My close friend

The calm before the storm

I had to say, I had never been happier to see Chanyeol that joyful and playful before; meeting his precious band mates would make him smile anytime! His smile would get bigger by the minute and his playful and mischievous self would be fully awakened! And it was not only him that had returned back in time to act like a little kid; everyone putting whipping cream on each others' faces, running around while blowing the party whistles in each others' ears, and I did not even have the time to blink that Chanyeol had taken out the garden hose and was splashing water everywhere! Even 10 year-old kids would have been less turbulent than those mid twenties freaks!

Suddenly, upon realisation that I could be splashed all over by that giant dork, I backed away as slowly and as quietly as possible, trying to go back inside. Since Chanyeol was the one holding the hose, I made sure that I had him clearly in my line of vision. However, I soon started feeling something cold running from my head, down to my spine and buttocks, the coldness reaching alongside my chest and belly; someone had managed to drench me! I turned back to see an excited Baekhyun, with a big glass in his hand and a big smile on his face, proud of what he had just done.

"Trying to slide away like a thief, are we? Well, just too bad!! Hahaha!! I got you!!"

Indeed, he did...! But I was not going to let that pass by; I started running after him, but damn was he quick on his feet!! I was soon panting and almost on my knees; I decided to give up (Had I ever mentioned that I hated running ? As much as I hate cockroaches!!). He looked at me and obviously started laughing at me, and I could only laugh back. And pretty soon, everyone was at it, with Chanyeol laughing the loudest. It was definitely a pleasantly refreshing sight to behold. People should take a break sometimes and have fun with their loved ones; everyone deserved at least this much in this dark, corrupted and materialistic world...

Before I noticed it, Eric had distanced himself from this joyous scene, and had gone in the living room. He was glancing outside from time to time across the glass wall that separated the veranda and the living room, with a sad glow in his eyes. It might seem that I was too focused on him, but I could not help but sympathise with him at that instant. To me, he clearly had a right to a second chance, but then again, this decision was not up to me to be taken.

"Good work Chanyeol! Now we are all wet!" shouted Jongdae.
Indeed, when I looked back at them, they were all quite wet, compared to me.

"Let's go dry up inside! We may catch a cold here", Chanyeol laughingly let out. He was still overjoyed with this little water fight.

"Idiots do not catch colds, so do not worry Chanyeol my dear, you in particular, have nothing to fear", said Kyungsoo like the savage he was. Chanyeol, dumbfounded, just stood there for a while, unable to believe his ears, and then approached Kyungsoo, ready to punch him but in the end, fearing Kyungsoo's reaction and beatings, he simply closed in on him to make him feel the big height difference there was between them. Everyone soon started laughing; Kyungsoo looked at Chanyeol and tapped his shoulders afterwards, apologising for what he just said, but knowing Chanyeol, he had taken that seriously only for a millisecond, and then had let it slide by.

We all went inside and Chanyeol went to fetch us some towels. I was looking down around my feet, to see if I was making any mess with water droplets falling from my drenched dress. I then lifted up my eyes to notice a quiet Eric looking at us with a pallid smile on his face. My eyes could not seem to stop looking in his direction. The more I looked at him, the more handsome he seemed...! Leaning on that sofa with the newspaper in the hand (which had been set aside for the moment as he was looking at us), legs crossed at the knees and that fading smile... He was the typical protagonist of some drama anime; someone with a dark past that he wished to bury, and trying hard to start his life anew. His smile was fading as he turned back to reading his newspaper.