One step at a time

Chapter Three - Sneakers

My eyes followed her slender arm to the glass doors of the SM building, Outside of it stood eight boys, all dressed in black, each with black sunglasses, black face masks and black hats.
"Oh yeah they're creepy aren't they" I immediately say.
Chan Hee and Hyo Rin are gazing in awe at them, while So Hyun is shaking her head and laughing at me.
"Seo Young, do you know who they are" So Hyun asks me.
After thinking for a few moments, all I can reply with is "Should I?"
"You should, unless you've been living under a rock your whole life."
I look at her, still confused.
"Seo Young, sweetie, they're EXO"

I turn back to stare at them. These eight men are EXO... The band my friends are obsessed with. I can't help but laugh. "Seriously, THIS is EXO?" I was expecting more considering how much they went on about them.
"Well obviously they have to hide themselves because you know what saesangs do" So Hyun is the only one who is still functioning.
"Where's Chanyeol?" The first words Hyo Rin has uttered since she spotted them. I'm amazed she managed to distinguish them because of what they're wearing.

I sigh and turn back to the way we were walking. "Well I'm gonna go shopping text me when you're done with whatever this is" I couldn't blame them really, I would do the same if I saw my idols.
"I guess I'll stay because I have to make sure these two don't embarrass themselves" So Hyun explains, however I suspect she wants to see them as well.

Since I'm walking alone I put my headphones back in. This time the song is "Et cetera" by One Ok Rock (a personal favourite). I begin humming to the song on my way to the shop. If my friends take a long time I might be able to fit in a visit to the manga shop a couple of doors down as well, which is a plus.

The song has made its way to the chorus. I can't help but sing it. ~ nande nano nande nano iya iya iya ~
"You're not bad at singing, sneakers" I hear a deep and rough voice say from in front of me. Immediately I blush, thinking no one had heard me. The voice sounds familiar, so I glance up. I'm met with a face covered by sunglasses and a black mask. It's the intimidating guy from earlier. I now remember he had come down this way. "Thanks..." I mumble. I don't know what to say, my mother had always told me not to talk to strangers. "What is a young lady like you doing on a street alone" He asks me.
I don't want to talk to him, but it seems rude not to respond. "My friends are back there..." I pause thinking back to the eight guys, all dressed in black.
I look back up at him. He definitely was dressed similarly to the rest of EXO, but it's not possible, someone from EXO stopping to talk to me, none the less complimenting me.
"Well yeah I'll be going now" I side step around him and carry on with my head down. I turn around to glance at him and he's still looking at me. I hurry away. He's definitely not from EXO, because he's definitely a stalker.

I reach the clothes shop we were going to meet at. It's already 1:45. My friends should be here soon, but I don't mind if they're not. I like doing things by myself. I decide to visit the manga shop first and buy the next volumes of my favourite manga. Then I go back to the clothes shop and start browsing the aisles. With my headphones still in and music still playing, I don't hear my friends approach. " Seo Young" Hyo Rin shakes my arm. I jump back, startled. We burst out laughing and alert several people around us. They ask if we're ok to which Chan Hee is barely able to get the words "Yeah we're fine" out
Once we've finished laughing, I ask them what they did while I went. This sent Chan Hee and Hyo Rin into a paralysed state again, so So Hyun answers "We waited there for a while just looking at them, there was no one around which was surprising as I expected them to attract a lot of people, then from the direction you left, Another guy who was dressed like them approached. This nearly made Hyo Rin faint and that's when I realised why ; the guy was Chanyeol. Chan Hee was still looking at the rest of EXO. Eventually one of them, Sehun judging by Chan Hee's reaction made eye contact with her and then she nearly fainted. Then their car arrived and they all got into it."
"Sounds like fun." I said in monotone. I had at least expected them to say hi or something. But I was happy for them none the less.
Chan Hee and Hyo Rin had returned to our planet again. "Who's your bias in EXO So Hyun?" Hyo Rin asked.
"Suho" So Hyun replied instantly "he's just the cutest"
We laughed. It felt good to be doing things as friends again, and good that we could share this moment.

We continued to browse and picked out items we wanted. I chose a simple flowing dress "It's summer, I can wear this" I said
Hyo Rin got blue denim shorts that were frayed at the bottom, a simple white shirt.
Chan Hee chose to get a pink skirt and a blouse that matched
So Hyun got black ripped jeans and a grey top with a simple pattern on.

Happy with our purchases, we left. It was 2:30. "Well, does anyone want to see a movie or something?" I asked
"What is there to see though?" Chan Hee asked
"I don't know. Maybe we could watch that new rom com starring that guy you like So Hyun?" Hyo Rin says
"You mean Love Life 2.0?" I ask
"Oh yeah I read that was kinda cool." Chan Hee says in response.
"So it's settled then let's watch that" Hyo Rin says.
"So Hyun, do you want to see it?" I turn to ask her. She's staring at her phone with a worried expression on her face.
"Actually I have something to do. I'll talk to you guys later." She tells us, although her mind seems pre occupied. I decided not to say anything because I might be assuming the wrong thing, and if anyone else has noticed they haven't said anything.

After So Hyun leaves us, we head for the movie theatre on this side of town. "Wait guys I don't feel right watching this without So Hyun, after all it is the guy that she likes in the movie" I say as we are standing outside.
"Yeah same, I don't think we should watch it" Hyo Rin agrees
"I agree too" Chan Hee seconds Hyo Rin.

We decided to go into the the shopping centre that houses the cinema, and go to the arcade instead. It's a place filled with bright colours and is very busy with lots of people. It's not my ideal environment, however my friends wanted to go here and I love playing games.
We go over to the air hockey machine, and begin to play, me against Hyo Rin as the first game. Chan Hee who is watching from the side suddenly speaks "Wait Seo Young, you went the same way as Chanyeol came from, I'm surprised you didn't see him."
I stopped playing. I had seen him. It was him. Chanyeol from EXO had spoken to me.