so sorry. It won't happen again." I excuse, with honesty and regret in my voice.
"We're just kidding! You can listen to whatever you want. We're sorry we just walked into this... scene," Suho says with a smile, then starts chuckling when he replays the scene in his head. I sigh in relief, but eventually start laughing along with them.
"Feel free to bully me more about my dancing skills, but I've actually made food that is best to eat fresh. So hurry up and take a place around the table!" I say as I scoff them to the dining table. They all obediently sit down while I'm fetching the bowls and cookware containing the food.
"I'll help you with this one, it looks heavy." I suddenly hear Chen say to me with a calm voice, along with a cutely crooked smile. I almost melt right then and there, and I almost even dropped the heavy pot on the floor. But I quickly regain my senses and smil, letting him take pot from my hands.
"Thank you," I mumble thankfully with a shy smile as his hands brush against mine. And there they were again. Sparks, like small jolts of electricity igniting through my skin into my bones when our skins touch.
Why am I feeling this way?
It's almost as he felt it too, because he was staring at his hands before averting his gaze to meet mine. And we just stood like that for a short while; looking into each other's eyes, trying to find a sign if one actually felt the same thing as the other. But we quickly break our stare and Chen clears his throat while I search for something else to put on the table. My cheeks are flaming. Goddamn this is embarrassing.
"Where do you want me to put this?" Chen asks a little nervously.
"Just put it in the middle of the table," I reply with a smile. He shyly smiles back before nodding quickly and walk back to the table.
Holy cow. How was I supposed to survive these three months without getting a heart-attack? I quickly try to calm myself down as I place the last pots and bowls on the table and finally sit down on a chair which they had saved for me, between Sehun and Chanyeol.
I have to admit that the food smells amazing. All the guys are glaring at the food with wide eyes, looking like wolves stalking a prey.
"So there's a little bit of everything, so just grab what you feel like. Hope it will taste good!" I explain happily. Then we all start grabbing the food and eat in bliss.
♠
After dinner I tell them to head upstairs to unpack and rest while I'm cleaning up, though they insisted on helping me but I reassured that I was completely fine with doing it. While cleaning up, I was thinking about Chen. And always when I thought about him, my thoughts easily wandered off somewhere, making me space out and not notice my surroundings. That's why I suddenly flinched hard when I felt something tap my shoulder, causing me to drop the plate I was washing into the sink with a loud bang. It wasn't until then I noticed I've been cleaning the same plate for fifteen minutes.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I hear Lay apologize by my side. I quickly turn to face him.
"No I'm the one that's sorry! I was in my own world, I didn't hear you coming in.." I explain with shame in my voice. I glance at the plate lying in the sink, thankfully not broken into tiny pieces. "I'm glad the plate survived though," I chuckle, making Lay chuckle as well.
"I'm sorry I startled you. But I just came here to check if you want to watch a movie with us," he says with a bright smile. I immediately smile back, nodding enthusiastically.
"Of course! Let me just finish these dishes and I'll join you."
"Can I help?"
"Yeah sure, you can dry these dishes while I finish up the last ones," I instruct him, and he immediately do as I say. We happily chatted along and after a short while we were done and the kitchen was clean again.
"Shall we make some popcorn for the movie?" I suggest, receiving a happy nod from Lay. We then commence searching for the popcorn, which neither of us really knew where they were. Until I saw a glimpse of a package on the top shelf, however out of our reach.
"I think I need a chair or something to get it down," I tell Lay, pointing to the shelf. He studies it for a while before shrugging.
"It would be more fun if I lift you up on my shoulders." he suggests instead with a mischievous grin. I snort. It wasn't a bad idea, but was it appropriate?
"Are you sure?" I ask, hesitant.
"You think I'm too weak?" he questions with raised eyebrows, crouching down. "Hop on!"
I chuckle and climb onto his shoulders, not having much choice to do otherwise. He then slowly stands up straight while I'm trying to maintain my balance and not fall off of him. He was surprisingly strong, lifting me up like am I was a little kid. I squeal when he starts walking towards the shelf, because I lost my balance for a split second before regaining control.
"Are you okay up there?" Lay chuckles, looking up at me. I let out a laugh and nod. He start walking again, and this time I was prepared for it. We reach the shelf and I grab the wanted package of popcorn. I let out a victory-roar, flailing the package around.
"Got it!" I shout with a giggle. Lay lets out a happy "Woooh!" and then he starts dancing up and down with me still on top of him, causing me to let out a loud shriek in fear that I will fall down. But soon I laugh instead and he is laughing happily with me.
