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Juhyun had placed her large cup of coffee onto the dark wooden table belonging to a popular, cozy café. She was wearing the usual lawyer attire consisting of a stylish suit, her hair tied back to reveal the rest of her flawless features. Kyungsoo was wowed. Terribly.

He sat in front of her emotionlessly. "What did you need me for?"

It was a bad time for their meetup to occur. This morning on the usual commute to work, he spotted an oddly depressed Jung Ara as she left her apartment to university. Once approaching her, she'd brushed him off swiftly and left downstairs. Yet, Kyungsoo swore he saw her wipe a few tears away. All he'd wanted to do now, at five in the afternoon, was to find out what made her so upset. Even if it wasn't his place to comfort her, it was common courtesy to at least show her he cared.

"I wanted to apologize," she admitted, expression turning from nonchalance to regret. "The way I acted yesterday was so so wrong."

Hearing Juhyun own up to her mistakes was rare. There was more of a chance that the divorced pair would rekindle their relationship. That rare.

"I appreciate your apology," he responded in gratefulness. "Yesterday was heated, I get it. You're stressed out with all the wedding things, you want it all to be perfect."

"It really isn't," she frowned in an oddly tearful tone. Her gaze averted down to the steaming coffee in front of her. "You won't believe how bad it all is."

Despite Juhyun's grating personality and strive to make everything go her way, hearing the once most important person in Kyungsoo's life upset made him empathise a lot more than he'd hoped.

"What's wrong?"

"Junmyeon and Kyungri..." she trailed off, sniffing. "They don't get along. I'm scared that when we finally wed it'll get worse."

Hearing that was a blur for him. "You mean Kyungri — the nicest, most sweetest child you could ever ask for — doesn't get along with someone? She's friendly to everyone!"

"Well not to Junmyeon! Whenever he tries to play with her and such, she pushes him away rudely. Last night, he put her to bed — his own request. He said when he'd attempted to kiss her goodnight, she ducked under the covers and refused to get up!"

Stifling an incoming chuckle, Kyungsoo sighed. "I'm sure it's not only her. It must be a two–way thing."

"I assure you it's not. Kyungri's become so spoilt! What do you do that makes her feel so entitled?"

"So you're blaming me," he muttered in monotone. "You know what? It's ironic you bring me here to apologize yet critique my parenting skills. Clearly there's something wrong with Junmyeon that you can't see because you're so loved up!"

"It's that Ara girl," Juhyun suddenly snarled. "She's warped our Kyungri's mind."

Upon hearing that, he stood up. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to your crap, Juhyun. I'm going home. Whether you choose to bash my friends that's completely your choice. But I won't hear it."

A grab of his arm stopped Kyungsoo in his tracks. Juhyun pulled him back, her eyes remorseful and lips curved down. "I'm sorry. I keep picking stupid fights when you've done nothing wrong. I--I just miss you."

"Huh?"

He was taken by surprise once the usually pride filled girl wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face in his chest. The light, banana fragrance filled his nose, unconsciously causing a smile to grow on his face. It was very familiar and had become something he was once so used to smelling. Banana was always Juhyun's favorite fruit. Unsure on what to do, Kyungsoo reciprocated and patted her back sympathetically. Seeing Juhyun as vulnerable as this meant something was definitely wrong.

"What do you mean miss me?"

Pulling back to meet his eyes, Juhyun shrugged. "I feel like ever since our divorce we haven't been maintaining a friendship, or at least being aquaintances. Remember what we promised each other?"

After resolving the situation with Kyungri's permanent care and the divorce finally being signed off after its looming for months on end, Kyungsoo and his now ex–wife left the court building side by side promising to continue keeping contact voluntarily as they'd both decided they worked better as friends. It hadn't been as effective as they'd hoped; with Juhyun's wedding news crushing the already torn Do Kyungsoo to pieces, and the emergence of a new friend Ara who he could confide to instead of meanlessly hoping to stay close with Juhyun.

"That was before we moved on," he pointed out to see Juhyun had saddened more. "Don't get me wrong; I miss you too. More than you'd expect, but it's not healthy for both of us if we put our hopes up like this. All we do is fight."

"But that's us, Kyungsoo! We fight because we care about each other. I know I never hold pent up feelings in because I feel safe and secure with you."

