LOVE KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES...CHAPTER 15.1/?
Title: Love Knows No Boundaries
Author: tikibuddy91
Characters: EXO (Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Joonmyeon, and Zitao only), BAP (mostly Daehyun and Jongup); SISTAR19 (Hyojung and Bora); B1A4 (Shinwoo and Sunwoo); SHINee (Jinki); SURPRISE GUESTS.
Word Count: ~9700
Rating: PG
Genre: College, AU, Crossover
Summary: College students. Blind, Deaf and Mute. Their lives deal with the ups and downs, like a roller coaster. They find relationships, and companionships. Life does not always have a happy ending but they can try to get their happy endings.
Author Note: This chapter is a unique chapter because we all get to see Chanyeol's house for the first time! ANNNDDD Zitao is reminded of the past. ;o
Sign Language Guide
Families
Prologue | Jongdae | Chapter 1 | Daehyun | Chapter 2 | Zitao | Chapter 3 | Kyungsoo | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 Part 1 | Chapter 14 Part 2 |
Thursday morning brings a gloomy weather for the city of Seoul, dampening the moods of some citizens. At a college, the students find themselves huddled under roofed areas of the campus. Not many choose to hang outside to enjoy the weather. However, it does not dampen the moods of Kyungsoo, his brother, Baekhyun, nor his brother’s boyfriend, Chanyeol, for that matter.
When classes are over, Daehyun and Kyungsoo go outside and they run into Jongup. Jongup immediately brightens at the sight of his friends and waves, greeting them with an awkward bow, his hand still held up. Daehyun and Kyungsoo grin at Jongup, before Daehyun ruffles Jongup’s hair, earning a shy laughter from him. Daehyun takes the chance to spend some time with Jongup, having been notified by Kyungsoo yesterday that he will be heading home later because he and Baekhyun are invited to Chanyeol’s place.
Kyungsoo watches his friends go, knowing that Daehyun can handle his conversations with Jongup pretty well, with a combination of a notepad, some gestures, and some sign language.
“Kyungsoo-yah! There you are!” Baekhyun surprises Kyungsoo by jumping on him from behind, scaring the wits out of Kyungsoo. Holding onto his laptop bag at his side, Kyungsoo has let out this weird mixture of sounds, like a shuddering gasp and a high-pitched yelp, causing Baekhyun to snort and laugh like a hyena. Kyungsoo glares at him but Baekhyun can only continue to laugh while talking to him. “Hahahahaha, come on Kyungshahahhaha, Chanyeol’s waiting for us. Hahahaha, oh man, that was so hilarious to hear you like ‘grroiiik’-hahahahaha!” He imitates Kyungsoo’s squeaky grunt and collapse into laughter, slapping his thigh.
Whack!
Baekhyun shuts up as he winces, rubbing his head. Kyungsoo has slapped him upside the head and shoots him a wide-eyed judging look. He reminds Baekhyun of an owl, a glaring owl.
“Aw, Kyungsoo, come on, I was just playing around, gosh. It’s just that the weather’s been so gloomy today, what’s wrong with a little fun? But I’m even more excited to see what Chanyeol’s house looks like. Are you?” Baekhyun asks and Kyungsoo nods in response. “It must be pretty big, since Chanyeol has four other siblings; remember, Joonmyeon is also his hyung. Or it could be medium-sized, though it might be a bit cramped…”, Baekhyun trails off, lost in thought.
Just then, Kyungsoo sees a familiar figure coming their way, pretending to act casual. Chanyeol gives a shushing gesture to Kyungsoo, as if planning a sneak attack on his boyfriend. Kyungsoo blinks once slowly, getting the message, and pretends to look around.
“Hey!” Chanyeol attacks Baekhyun from behind with a shout, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s sides and lifting him up, spinning him around. It startles Baekhyun so bad that he has screamed like a little girl and is now crying because of too many emotions he has felt from the surprise attack. Kyungsoo winces a bit from the high-pitched scream he hears in his hearing aids, and smirks as he sees his brother reacting with such surprise and laughter.
