+ eight

Narda was pressed up against the door to the apartment, trapped between the door itself and Chanyeol. There was no room for her to move, if even slightly. His soft lips were pressed against hers, seeking entrance into her mouth, and he had to lean down quite a bit, since she was almost a whole foot shorter than him. Meanwhile Narda was completely frozen in place, taken by surprise at the sudden kiss he was giving her. 

She would have fallen backward when the door opened behind her, if it hadn't been for Chanyeol taking notice as he saw it open slowly and he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her towards him. Startled, and trying to regain her balance, Narda threw her arms around Chanyeol to stabilize herself. With his lips on hers, his arm around her waist, and her arms around his neck, they looked to be now in a compromising position.

The door to the apartment opened and the two standing in the hallway were met with Nari and Kyungsoo who had been in the apartment the entire time. Once Chanyeol picked Narda up, Nari called him to go spend time with her. He had just finished his schedules for the day and had stopped by to visit her for a few minutes before returning to the dorms. He was extremely tired and wanted to go to sleep, but he first wanted to see Nari. With all his schedules, even though she worked for SM as his stylist, he rarely got to see her. Chanyeol and Narda were still in each other's arms for a second before Narda pulled back with widened eyes, but she wasn't able to get far because Chanyeol's arm around her waist was not letting go.

She cleared her throat awkwardly and wiped her lips with the back of her hand out of mere instinct. Not because she hadn't liked the kiss, but because she felt her lipstick had smeared and she felt it surrounding the outline of her lips. Nari watched them both with a pleased grin and she shot them a thumb's up, making Narda burn with a visible blush. Chanyeol, on the other hand, was grinning like an idiot. Kyungsoo, the only one there who had no idea what was happening, looked from one to the other with confusion.

"What's happening here?" Kyungsoo wondered, raising an eyebrow at them in question.

He knew that Chanyeol was into Narda, which could only be described by what he saw as an infatuation or maybe even an obsession, but he also knew that she didn't feel the same way about him. She wanted to be with Baekhyun from the very beginning. Seeing Narda and Chanyeol making out in the hallway made him think that maybe she was leading him on. If that was the case, he wasn't going to hesitate to step in. 

Nari placed a hand on his shoulder, a smile evident in her tone as she spoke. "They just went on a date, Soo. Let them be." Other than a smile, there was also clear approval for them. She cared about Narda and she thought she could be happy with Chanyeol if she could just give him a chance.

Kyungsoo turned towards her with surprise, eyes widening. "You helped them do this, jagi?"

She nodded innocently and gave a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't see what the harm is. They're both single. They're both adults. Let them do what they want with their lives." 

While he knew that she was right, he also knew that something that could mean nothing to Narda meant everything to Chanyeol. He really liked her, and Kyungsoo just didn't want things to end badly for his friend. Chanyeol would probably be completely invested in the relationship. Though he thought Chanyeol was annoying, obnoxious, and a pain in the ass most of the time, he was Kyungsoo's friend. No matter what, he cared about Chanyeol. They had been in a group for years now, and they were like brothers.

He finally heaved a sigh and said, "Lets go back to the dorms, hyung." 

Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were so comfortable with each other that it was on very rare occasions that the younger vocalist called the EXO rapped hyung, and Chanyeol was okay with that. They were about the same age anyway. It was something of a surprise when he did use the honorific language with him.

He grabbed the older boy by the arm and practically dragged him down the hallway. All the while, Chanyeol remained with his goofy smile plastered across his lips, waving an eternal goodbye at Narda who watched him go from her apartment door. Kyungsoo led Chanyeol down the stairs to the lobby and both boys almost died when the older of the two almost tripped on his own feet in his distraction.

Once the boys disappeared down the hall, Nari pulled her friend into the apartment, barely able to contain her excitement and her joy. She had ad first disliked the idea of two of her friends dating--when she found out that Narda was obsessed with Baekhyun. But now the idea of Chanyeol and Narda dating was something that she didn't mind, especially when she knew that Chanyeol absolutely adored Narda. She trusted that he would never do anything to hurt her feelings, like Baekhyun did. She also knew that the only way for her friend to get over Baekhyun was by seeing other people, and Narda didn't trust any other men other than Chanyeol and her co worker Daniel.

Nari pulled her into the living room and sat her down on the couch. Narda already knew an interrogation was coming, before her friend even started to speak. She found that she was right when Nari opened her mouth. "Omo, I'm so happy for you, Guti! Tell me everything." She gushed, holding her friend's hands in hers. Narda all the while was still in something of a daze. Like she couldn't believe all of that had happened--the date with him, the song that he wrote her, and finally the kiss. It all felt like a dream.

"He kissed me, Nari." Narda said absentmindedly, a hand went up to touch her lips in disbelief.

"I know." Nari nodded with excitement.

Surprising even herself, Narda admitted, "I can't even say I didn't like it because I did."

"That's good, Guti." Her friend tried to encourage her. But after noticing her facial expression, she found herself asking, "But then, why do you look so...upset?"

A sigh made its way out of Narda's lips. "I still really like Baekhyun, and I don't want to date Chanyeol and then have it turn out that I really can't fall in love with him. He's a wonderful guy, and super sweet. He wrote me a song." She informed her friend, to which Nari responded by being surprised at the extent he reached to make that night a memorable one for Narda. Narda soon continued. "I just don't want to hurt his feelings. That's the most important thing for me right now. I don't want to lose his friendship."

