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Do Kyungsoo was pounding at the door at approximately quarter past noon in annoyance at her lack of response. She was panicking, plucking her very bushy eyebrows in her bathroom. She heard everything he was saying; the mumbling, swearing. But eyebrows come first.

He came alone for the first time. Kyungri's time came to stay with her mother for the week as he finally enjoyed the alone time he craved. It felt good, yet it was quite lonely not hearing her cheerful voice early in the morning as his personal alarm clock.

Ara stumbled to the door, makeup half finished and hair in a messy bun, opening it to reveal his irate facial expression painted on his face.

Kyungsoo's eyes scanned her quickly before sighing. "Seriously? You're not even done?"

"Good afternoon to you too," she responded sarcastically whilst opening the door further to let him in. "I just need to finish my eyebrows and comb out my hair. Then I'll be completely done."

All of that sounded extremely long — being married for several years to the queen of ego's proved that when females claim their makeup will be over soon meant it would be half an hour tops.

"Give me the hairbrush," he found himself saying firmly. Even Ara turned around from her filling in and tilted her head.

"Hm?"

"We're super late and it's better to kill two birds with one stone."

Following Ara to her weirdly purple bathroom, Kyungsoo spotted the brush on one of the cabinets and picked it up. Ara was still very confused at his gesture.

"Sit."

She obediently sat on the bathroom stool directly opposite the huge mirror. Honestly, she was worried. What if Kyungsoo pulled a clump of her prized hair out? The dying process cost her a months worth of rent, and when presenting the new brown hair to her parents, instead of recieving praise she was awarded with a slap.

"I'm not going to kill you," he assured her when he spotted her unsure look. "I used to brush Juhyun's hair all the time. You might as well call me a hair stylist for the amount of experience I have."

He began smoothly brushing out Ara's chocolate tangles, the normally bone straight strands waving slightly at the ends. She was surprised to feel no pain whatsoever.

"I'm impressed, Do Kyungsoo," Ara mused as he stayed focused, his eyes somehow cutely narrowed and tongue peeping out.

"You should believe me more. I'm more interesting than I let on."

Upon finishing, Kyungsoo managed to straighten her hair better than she's ever done before. The once quite damaged dyed hair became silky and smooth; treated with care and precision. Ara threaded her fingers through, murmuring words of appreciation at the softness.

"I should really pay you for your talent," she gratefully said after they left the bathroom to get ready for the barbeque. "My current hairdresser is a total sham — but she's the closest one to home."

"Sorry, Ara, but a session with me will set you back thousands. But, I'm having an opening discount!"

Ara put a light jacket on and left her apartment alongside him, locking the door. "How selfless."

The barbeque was based in Park Chanyeol's parents house. Meaning his house too; the guy was too scared to move away. It was pretty, a white exterior and caramel interior, photos of the adorable Park family scattered around their two floor home. The backyard was large and had magnolias planted around the outside of the trimmed space. There was a huge barbeque in the middle with a long table around where paper plates and utensils sat. There were also bowls of salad for those who were on imaginary diets.

Chanyeol raced to the pair, hugging them both. "You came!"

Peeling his tall friend off, Kyungsoo laughed. "I come every year. Why you surprised?"

"I was talking about Ara, but okay."

He pretended to not be totally humiliated by Chanyeol's swift put–down, instead moving to greet his other close friends with hand slaps and hugs. Ara found Taeyeon tapping on her phone intensely, sitting down beside her.

"Hey!"

Taeyeon pulled her into a squeezy hug and Ara could swear she felt her stomach rip and deflate or something. She was slightly light headed after the hug. Taeyeon looked great as usual; her raven colored hair styled in a ponytail, and a pair of shorts and printed t–shirt made her seem casual but extremely chic. Ara felt overdressed with her coral sundress and white wedged heels to make her five foot stature taller. At least she surpassed Kyungsoo's height.