“PUT ME DOWN, AHAHAHA!! NO STOP STOP. I’M GETTING DIZZY, STOP CHANYEOL!” Baekhyun laughs, squirming in Chanyeol’s arms as he is being spun in alternating directions. When Kyungsoo notices Baekhyun furiously squirming and shouting “CHANYEOL”, Chanyeol hears it and lowers his boyfriend down, looking apologetic.
“It’s okay, Channieyeol. We all got a bit excited here. Were you waiting long, babe?” Baekhyun pats his tall boyfriend’s arm before hooking it with his arm.
“Nah, I just got out of theatre. Shall we go now, visit my house? I can’t wait to show you guys, it’s gonna be fun! Oh, and Jonghyun-hyung knows you guys won’t be joining him for dinner, right? You guys are having dinner with my siblings and I.” Chanyeol looks worried between Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. Baekhyun nods, replying, “Hyung’s gonna join Miyoung-noona and Taeyeon-noona for dinner, so they might have take-out or just go eat out at some restaurant.” Kyungsoo nods in agreement.
Chanyeol and the Park brothers make their way to Chanyeol’s house, passing through a district of stores, little shops, and promenades. Kyungsoo vaguely remembers a text that he read last week Tuesday that it took Joonmyeon and Chanyeol 10 minutes to get to their house. He checks his watch, it has only been 2 minutes past since we left the entrance gates.
Baekhyun starts singing to various songs whether in perfect Korean or in weird, awkward Engrish with Chanyeol rapping with even sillier Engrish. Kyungsoo finds it difficult to keep a straight face, listening to them. He laughs now and then, often looking away from the couple because they are just too hilarious to watch.
The group finally reaches Chanyeol’s residential area, and Kyungsoo checks his watch again, ten minutes have passed and they still have not reached Chanyeol’s house. Kyungsoo stares at his watch and looking up, he looks around. This area has lesser houses than the previous district they had walked through, with each house having more spaces surrounding them. Baekhyun whistles.
“We’re here, guys.”
Kyungsoo and Baekhyun look at Chanyeol, just as he announces their arrival, and back at the area. Baekhyun nudges his boyfriend, “Chanyeollie…this is where you live? You have your own house?”
“Wha, no!” Chanyeol laughs, “I share the mansion with my siblings, of course!” Baekhyun stops as he goggles at him and shares a surprised look with Kyungsoo, who also stops upon hearing Chanyeol’s casual statement. Chanyeol looks back at them.
[Hear same?] (Did you hear what I just heard?) Baekhyun signs to his brother, and Kyungsoo nods. Baekhyun looks back at Chanyeol, “W-wait…you…said mansion, right?” Chanyeol nods. The twins stare at each other.
“For the past four years, Chanyeol, I never knew you had a mansion. You kept telling me ‘house’, and I’ve always assumed you had a nice house but not like this.” Baekhyun walks up to Chanyeol and the trio start walking again.
“Yeah, well, I wanted it to be a surprise when the right time came along. When I found out your brother knows my brother from work, I thought the more we keep having these ‘small world’ moments, the more you guys will be involved in my life and I in yours. After all, since you invited me to your place for breakfast that Tuesday morning, the least I can do is invite you guys for dinner, and spend more time with you guys outside of school.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” Baekhyun hugs Chanyeol, giving him a kiss on the lips, and Kyungsoo pretends to gag. Chanyeol chuckles as they pull away.
“And we turn right here,” Chanyeol says as the trio face a metal-fenced gate and the twins gasp loudly, mouths agape. Looking at them with glee, Chanyeol inserts the security code and the gate slides open, no longer obstructing the view of the house. The twins close their mouths and look at each other in awe.
Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun walk up the road that leads up a slope to the Kim Residence further up the hill. The mansion is painted a soft, faded grey, two stories tall, rectangular and almost symmetric. On top of the mansion, the large low-pitched roof slopes towards them, and stops a few feet past the front of the mansion.