"I get it." Nari nodded in understanding, thinking back to something in her own life which she could relate to. "Soo and I started out as good friends too, and it was hard to accept that I liked him as more than that because I didn't want things to end badly, and I'd end up losing him. Just talk to Chanyeol and be honest with him."

Narda decided that she would. It was the best thing for the two of them.

-

The next night, the four girls who were neighbors, decided to have a sleep over at Florencia's apartment. They were young after all and just wanted a night to themselves, to relax, and even to chat about mindless things which they couldn't really do anymore with their busy schedules. 

Florencia was busy as ever. Companies were booking her left and right, to be the face of their advertisements--some she did on her own, but about half of them were with Sehun. SM Entertainment had also promised to film her audition tape for upcoming Mexican dramas that she wanted to be in. None of them would immediately start filming, which the company and Florencia both saw as beneficial. It meant that she wouldn't absolutely need to return to Mexico any time soon. She also had the Free Smiles organization, her youtube webshow, and her free dance classes to manage.

As a stylist--EXO's official stylist--Nari was always busy. But of the late she had been given extra responsibilities. She was working closely with SM Rookies, and she had informed the girls that there were strong rumors that a new boy group would debut within a year and a half. Nari was got along well with the rookies and was responsible for doing their hair whenever they had public appearances--the same way that she did for EXO when they were rookie trainees.

Acacia had a more laid back schedule. She had declined SM's offer for a contract and took small modeling jobs on the side, and still ran her beauty vlog on youtube. Her most recent job--as Jongin liked to joke with their friends--was making him buy her food in the middle of the night.

And that was putting it nicely. Acacia was having severe mood swings. One moment she was sunshine and smiles at him, they were the best of friends, then suddenly she was mad and snapping at him that she was hungry and that it was his fault they were in this mess. She would later apologize for being mean to him, but he would understand her situation. One of his sisters already had a child, and though he didn't see her often, she would be really moody when he'd visit her. The exact same way as Acacia was behaving. He was used to it by now.

Narda still had her job at the primary school to take care of, and the dance classes she helped Florencia with.

The girls were sitting in front of the television, eating icecream and watching chick flicks. Vivi was sitting on Acacia's lap. Florencia would sometimes comment with envy that Vivi liked Acacia more, and that the only reason that was true was because Vivi was jealous that she was dating Sehun.

Outside, the doorbell rang at the same time that Acacia's phone dinged with a text message. She opened it and read it before jumping off the couch and walking to the door to get it. "Its just Jong with our pizza." She informed the other girls.

She opened the door and just as she had said, the EXO member was standing out in the hallway, with a box of pizza in his hands. On top of it were two other smaller boxes--one with breadsticks and one with wings. "Hey Acacia." He leaned in to give her a friendly peck on the cheek. He then placed a hand on her not yet obvious baby bump and greeted the baby as well. "Hello, Wendy. Have you missed daddy?"

Even after weeks of knowing about their coming baby, they still hadn't gotten back together, not that they had to. Acacia was even back in contact with her former boyfriend--Mexican English actor Andrew Minor, who she broke up with just before leaving for Korea. 

"Thanks for the pizza, Jong." She smiled at him gratefully.

He nodded his head. "No problem. If you need anything, just let me know."

His brief visit ended within five minutes and he disappeared down the hall. Acacia closed the door and licked her lips hungrily as she walked to the others with her pizza. 

"I'm so glad he brought this for us." She said, sitting down on the couch and opening the box to reveal a large pizza with different toppings on it. It was cut up into four sections--cheese only for Narda, veggie lovers for Nari, jalapeno for Florencia, and M&M's for Acacia. The other girls looked on, trying to mask their disgust as the youngest of them grabbed one of her slices and shoved it into her mouth. Pregnant women always had the strangest cravings, and this was one of them. Even Jongin had found it strange when she made the request to him. Acacia added with a mouth full of pizza, "I would't want my baby to be born with a pizza face."

Nari almost choked on her pizza when she heard the words. Next she was erupting into laughter. What sounded totally normal to Florencia and Narda--since they understood Mexican culture--was completely insane to Nari. 

"What did you just say?" The stylist asked.

"Pizza face." Acacia repeated, as though it were the most normal thing in the world.

Narda then began to explain it to her friend. "In Mexican culture, there's this crazy myth. If a pregnant woman wants something to eat, you have to get it for her no matter what it is and no matter what time it is. If you don't do it, then your baby will be born looking like whatever it was she wanted to eat, but couldn't."

"The other day I told Jong the story, when I told him I was craving french fries dipped in soft serve icecream and he didn't want to get it for me. He was so mortified that the baby was going to come out with soft serve icecream face." She giggled in amusement at the memory, but she still believed in the myth in the back of her mind. 

"I'd never heard that myth before." Nari commented, and then decided, "I'm gonna use it when I start having children."

The other girls broke out into fits of laughter, and they continued with their girls night.

-

just a fillerish chapter, since i haven't updated in a while. yesterday was my first day working at mcdonalds, and while it wasn't super hectic or heavy, today im feeling super tired. i kind of dont want to go to work today.

but i have to. the struggles of being an adult. i may update "talk about boys" before i go.

so stay tuned for that. have a wonderful weekend!

-clary