New Start

Part 25

Alex, who had craved solidarity all day, found herself around 7pm bored. She had written all she knew she could write, she was hungry, and she was lonely.

Although she didn't want to admit it, she had gotten used to the EXO boys, with all their drama and quirks, and part of her missed the company they brought with them. After deliberating for some time, she made a bold decision, grabbed her coat, and left the apartment.

The hallway was empty. There was no noise, just conspicuous silence. Swallowing hard she proceeded with her plan. Taking steady controlled strides, she walked up to apartment 420 and pressed the buzzer.

She waited patiently, bobbing her leg and drumming her fingers on the side of the white doorframe. After several seconds she pressed the buzzer again, and again, losing patience, and her determination.

Eventually, after several minutes, she heard movements behind the door, and the lock unclicking. With her heart pounding in her chest, she took a deep breath as Chanyeol opened the door looking disheveled.

'Alex?' he grumbled, his throat was hoarse like he had just woken up. 'Baekhyun isn't here,' he told her rubbing his eyes.

'It's not Baekhyun I'm here to see.' She told him, forcing the wobble out of her voice.

He stared at her, baffled for a few seconds like he wasn't exactly sure why she was there then.

'I'm hungry.' She explained, 'Do you want to come and eat with me?' She just about managed to keep the fear out of her voice.

He looked at her very strangely, his lips almost pouting down at her, like she was speaking some language he didn't understand. She was determined to maintain eye contact with him.

'Chanyeol?' she pushed, her voice showing more authority than she felt.

'I'll get ready. Come in.' he said, opening the door more for her to step inside.

She walked into the unfamiliar apartment, all laid out in similar ways to her own. Chanyeol's and Baekhyun's was a lot cleaner than Junmyeons and Sehun's, but still not perfectly clean. The odd rogue shirt was lying about in the mess of laptops, cables, discs, and musical instruments. There was not a lot of light in the apartment. One lonely light seemed to shine out from one of the bedrooms, she guessed Chanyeol's since he was the only one here.

'Where is Baekhyun then?' she asked following him inside.

'Gone to see a friend with Jongin.' He muttered walking through the living room and removing his shirt. 'I'm going to take a shower first ok?' He turned to ask her.

She was distracted by his semi-nakedness, and the raging flashbacks, as her eyes traced the contours of his far too toned body.

'Ok.' She managed to get out as she settled on a space on the sofa.

He turned a light on to illuminate the living room as he walked off towards the bathroom. She waited awkwardly in the silence for him. She could hear the shower running, and his distant singing. Cute, she thought idly, he sings in the shower. Her eyes cast over all the rubbish they had laying on the coffee table. Games and laptops seem to be fighting for a place, as they were piled high on one another.

There was a pad, with scrunched up bits of paper that scattered over it, and down onto the floor. What looked like music notes, and what she only assumed might be lyrics, in the mess of Korean words that dotted the discarded bits of paper, she saw an English character on one. She looked around checking the water was still running, and he was still showering before bending to pick it up to see the word more clearly.