The trio arrives at the steps and Chanyeol uses his key to open the door, allowing his guests to enter first. The twins come in, their mouths dropping again, at the sight of the living room. The living room is very wide-spaced, surrounded by several rooms; they can see that one of the rooms is greater in size compared to the other, yet both are nothing like the size of the living room. The first things they notice after looking around the space are the nine thick columns supporting the second floor and its platform. Across from them, they face a huge glass wall that stretches the whole length of the floor, giving a wonderful view of the backyard and the Han River. The glass wall also stretches up to the ceiling, without any obstruction, creating a double height living space under a sloped ceiling.
The walls and ceiling are two different tones of white, and the floors are honey-colored wooden planks. Remembering what the house looked like from outside, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun notice that the ceiling also slopes downwards. To their left, they see a piano, also white, resting on a single raised platform, with a wall behind the piano. The kitchen and dining area are located on one end of the living room, with an island in the middle, marking the boundary between each other. Looking straight ahead, they can see a few steps leading down to the central floor of the living room, just below their level, making the room seem taller and wider. On the central floor, there are matching couches with some furniture and a big stand-alone flat television screen facing the trio. To their right, there is a door that leads to a room and, snaking from the ground up to above the door, a staircase leads up to the second floor bridged-platform, from which people can easily look down, on either side, to the people on the first floor’s entry area and living room area.
Chanyeol closes the entrance door and leads the twins further inside to stand between the two thick pillars that support the second floor. “Welcome to my house! Lemme give you a tour. This is the living room, obviously, and our piano over there. The bathroom is over there between the piano and the kitche-“
“YAH, UNNIE! LOVERBOY IS HERE WITH HIS BOYFRIEND AND FRIEND!” A shout comes from the second floor, startling the twins. “C’mere, unnie, come on!!”
The twins look up to see two girls running on the second floor U-shaped walkway that circles the living room. Both girls have fairly tanned skin; one has a wavy hair while the other has long straight hair. Hurried footsteps hover above Chanyeol and the twins and they turn around to see the girls coming down, hand in hand, giggling. They walk over to where Chanyeol and the twins are and introduce themselves. The wavy-haired girl lifts her hands to indicate the twins to look at the straight-haired girl.
“My name is Bora…” The straight-haired girl brings her hands to her chest and then moves her hands to indicate the other sister’s turn, their hands switching positions.
“…And my name is Hyojung!”
“ANNYEONGHASEYO, BBYONG!” The two tanned girls end their greeting with chic poses, and the twins have awkward smiles on their faces.
“Baekhyun-ah, Kyungsoo-yah, these are my noonas,” Chanyeol looks amused at the twins’ reactions. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun bow to them and introduce themselves as well.
After Kyungsoo introduces himself, he hears a gasp from Hyojung and feels hands lightly pinching his cheeks.
“Omomomomomo, this kid is SO CUTE. Wait, are you 20 too?!” Hyorin coos at Kyungsoo, her eyes twinkling as she lets go of Kyungsoo’s cheeks. Her voice makes a squeaking sound when she says “so cute”. Kyungsoo can tell her eyes are bright and full of giddiness. “Waah, really…You’re so cute, Kyungsoo-yah.” Hyojung wraps her arms around Kyungsoo’s arm and continues to coo. “Aigoo, you can call me and Bora noona, too. Come on, let’s hear you say, ‘noona’.”
Kyungsoo stutters a bit at first, heart racing from Hyojung’s sudden physical contact. With wide eyes, Kyungsoo stares at Hyojung before turning around to look at Bora. Bora is standing in her spot, crossing her arms and looking amused. Chanyeol and Baekhyun look amused as well. Kyungsoo looks back at Hyojung.
“N-n-noo-noona?”
“AIGOO!” Hyojung squeals. “See how his lower lip puckers up and then drops down, whoooaa~” Hyojung drawls thoughtfully as she, while holding onto Kyungsoo’s arm, unhooks one of her hands from his arm to gently tickle the underside of his chin. “It’s so cute!” Bora comes to Hyojung’s side and attempts to pry her sister’s grip off of Kyungsoo. She finally succeeds after several tugs, giggling and apologizing that Hyojung can be super-touchy at times.
