+ five

Narda bit back her tears after what he said to her because she knew she deserved that. How could she argue with him? She had done all of that for his attention, and now she had it. She should have felt otherwise overjoyed, happy. But that wasn't the kind of attention she wanted from him.

She waited until he left her alone in front of her apartment building, crossing the street and returning to the dorm building, before she found the sufficient energy within her to move a muscle. It was like she was a statue sitting there until she realized it was time to return to the warmth of the apartment before she could catch a cold. 

Entering the apartment and feeling a warm gust hit her as she opened the door, she noticed that Nari was no longer in the living room watching her Korean dramas. It wasn't very late, but in the last few days that she had been living there, she had noticed that whenever Nari went to sleep very early, it meant she would be waking up at dawn to go to work the next morning. Narda was relieved. She didn't want Nari to see her looking so gloomy and asking her what was wrong. 

For the next few days after that, Narda went about her life normally--about as normal as a person in a foreign country could live. 

Soon it was her first day of work and she got up around the same time as Nari for her teaching job which would start at eight thirty in the morning. She had been prepared in her teacher's uniform--she would be working at a high class private school, packed some lunch for herself, and had prepared a lesson plan for the day with the children. 

Thanks to Nari, she had been able to find a public transportation route that would get her to the front gates of the school and she headed out an hour early, hoping for a good first day. Since she was teaching the children foreign language, she would only give a one hour lesson to each class, and six lessons total throughout the day. It wasn't a difficult task for the twenty year old, and it kept her distracted from thinking that Baekhyun--her bias--probably hated her now and didn't want anything to do with her.

Her first day, which also happened to be the first day back for the students, was mostly filled with introductions and Narda observing just how much English the children really knew. 

When the final bell for the day rang, the children were dismissed by their full-day teacher who had attended the language session with them. Narda gathered her belongings in her book bag and was ready to leave the school grounds. Once after returning home, she had planned to ask Nari to show her how to make rice cakes. 

It was a simple treat she wanted to offer the kpop idol across the street as a peace offering, and she thought that home made ones would be much more meaningful than store-bought ones.

She hurried back to her apartment with the idea still fresh in her mind. 

-

Nari wasn't home yet when Narda returned from her teaching job  that afternoon and the twenty year old sat on the couch impatiently waiting for her flat mate.

She arrived almost an hour later, in the evening hours, and Narda shot up from her place on the couch to meet her. "Nari!" She shouted with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. "I need you to do me a huge favor and teach me how to make rice cakes. This is very important."

Watching her flat mate with a confused expression, Nari asked, "Why do you want to make rice cakes?"

"I want to give them to that boy I told you about yesterday, the one I met across the street." Narda replied, keeping the details to herself. She couldn't tell Nari she had planned the whole thing to meet her idol and that he had ultimately found out the truth, potentially hating her now. It was just the kind of person Nari wanted to avoid having in her apartment.

"Why don't we just go to the market and buy some?" Nari asked, as though it were obvious.

"Home made is more meaningful. Please Nari." Narda pleaded bringing her hands together and making a pout face.

The hair stylist sighed. It hadn't been a very long day for her, but when she thought about returning home for the day, she didn't think she would be spending the rest of her time making rice cakes. "Alright, I'll help you. But promise you won't make a mess. Rice flour is very powdery and gets all over the place if one isn't careful." She explained with a small warning about the rice flour. She had decided that she would assist Narda in her attempts at winning over the mysterious guy from across the street she had been going on about. She could even make rice cakes for her sweetheart, who wasn't her boyfriend yet, but it was just about official. He only needed to make it that way.

-

The process of making the rice cakes was simple, and Narda learned about the different types to make. But Nari helped her make the sweet kind, with red bean filling in them. Narda had been unsure whether beans were a good combination with rice cakes. In her own culture, beans were meant to be eaten with salt, tortillas, and cheese. Nari assured her that was the proper recipe and the two girls made dozens of small rice cakes in different colors.

As soon as they were ready, Nari helped Narda put them in a cute box with a ribbon tied around it and the foreigner was off. 

She made her way across the street where the SM Town dorm building was located. With the box of warm rice cakes in her hand, she waited for the group to return from their schedule for the day. 

On this particular day they returned a bit later than normal. Their practice had run longer than it normally did and when they returned, it was already night time. The got out of their cars tired, in their practice clothing, and they walked with dragging feet toward the entrance of the building.

When Narda spotted Baekhyun in the crowd of boys, she called out to him, "Baekhyun oppa!"

The other boys paid no attention, since she wasn't calling out to them anyway. But Baekhyun took one glance in her direction, immediately recognized the young woman, and hurried into the dorm building in a blatant display that let her know he was ignoring her. 

Narda's expression dropped to a frown.

She stood there in the cold, debating whether or not she should try to enter the building. Perhaps if she explained to the security guards what she was trying to do, then they would let her see him. But that was highly unlikely and she knew it. 