"You have Junmyeon for that, remember?"

Suddenly, the warm arms retracted from Kyungsoo. Juhyun pulled stray hairs behind her ear and nodded. "You're right. I don't know what I'm doing, trying to force you back into something I'm not even sure of. The stresses of having an upcoming wedding, huh? Was it this bad when we got married?"

He tapped his temple. "The scar?"

When Juhyun burst out in giggles, he joined in at the horrifying but hilarious memory. The night before their wedding: when Chanyeol had been consoling the nervous Kyungsoo at approximately midnight. He'd gotten a little irritated at the latter's fearful words and accidently pushed him; Kyungsoo suffering a gash on his temple that stayed to this day. Whenever he looked at himself in the mirror, that memory always lived on.

The old couple full of ups and downs ended up strolling through their nostalgic memories whilst commuting back to their respective homes. During their walk, Juhyun had interlinked her arm through Kyungsoo which had automatically ignited butterflies in his stomach.

—

"Are you guys being freaking serious?"

Jung Ara was in absolute astonishment. Standing at her door was two extra large pizzas alongside a smug Sehun and Chanyeol. They bustled into her apartment excitedly and set it onto the carpeted living room floor.

Today had to be the worst day ever. Heartbreaking family news shattered her mind in the morning, and Ara had to leave university early because it was too hard to concentrate with all the misery. She'd stayed at home, locked inside, just crying. Before she'd opened the door to reveal the two she was wiping her tears quickly so they wouldn't find out. It seemed they did though as Chanyeol's face softened immediately upon making eye contact with her.

She followed behind, still extremely puzzled. "What's all this for?"

"We were bored," Chanyeol answered casually before opening the box he was holding. It was a beautifully smelling Meat Eater's special, garnished with mixed vegetables and smoky beef. "The others have work and families and stupid boring stuff. We thought maybe we can come over and give you some company."

"Did you guys assume that I was bored out of my mind?" Ara incredulously asked them to watch their eyes widen and heads nod. "Well you're completely correct! Let's have us some pizza."

She sat cross–legged onto the soft floor and opened Sehun's box up to see Chicken Mania: different marinated chicken pieces alongside onions and pineapples decorating the huge pizza. One of Ara's favorites. She pulled a slice out and took a large bite. University drained her. Bad.

"We took this opportunity to get to know you," Sehun explained with a full mouth.

"That's nice. But I'm not all that special, really. Just your average Korean university student buried by the depths of hell and tuition fees."

"That was us four years ago," Chanyeol grumbled. "You'll get out of it soon enough. And you'll miss it too."

She scoffed. "Psh, miss it? I hate university to bits."

"What about the people?"

"I guess they make it bearable." Ara was lying through her teeth. The likes of Seungwan and Mira are more than just bearable. They're basically family to her. "What did you guys do in university?"

"Mechanical Engineering," Chanyeol said to her shock. She'd never seen him do something so intricate, which made her feel bad for assuming. Although Park Chanyeol couldn't stay still for more than a minute, he seemed a lot smarter than he'd let on. On the group chat she'd been unwillingly added onto (that she now loves), she found out that he designed the barbeque rather than bought it. That took a lot of brains that Ara couldn't match.

"I majored in film studies," Sehun added. "I chose it after watching a really good film, so that kinda clouded my choice. Also maybe because media was the only subject I didn't flunk in High School? Anyways, stay in school, kids."

"So what's your plans with the degree?"

"I was thinking maybe a PhD? Apart from that, I'm just gonna live off my parents' money and hope for the best."

Chanyeol poked his younger friend playfully. "Sehun's too proud to get a minimum wage job. It's not pride. It's idiocy."

"Hey!" Sehun protested. "Idiocy's such a controversial word, okay? More on the line of indecisive?"

"This—" Chanyeol pointed to him, "—is why Oh Sehun's unemployed currently."

The pitiful stories coming out of the two were managing to divert Ara's mind off the woe she was suffering the whole day. For the first time that day, she was laughing her head off. It felt good; just like a drug, it provided temporary bliss until reality kicked in again.

In an hour, the two pizzas were demolished and the trio lay idly on Ara's carpet watching reruns of America's famous TV show Friend's. They were relying heavily on the Korean subtitles on the bottom, but ended up chucking when the canned laughter appeared. They were stuffed. Almost like a Christmas turkey. Chanyeol checked his watch disapprovingly at the late time. The clock struck ten, and the two still had to make their way back home.