Hyojung pouts at Bora before asking the guys, with her hands indicating to the laptop bags hanging on the guys’ sides, “Shall we take your bags though? I mean, it is a house, not like some kind of hotel where you have to carry them around.”
“Oh no, it’s okay, we’re good. Thanks though,” Baekhyun smiles.
A sound of throat clearing creeps in behind the trio, and the girls happily waves at someone behind Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s backs.
“Oppa! Chanyeol brought company!” Bora says. Hyojung pipes in, “Especially one that is a cute patootie!”
Kyungsoo and Baekhyun turn around to face a man whose face has the kindest charm anyone has ever seen, with his eye smile and his smile that is ever so precious. Yet, his appearance gives off a gentleman charisma, and the Park twins bow to him.
“Ah, you must be Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, correct?” The man points to Kyungsoo, who he thinks is Baekhyun, and to Baekhyun, who he thinks is Kyungsoo. Chanyeol facepalms and whines, “Hyung, my boyfriend is Baekhyun. This” - Chanyeol rests his hands on Baekhyun’s shoulders - “is Baekhyun. The other is Kyungsoo. I’ve told you before, hyung. Why are you so forgetful?”
Chanyeol’s brother blinks at him, surprised at his error. He suddenly smiles and says, “My apologies. Welcome to the Kim Residence. I am Jinki, the oldest of the five siblings. I see you have met Bora and Hyojung, and I’m sure you have met Joonmyeon at school quite often, as Chanyeol has told me. Delighted to have you two in my house.”
“Hyung, why are you being like this? You’re so awkward with this fancy, proper greeting. It’s just Chanyeol’s boyfriend and his brother, not the queen of England or president of South Korea,” Joonmyeon voices from above, leaning against the railing on the second floor outside his room.
“Ah, er…okay so uh, Chanyeol, why don’t you lead our guests around and give them a tour? I’ll go ahead and make some breakfa- I mean dinner,” chortles Jinki. “Please, Baekhyun-ah and Kyungsoo-yah, make yourself at home.”
Bora asks Jinki if any assistance is needed in the kitchen, “Oppa, do you need some help with your cook-“
Hyojung interrupts with a sigh, huddling with Bora. “Yah, unnie, let’s just go and help him. Who knows what he’ll do to the kitchen stove. Remember what happened to the lasagna last time?” Hyojung looks pointedly at Bora as they walk to the kitchen. Bora nods at the memory, but Hyojung answers anyway, “We had fried chicken instead. That was our third week to have them. And too much fried chicken is never a good thing.”
The girls make their way to the kitchen when Baekhyun and Kyungsoo pick up Chanyeol’s continuation of the tour.
Looking at the sisters’ retreating backs into the kitchen, Chanyeol clears his throat to get Baekhyun’s and Kyungsoo’s attentions, “And so yeah, there’s the bathroom. The kitchen is there and you can see the island there, separating the dining area and kitchen area. That room behind me is Jinki-hyung’s bedroom; the door under the stairs leads to his room. Up above is Joonmyeon-hyung’s” - Joonmyeon looks down and waves at Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, holding eye contact with Kyungsoo a little longer - “room and right up there above you, is my room.” Chanyeol brings his voice to a whisper, and the twins stand closer to hear him.
“You know why Jinki-hyung’s bedroom is here?” The twins shake their heads. “Because he’s so dead clumsy sometimes,” and they see a glint in Chanyeol’s eyes as he laughs. “We can’t risk him taking the stairs because he tripped on it one too many times. Believe me, we’ve seen him injure himself tripping over nothing. The best he can handle are the steps down here.” He points to the steps located nearby, in the center of the living room where the couch, several ottomans, and television set are set up.
“Let’s head upstairs, shall we?” Chanyeol offers his arm, and Baekhyun stares at him before chuckling. He gets a little slap to the chest and a comment, “You’re so cheesy” from Baekhyun. Kyungsoo is looking around the house with wide eyes, in awe of the size of the mansion. “Wait, Chanyeol, where do your parents live, or sleep?”