A yelp from what seemed to be Jongdae diverted their attention to the barbeque where he was screaming. Minseok was holding a bottle of ice cold water from the table and throwing it at his hysterical state. Turned out the hot coal somehow hit his eye, proving extremely painful. It was funny, however, watching everyone panic.

"Welcome to the annual barbeque," Taeyeon beamed, both girls bursting into laughter. "At least you weren't here last year. Sehun went to hospital after tripping face first onto the brick wall. He was bleeding for hours."

Watching the guys try to calm down the now sobbing Jongdae was weird. They didn't have a clue on how to console a crying person. "I seriously don't see how Kyungsoo hangs out with people so extroverted!"

"It's crazy. But their differences kind of weave together and make them closer. They bring out the loud in Kyungsoo which you've probably never experienced."

Ara definitely believed loud and Kyungsoo weren't something even remotely compatible in a sentence. "Huh?"

"He may seem composed, but when he's excited he's like the smallest child ever, like a penguin. Hence why his nickname is so."

"That's adorable! I've yet to see why he's called that."

"Guys, the sausages are ready! Come and get it!" Chanyeol hollered, consequently ending their interesting conversation. Ara and Taeyeon walked together towards the barbeque and took a sausage on a stick. It looked delicious and tasted better.

"They taste amazing," Ara muttered after swallowing. "Did you make the sausages or buy them?"

"Oh!" Chanyeol suddenly patted the phone faced Kyungsoo on his back. "This little guy marinated everything and I'm just the designated barbeque guy. Trust me when I say this, Kyungsoo is like the Korean Gordon Ramsey."

The shorter flushed a little before turning to Ara. "Untrue. He's lying. Anyways, the marinating was easy. It's just Chanyeol's very bad at cooking."

"For a guy who can't even stand straight without wobbling, I'm shocked to see him actually not cause a dangerous fire," Taeyeon grumbled.

Holding a spear awfully close to Taeyeon, Chanyeol gasped dramatically. "Did you just assume my skills?"

"Baekhyun, control your best friend!"

"I'm sorry you had to witness all of this," Kyungsoo gestured to Baekhyun who was now attempting to save his girlfriend, with failure. "My friends aren't normal at all."

Ara shrugged. "I think normal's boring, though. It's better than sitting down playing chess or mahjong."

"Hey! Mahjong's actually pretty fun, okay?"

"Why am I not surprised?"

He lightly pushed Ara's slight body away from him in a playful manner, and retorted with a harder one that tripped him up.

"Do you really want to go there, Jung Ara?" Kyungsoo warned with a fake stern facial expression.

"Figuratively, where will we be going?"

"Guys, come here and let's go eat!" Taeyeon hollered out from the table. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving."

The pair dashed straight to the tables once hearing the special three letter word. Chanyeol had stacked dozens of sesame seed bun covered burgers alongside spicy chicken wings and grilled vegetables. It looked wonderful; something she'd never expected from a guy who still asked his friends to tie his laces. People can surprise you.

Everyone sat together across the table, Ara sitting comfortably between Taeyeon and a sullen Jongdae. He was wearing a badly fashioned eye patch and snivelling whilst biting down on a juicy burger. It seemed his priority was relieving his appetite rather than a real medical issue. However, upon tasting the burger, she definitely realized why he was scarfing it down. It was amazing.

"I feel like we've found our missing puzzle," Baekhyun blurted out, obviously indicating their newfound friend.

"She doesn't even speak," Kyungsoo replied before rolling his eyes. "She's meaner than you think."

She flicked a lettuce leaf at him, successfully hitting his nose. "To you, because I don't like you."

"We seriously need to explore your crass side more," Chanyeol commented with a chuckle at Kyungsoo's sudden silence. To the guys, it was humorous to see how she'd beat him in his own game. The years of taunting and ill–mannered quips from him to the others had been stopped by a certain Ara.

Minseok was ruffling his silky hair. "Kyungsoo thinks he's cool. As you get to know him, you'll realize he's really not."

"I think she's realized that already," Taeyeon added — at this moment, the embarrassed guy was voluntarily ignoring everyone's snide remarks and chewing on sliced tomato.