"We should go," he frowned before sitting up. He gave Ara a tight squeeze, pulling away to rest two fingers under Ara's chin. "Chin up, okay?"

It was weird he said that, but she brushed it off with a nod. Sehun wrapped his arms around her briefly and waved his fingers whilst leaving her apartment. Once they'd left, a huge void filled within her. The glee and happiness the pair bought with them had left, leaving a tired and pained girl.

Her phone flashed with a message from her loving mom. Ara prayed that it wouldn't be something sad when she swiped left to read it.

He's stable, but the doctors aren't sure how long he'll live for. Keep him in your prayers and don't be too sad, okay? Everything happens for a reason.

A choked sob left her after seeing the first sentence. She though she'd cried away all her tears, but the fresh ones spurting out of her closed eyes proved that theory was wrong. Covering her mouth to prevent the leaked cries resonating in her living room, Ara sniffed. Once she sat on her sofa, a large phone was beside her. It had to either be Chanyeol's or Sehun's.

She pressed on the home button to see a group photo of all the guys from probably ages ago judging from their fresh faces. She scrolled up to see some old messages, hoping that she wasn't snooping too much. One message caught her eye especially.

Do me a favor. Check on Ara today if you have time as I've got to meet up with Juhyun. Make her feel better, she's been a bit down. But don't tell her it's from me. I don't want her to feel like she owes me anything. Thanks.

Her heart warmed up immediately seeing the message. It also caused some tears to prick out of her eyes at Kyungsoo's sheer kindness even when she was cold to him that morning.

She brought out her own phone, sending a brief text to the group chat informing everyone of Chanyeol's phone still being in her place and to tell him as they lived much closer to him, and then her fingers stopped at Kyungsoo's contact. The display photo of him and the lively Kyungri both wearing matching sunglasses and grinning adorably at the camera. It had a reciprocating effect on the sullen girl as she'd smiled back at the two.

An unexpected knock on the door startled her. She opened it to see Kyungsoo with a small smile painted on his exhausted face and holding a brown paper back filled with something.

"It's not fresh anymore and I don't even know if you like pecan on cakes but—"

Ara had an unintentional desire to envelope her sweet neighbor in a hug; the warmth and care he provided something she needed most at this time of despair. It was apparent that Kyungsoo was very bewildered at her choice, but he requited the hug. Never had they ever expected to be so close, but Ara needed a hug more than ever, and he understood. She pulled away and accepted the bag gratefully

"Thank you for messaging Chanyeol about keeping me company when I really needed it, thank you for not taking my morning melancholy to heart even though I rudely ignored you—"

"—slow down," he chuckled lightly. "I know something must've happened that really upset you and I'm not going to ask you what occured if you don't feel ready to tell me. I'm really sorry for not being there to keep you company, instead insisting Chanyeol should do it."

"It's honestly fine. The fact that you actually got Chanyeol and Sehun to do that was kind enough. And I do like pecans, actually. Would you like to share with me?"

Closing the door behind him, Kyungsoo nodded. "I thought you'd never ask!"

The cake was from the really grandeur shop in downtown Seoul where a slice of even the simplest cake would render you penniless. Kyungsoo had chosen the pecan and caramel cake, and albeit he'd probably had it since mid afternoon, it still looked great. The smell of the cake was enough to make her mouth water even after the pizza. She brought two spoons before the pair began eating the slice in the living room floor.

"Has everything been sorted?" He questioned with his mouth partially full.

Ara glowered, shaking her head. "Remember when I told you about my dad's condition?"

"Alzheimer's, right?"

"Yeah. He suffered a fall when he attempted to leave the house yesterday and hit his head," Ara explained miserably. "He's unconscious right now and the doctors are worried that the fall caused a lot more damage than expected. He's been in a coma since three in the morning yesterday."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Kyungsoo sympathised, moving to rest his hand delicately on her shoulder.

"It's fine. You don't need to apologize. Everything happens for a reason, huh?"

—»

Another chapter for you guys to read! Thank you again, like I always say on each of my author's notes, for reading! Please show your support by voting and commenting!! Byee