“Ah, our parents live next door. Hahaha,” Chanyeol chuckles when he sees Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s reactions, mouths agape and too stunned to say anything. “They have their house, too. This was a present to my brother for his achievements both in his academic and business lives, despite his proneness to injury. The rest of my siblings and I followed him with succeeding very well in school and so we all chose to live with him. Our parents didn’t mind, because it meant that they could enjoy the privacy and frequent company. You see, they’re quite the party kind of people, the ones that throw a gala or whatever. They have rooms there to serve as guests’ bedrooms.”
“Wow,” is all that Baekhyun and Kyungsoo breathe out. Chanyeol continues to smile and chuckles, beckoning them to follow him upstairs. “And now I shall present you the second floor. Come on.”
The twins and Chanyeol go up the stairs, and from the second floor landing, they can see the entry door and the living room. Joonmyeon comes by and waves hello to them, and joins them on the tour. Kyungsoo notices that the railing cuts off the path a little past Joonmyeon’s bedroom door, but it does not quite reach the glass wall.
“Come on closer to the railings, it’s totally safe. These railings are chrome, and they are quite sturdy.” Chanyeol leads Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to the railings. They look down to see the living room, the backyard outside, and the Han River.
“Wow, I bet it gets really beautiful during sunsets and sunrises,” Baekhyun comments.
“Yep, it does, babe. Every night, when we’re around in the house, we always get to watch the sunsets. It’s not everyday that we can get the sunrise though, but if we do, we look at it from that window over there” - Chanyeol points post the twins’ direction behind them, and the twins turn around to see a huge window placed above the entry door - “we just tend to keep it to ourselves anyway and savor the view. We’ll watch the sunset together later in the evening after dinner,” Chanyeol wraps his arms around Baekhyun’s middle, resting his chin on Baekhyun’s head. Kyungsoo smiles at the couple and sees to the other end of the second floor, he sees that the railing cuts off the path a little past Bora and Hyojung’s bedroom door and, like Joonmyeon’s railing, does not reach the glass wall.
“You like what you see, Kyungsoo-yah?” Kyungsoo is startled when he hears the voice and, at the same time, he feels a shoulder brushing his arm. He looks around to see Joonmyeon leaning against the railings with his elbows resting on top of the handrail, looking at him sincerely. Kyungsoo blushes before looking away, anywhere except Joonmyeon, and he nods with a small voice, “Mhmm~ I’m really impressed with this house…I have never seen one like it before.”
“This right here is my bedroom,” Chanyeol points to his door, somehow oddly placed on the shorter wall, like Jinki’s bedroom, instead of the longer wall like the other bedrooms do. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun crane their necks to see the door. It has a big flame symbol engraved on it as well, and what seems to be a bird with flaming wings placed in the center of the fire symbol. “This used to be a study for the previous owner but when we moved in, I had it renovated, but I still like the oddity of the door placement. It’s quite unique, yeah? I got that fire design from that one cartoon tv show about a kid who could bend four elements, I forgot the name of the show, it’s been a long time ago. It was really awesome though. He had friends who could only one of the four elements, but he could do all four. Pretty cool, yeah? And then at the belly of the flames is a phoenix, something I came up with. ‘Cause you know, phoenixes are birds of fire and they are often reborn from ashes. I kind like the idea of a phoenix born of fire and created from fire.” Baekhyun and Kyungsoo eye the door with surprised looks on their faces, nodding in agreement.
“The bathroom is in between my bedroom and noonas’ bedroom, which is over there,” Chanyeol points to the only door on the other end of the second floor.
“But where does Joonmyeon shower?” Baekhyun asks.
“Oh, he lets me go through his room to shower in there or I can use the one downstairs, it doesn’t matter which one for me,” Joonmyeon replies.
Chanyeol nods, “I let him through my bedroom to take a shower if Jinki-hyung is using it. But really, I’m kind of jealous of our noonas. Their bedroom is a master’s bedroom since they have so much space. Even though they’re not twins, what with Bora-noona being the older by one year to Hyojung-noona, they share everything together.”