After the food was successfully polished off everyone's paper plates and the area cleaned up, the clock struck seven. It took ages due to Chanyeol bringing out his portable DJ set and playing some popular tunes loud enough for Ara's family in another city probably hearing it. She made a face at the time as she'd need to be awake early for university assignments needed for Monday. It was essays after essays, sadly, and if she wasted time now, that would be something she'd regret.

"I need to leave!" Minseok announced, taking his stuff. "I completely forgot that I left my door unlocked! See you around everyone."

That began the surge of people leaving also. Taeyeon had an early hairdresser appointment tomorrow to change her dark locks into a platinum blonde. Risky and shocking, but Ara had no doubt that her symmetrical face would suit it. Baekhyun followed briskly, and so did Sehun. He needed someone to drive him home; he was notorious within his friendship group because he'd failed the driving test four times, and was unemployed for a while. Jongdae left still pouting and his eye a scary red. It looked freaky, honestly.

Chanyeol gave both Kyungsoo and Ara equally painful hugs, and once they were released, they held their ribs in pain.

"Let's go," Kyungsoo offered. "I don't think my driving will be on par to how I usually drive, though. I currently can't breathe."

"Your friends are a weird bunch."

It was new not having the babbling small girl sitting at the backseat, murmuring random words on what she saw through the windows. It was quiet, but refreshing. The sky was darkening and people were commuting back home after a long Saturday. The barbeque was a huge success, and Ara was getting accustomed to her newfound friends. Making friends with her neighbour was a whole new life to her.

"The guys want to add you to our group chat," Kyungsoo muttered, his eyes trained on the roads.

Ara was finding it hard not to snigger. "Seriously? That's cute. Tell them I'll only join on one condition."

"Which is?"

"Kyungri has to be on the group chat also."

He scoffed. "Kyungri doesn't even know how to count up to a hundred; she thinks a phone is a 'magic shiny thingie'."

"I guess my phone will stay group chat-less," Ara shrugged in a sarcastic manner. "But honestly, how does it feel being the only father in your group of friends?"

"It doesn't really make a difference...I was technically always their father even though I am one of the younger ones. All through school I was the responsible one. I even got Baekhyun out of his holding cell once after he got done for disorderly conduct and his family were out of the country."

A lightbulb struck open in Ara's mind. The last sentence ran back to yesterday after her juicy conversation with Taeyeon. "Ah, the beginnings of the real life Romeo and Juliet?"

"Taeyeon told you?" Kyungsoo's eyes flashed briefly to Ara's grinning ones. "Yeah, they truly are Romeo and Juliet, without the deaths of course. We all bet that after the wretched couple, they'd be the next to wed."

"They always seem so happy. How do they do that?"

The car halted at a red light, and Kyungsoo used it as an opportunity to finally give Ara eye contact. "You see, young one, happiness isn't always cooperation and agreements within a couple. It's also when you're able to live beyond the imperfections of your loved one, and see that the flaws are what make us more perfect. Trust me when I say Taeyeon's a saint for sticking with Baekhyun."

"That's quite deep. What's up with Baek? He seems cool."

Kyungsoo's eyebrows raised. "He's a great guy, don't get me wrong. But he has an awful tendency to get agitated when things don't go his way. Being with Taeyeon's really simmered that down, but she certainly can't change his permanent ways. His pickiness sometimes reminds me of Juhyun."

The car resumed through the journey towards their apartment complex, and Ara sniggered. "There must be something that made you two click. Surely?"

"Yeah...it was all a faze. What I finally realized after divorcing her is that took this attraction we had for each other and forced it into a long–term relationship," Kyungsoo started whilst biting his lip. "We literally married fresh out of university; even my parents were super confused at the haste engagement and wedding. It was great for a while, Kyungri was born, we had a lovely new house. Then reality hit us."

"And what did reality do?"

"We divorced, blatantly. And I got to know you."

—»

Thank you so so