"Aria what is-" I suddenly hear someone exclaim worriedly as they rush into the room, but stops abruptly when spotting me on top of Lays shoulders. It was Chen.
The worried expression turns into something between confusion and irritation. But he quickly cracks up a smile, raising one eyebrow. "What are you doing?"
Both me and Lay giggle before he slowly and carefully lets me down. I then shove the package of popcorn in front of Chen's face and smile proudly before dramatically exclaiming, "To get our hands on this!"
He chuckles and gives us a questioning look. "Why didn't you use a chair to get up?"
I point at Lay. "Blame him. His idea."
"Hey! You could've just said no..." he defends himself.
"How could I say no when you looked so excited!" I complain, ripping the package open and put the popcorn in the microwave. Lay just shrugs with a innocent look on his face.
"I guess my job here is done then. I'll go tell the others that popcorn is on the way," Lay says as he began making his way out of the kitchen.
"Thank you for helping me!" I shout after him, he raises his hand signalizing the peace-sign. I then turn to look at Chen, whose eyes were glued to Lays back, which just disappeared from our view. He had a stern look on his face, almost like he was bothered. But when he turns to look at me, his expression immediately softens. This caused a herd of butterflies to roam freely in my stomach. Why did he always have that effect on me?
"Do you need help with anything more? I can carry out the drinks or something," he asks with a smile. God, his smile always caused me to melt inside. I stare at him a second too long before nodding.
"If you don't mind," I say with a smile while shrugging. He flashes me a crooked smile back, almost giving me goosebumps because holy shizzle his smile is seriously enchanting.
I help him carry the glasses and drinks to the livingroom. Shortly afterwards, the popcorn was ready and poured into several bowls because we were ten people sharing them in the end. Returning to the livingroom, this time everyone are gathered on the sofa. The curtains are closed, leaving the room almost pitch black.
They all cheer when we come in with the popcorn. Then Baekhyun grabs the remote and start the TV.
"So, what movie are we watching?" he asks, scrolling through the first page of the movie streaming site.
"How about a scary movie?" Xiumin suggests with a mischievous grin.
Me and Chanyeol freeze, exchanging a worried gaze. Looks like he's not very fond of horror movies either. It's not that I'm easily scared, depending on what type of film it is. If it's The Grudge, then might as well bid goodbye to sleep for at least a month.
We end up watching One Missed Call, a Japanese horror movie. And fuck me it was almost as bad as The Grudge. The guys were laughing at my frequent screeches throughout the movie, but they laughed even harder at Baekhyun and Chanyeol's screams.
Somewhere in the middle of the movie, someone nudges me on the arm. I look at Chen who sits beside me, he has a concerned look on his face.
"Are you sure you want to see it? I can tell them to turn it off if you want," he whispers softly, melting my heart in the process. I smile while slightly shaking my head.
"It's okay, I actually like the story," I reply. It actually was a really interesting movie, but it was mostly because I didn't want to ruin the movie-night because they all seemed to enjoy watching -- maybe except Chanyeol, but that's still eight against two.
So I sat there and endured the mental torture, thinking about how I'm probably going to die tonight once the darkness falls.
When the end climax of the movie eventually arrives, my heart is beating so fast I thought I'd pass out. Suddenly, a jumpscare appears and I release an incredibly loud screech and throw myself arms around the closest person to me and hide my face is their shoulder -- which happened to be Chen. I hear him chuckle at me. When realizing that I'm actually hugging Chen at the moment I can feel my body temperature rise several degrees and I quickly let go and grab a pillow to bury my burning face with instead. Now I don't have to see the rest of the movie and no one will notice the current tomato red state my face is in.
Oh, I will definitely not be able to sleep tonight.
♠ ♠ ♠
Author's note:
Okay I'm sorry I've been quite dead since the last update. But that's because I've literally had minimal time to write AND I was focusing on rewriting my Taehyung fic 'Stigma', because it was so cRINGE I just couldn't bring myself to write anything until I had fixed the worst parts. And also I have to study for my exams right now and I'm a master at procrastination so~
Also, I've been quite stuck on how to proceed with this story. I had some main events that I wanted to happen, but I was clueless to how to build up until those points. UNTIL TODAY LOL. So now I basically have the ten upcoming chapters planned out and I hope to finish this fic during summer -- if a major writer's block doesn't hit me like a bulldozer x'D I think this story will reach around 23-25 chapters, perhaps? WE'LL SEE.
OH and I came third place with this fic in the exo category for a kpop book contest! I actually can't believe it but I'm happy it did x'D
Thank you so much for reading! Please look forward to the upcoming chapters, because I will spice things up a bit from now on ;3 ♥
2018-05-28