“Sarangdo palgo saneun, sok-i-go sonneun sesang, oroji midgo uijihan~”
“Oh no…not again…” Chanyeol mutters to himself as he facepalms. Joonmyeon chuckles.
“Dangshinmanjeodo nareul beorishin Seoul-i~”
“Wait what, was that Bora-noona?” Chanyeol removes his hand from his face, confused at the change of voice.
“MIWEO MIWEOJYEOSSEOYO~~OHH~~”
“Anndd of course, it was Hyojung-noona again,” Chanyeol says dejectedly, hanging his head.
Baekhyun and Kyungsoo stare at each other before Kyungsoo signs to Baekhyun, [that Quotation-Mark S-eo-u-l *Kyungsoo signs the name sign for ‘Seoul’* Woman from G-i-m S-u-h-ui?] (Was that “Seoul Woman” by Kim Soohee?). Baekhyun nods, wondering why Hyojung and Bora are singing an old classic song.
The Kim brothers watch Kyungsoo and Baekhyun have their small conversation, and Chanyeol pipes in, “I think I know what Kyungsoo was asking. Did you too, hyung?” He shoots the question to Joonmyeon, cocking his head side to side in a weird manner, as if he is unsure of what he could understand. “You were asking if that was “Seoul Woman” by Kim Soohee, yes? ‘Cause it was.” Chanyeol asks Kyungsoo, smiling.
Not surprised that Chanyeol has understood the alphabet already, Kyungsoo beams and nods, “Yeah, I was asking Baekhyun about that. Why is - or are, since Bora-noona was joining in - Hyojung-noona and Bora-noona singing such a classic song? Are they artists?”
“Yeah, free-lance artists; they’re singing, rapping, and dance instructors, more like. They like to call themselves SISTAR19. They teach at a nearby dance studio.”
Baekhyun nods, “That sounds like Jonghyun-hyung with the ‘free-lance artist’ thing going on. Does Hyojung belt out often? You make it sound like she’s either done this song too many times or she’s constantly singing wherever she goes…”
Chanyeol groans while nodding, and Joonmyeon does not hesitate to snicker. “My brother does that too, writing his own compositions and then singing and belting out whenever he can. It’s quite annoying, really.” Baekhyun shakes his head at the memory of what had happened last week Tuesday.
“Saranghandani mal geuri eo-reomni, hanmadi mal-imyeon dweneun geol~”
“Oh god, let’s go inside my room, it’s less noisy in there,” just as Hyojung is about to sing, Chanyeol takes Baekhyun’s hand and wraps his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulders, leading them to his room. Joonmyeon laughs as he follows along.
As Chanyeol shuts the door after the group enters his room, they hear the singing, but it is muffled and reduced to a quieter volume. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo look around Chanyeol’s room. Near the entry door, the twins notice a desk and Chanyeol’s bed near them. The bed is flushed against the corner of the room, with the window at its foot. There is another door between a bookshelf and a closet, and Kyungsoo assumes it to be the door that leads to the bathroom. The bookshelf is opposite the bed, and the closet faces the door. There is another bookshelf between the twins and the bathroom door. Chanyeol mutters, “Phew, it sounds be-
“NAL JOM BA~RA~BWA~~AHH”
“NOOOO!!” Chanyeol moans, turning around as he covers his face with his hands. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo look at him with pity.
“OH MAH BOYYYY~ MAH BOYYY~~~”
Joonmyeon replies for Chanyeol, “Yeah, Hyojung-noona and Bora-noona have been practicing for a stage performance that’s coming up soon at our hyung’s workplace. That song you just heard is a composition of their own, My Boy. You guys should come, too.”
Chanyeol drops his hands suddenly with a gasp, looking at Joonmyeon. “Oh yeah, I remembered that Jonghyun-hyung works at the same place as Jinki-hyung! Fantastic, you guys can come to our hyung’s café and we can hang out with everyone there!!”
“AH OPPA! WHAT DID YOU JUST PUT IN THERE?!”