The last one to get out of his car was Chanyeol who had fallen asleep on the ride home and was just being woken up by the driver. By this time, all the other boys were already inside the building and he was the only one left. He saw a lonely young woman standing on the sidewalk with a gift wrapped box in her hands and a pout on her lips. He also recognized her--as the little liar--but didn't ignore her presence like his group made had done just minutes earlier. 

He walked up to her slowly, with his hands in his pockets, his messy hair hidden beneath a cap he had been wearing all day. He had to duck a bit to meet her glance since she was almost a whole foot shorter than him, and she had hear gaze lowered with slumped shoulders. "The little liar is back." He told her in his heavily accented english, with a tone of amusement lacing his every word.

Narda looked up at him. "You knew?"

He gave a nod of his head. "It was obvious."

"Baekhyun didn't notice until much later." She argued.

"Because I told him." He confessed to her with a sigh. A part of him almost feared what her reaction would be. He had heard of fans who went to crazy extents to meet their idols. A lot of them were known to take rejection badly. "He's my friend and you were lying to him, he had to know. Sometimes Baekhyun is too innocent for his own good."

Narda wasn't even upset at him for telling Baekhyun, even though she wanted to be because he had ruined her chances with him, as she saw it. But deep in the back of her mind she knew this had all been her fault, and she couldn't blame Chanyeol for it.

The twenty year old said nothing. And gesturing to the box in her hands, he asked, "What's that you got there?"

"I made rice cakes as an apology present for Baekhyun oppa. But he ignored me. He wants nothing to do with me now." Narda explained in embarrassment, her cheeks showing a light tint of pink in them. In her culture it wasn't customary for girls to give boys presents, but rather the other way around. Doing this for Baekhyun had taken a lot of courage on her part, only to be coldly rejected by the kpop idol who was mad at her.

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, he asked another question, "You know how to make rice cakes?" He was genuinely impressed that she even knew what rice cakes were. Most western people knew nothing about the rest of the world, especially Americans. He always thought they were so focused on themselves and their own country to think about others.

Narda made a face. "I didn't. But my flat mate showed me."

He licked his lips as he thought about having the treats she had made for Baekhyun. With a grin on his face, he reached for the box and said, "If Baekhyun didn't want them, I'll make sure to give them a good home." He assured her, placing a hand on his stomach hungrily. It was just about dinner time and he would be having the rice cakes for desert.

The young woman handed over the box to him with a sigh. "Might as well. I won't eat them."

"Have you even tried them before?" He wondered, looking at the pink treats in the box with the transparent lid.

She nodded as a childhood memory resurfaced in her mind, "I tried them when I was a kid. My teacher was Japanese-Caucasian and she brought back tiny rice cake treats that she bought when she visited her parents in Japan one time. I remember them being very chewy, but very good." She remembered the small white rice cake balls with no filling in them. She had liked those the most.

"Korean ones are better." He assured her with a wink.

For the first time that night after Baekhyun's indifference, Narda cracked a smile. "If you say so." Gesturing to the apartment building across the street, she told him, "Well, I should go. I have been standing here waiting for you guys for about an hour and I feel like a walking popsicle."

"Take care." Chanyeol waved at her. "And thanks for the treats."

-

Chanyeol entered the lounge room several minutes after the other boys were already there. The food was warm and ready--because they had gotten out of practice late, the agency had made sure to get them food that would be there waiting for them upon their return.

The taller of the EXO boys took his usual seat next to Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, placing the gift wrapped box on the table.

"Where'd you get that?" Kyungsoo wondered, looking at the box of treats.

Chanyeol replied casually, "A girl gave them to me."

"Did someone confess their undying love for you tonight?" Jong-dae joked, the other boys laughed and added kissing sounds.

Baekhyun figured who had given Chanyeol the box was Narda, and that it was meant for him, and not Chanyeol. But he remained silent. He didn't want to talk about how he had been tricked by a foreign girl--not in front of the rest of his group members. They would think him naive, Chanyeol already thought that of him.

Chanyeol played along with his group member's words. "Yeah, she said she was so in love with me. Came all the way from her country just to confess her love, and make rice cakes for me."

"Well, are you gonna share, hyung?" Sehun wondered, getting up from his chair and reaching across the table for the small box with treats in them.

But Chanyeol swatted his hand away, replying with a shake of his head. "I can't share with you because these treats are meaningful. She meant them for me, and only I can eat them." There was a grin on his face like he was almost too happy to be declaring that those rice cakes were just for him. He couldn't be sure if Chanyeol was being serious or if he was joking.

She meant them for me probably, Baekhyun sighed as he the thought involuntarily popped into his mind. 

At least his room mate was able to take the situation lightly.

-

a longer chapter today because i feel inspired.

*sniff sniff* do i smell a second lead? haha. i honestly hope you all enjoy the update. im so happy today bc my boss is out on a four day weekend and i dont have to see her until monday. she's so insufferable i swear.

anyway, have a great week guys! i might go to disneyland again this friday, which makes me very happy! so wish me luck. and then this sunday im going to teen choice awards where exo WAS NOMINATED. i honestly doubt they'll be there, but if they won something, i hope they sent in a thank you video or something.

-clary xx