CRASH…
Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo and Joonmyeon look at each other in alarm. Joonmyeon quickly opens Chanyeol’s door and they hear two loud gasps.
“Is everything alright down there?” Joonmyeon leaves the room and the trio hears him going down the stairs hurriedly. They decide to follow him down.
When the trio arrives to the kitchen, they see Joonmyeon standing in the way, Hyojung nervously biting her nail and leaning on the island counter, and Jinki and Bora cleaning up the mess on the floor, with the glass bowl somehow miraculously surviving the crash with an intact form. The mess consists of many marinated pork belly strips with slices of carrots and zucchini, and there is an odor of red chili pepper paste with soy sauce.
Kyungsoo wrinkles his nose in slight disgust, wondering what made the smell so extreme. Chanyeol asks the group, “Guys, what happened?”
Hyojung looks at Chanyeol with wide eyes, stopping mid-action of biting her nails, and appears to feel a bit giddy. “Oppa mixed up an ingredient…hehehe…He accidently tossed in some salt when it was supposed to be sugar…and he thought some water would cut down on the saltiness. Bora saw what he was doing, and tried to stop him because he had been so distracted with our singing, hehehe. He was gonna cook you guys some Je-yook Bokk-eum for dinner…”
“Sorry, guys…It’s my fault. Guess we’ll just have to order take-out…Who wants fried chi-“
“NO, OPPA.”
“NO, HYUNG.”
Baekhyun and Kyungsoo and Jinki are surprised at the unison of Chanyeol, Joonmyeon, Hyojung and Bora hastily refusing the offer. Bora has her index finger out, pointing at Jinki, as if to scold him.
“We will get Tangpyeonchae and Den Jang Jiggae, with Ojing-eo Gui. Not. Fried. Chicken. Again. Oppa.” Bora says.
Joonmyeon picks up the phone that is resting on its dock on the island counter and calls a food place to place the orders for Mung Bean Jelly Noodles with Vegetables, Miso Soup, and Grilled Squid.
In thirty minutes, the food arrives and everyone is enjoying dinner and chatting. Save for Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, everyone else is relieved that it is not fried chicken for the fourth week.
“Hyung,” Chanyeol speaks up to Jinki after some chatter has died down, “I forgot to mention that I met Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s brother, Jonghyun-hyung last week. Apparently, he works at your place, hyung, and I was thinking maybe we could invite Baekhyun and Kyungsoo to your café. Have fun with the crowd, listen to our friends and other people singing, as well as our noonas…” - Chanyeol glances at Hyojung and Bora with a smile, who are looking at him expectantly - “performing and, you know, see what it looks like?”
“Sounds like a good plan! Baekhyun-ah, Kyungsoo-ah, you guys are more than welcome to come over to my café, ChaKeo Corner, and invite your friends! I’m the manager of the place though we have two groups of people working together. We have some spaces available for those who are interested in singing. Nothing formal to dress up, unless you want to. We have some guests performing mellow rock, like uhm…who was it? Ah, Yonghwa, Jonghyun, Minhyuk and Jungshin, I forget their band name, they are not regulars but they come by now and then, it was something Blue…or was it SceneBlue? Seenblue? I don’t know…and then ballads, some slow pop songs, nice café genres. Oh yeah, you guys should come by around Friday next week. We have this duo, these two guys performing that day…I forget their names but they are a Kim and a Nam, they’re sort of regulars…or maybe seldomers, haha. I call them something about a tree, though. AH! Tree! Namu…or Nam woo…I don’t know that guy’s name. Oh yeah, I call them a plant couple.”
Jinki smiles and looks around expectantly, hoping that everyone gets the joke. Chanyeol and Joonmyeon stare at their hyung with disbelief. Hyojung snorts and cackles out loud, as Bora tries not to laugh, putting on a serious face. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun look at each other and shrugs, confused.
Joonmyeon blinks, “Hyung…” Jinki looks at him, who appears to be shaking his head with a deadpanned look. “That was corny.”
Part 2 (because LJ told me it's too large.) D: