The smell of sizzling bacon awakened me. I wasn't hungry. I was still full from this morning's rice and pork, courtesy of Kyungsoo. My mind rested on the moment, and I smiled to myself.
"Give it to me!" I snapped out of my brief daydream. I wasn't to the point of knowing their voices yet, so I wasn't sure who it yelled. I sighed, gathered my clothes, and headed toward the bathroom.
As soon as I opened the door, I came face to face with Yixing who, apparently, was going to wake me up. "I didn't know how to wake you." He admitted sheepishly. I smiled at him.
"It's all right, but from now on, knock as loudly as you want to," I told him, not realizing just how loudly he would knock in the future. I shuffled to the bathroom, stopping to look at the crowd that formed at Jongin and Kyungsoo's bedroom. Jongin was still fast asleep, and Chanyeol had decided to wake him with a bucket of ice-cold water. I chose not to stick around for the chaos that would ensue.
After taking a shower and pulling my clothes on, I glanced in the mirror. I had chosen black shorts, black combat boots, and a black tank top with a red flannel tied around my hips. I decided to part my long black hair in the middle and pull a red beanie over it.
I walked out of the door, surprised to see Jongin up and ready. "Weren't you just asleep?" I questioned.
A sly smile erupted on his tan face. "You learn to work fast when you have ten other members." He walked over to the counter and grabbed a banana. "You sing pretty well. Have you ever thought about joining a trainee program?" My face turned the shade of the beanie on my head. I didn't think I was so loud.
"How many of you heard?" I whispered frantically. He laughed out loud.
"Relax! It was only me." I sighed in relief.
"And everyone else," Jongdae smirked.
"Goddamn it," I grumbled to myself. The room erupted in laughter, Tao's high pitched laughter standing out the most. I rolled my eyes, and he laughed harder. I couldn't help the smile that pulled at my lips.
A little while later, we all piled into the two vans that awaited us outside. I got sandwiched between Tao and Chanyeol, with Sehun and Suho and the seats near the front, and Kyungsoo in the passenger seat. The others were in the second van.
For their first day of "vacation," they had decided to go to the shopping mall near their dorm, which I was fine with because I had been given a credit card from SM, so it wouldn't be my money I was using. As soon as I got it out to look at it, Tao snatched it out of my hands and stuck it in his pocket. "I'll use this one; you can use this." He handed me another credit card with "김 준 면" stamped on it. I looked at him, confused. "Junmyeon hyung." Hearing his name, the leader turned around in his seat. I sheepishly tried to hand him back the credit card, but he smiled and refused, shaking his head and turning away.
When we got to the mall, everyone split up into groups, me ending up with Sehun, Jongin, and Tao, the maknaes. I suppose I was the maknae now, considering I'm only 19. It was fun watching them interact with each other, and it seemed as if Tao and Sehun were the closest with one another, often whispering in each other's ears, laughing at things they would only ever know.
I spent the whole time at the mall being visited by various members asking for Junmyeon's card and didn't buy anything because I felt guilty even having it in my possession.
Later, we all to get some Hot Pot. As we were finishing up, a small bag got placed in front of me by Yixing. I turned to look at him, brows furrowed in confusion. "A welcome present," he explained shyly, "from Minseok hyung, Jongdae, and I." I was appreciative of the kind gesture, and make a note to myself that Yixing was the sweetheart of the bunch.
"Hey! We had the same idea!" I was presented with a stuffed panda, and a framed poster of Jongin's face, that he so graciously signed. It caused a round of chuckles throughout our table.
"I guess our idea wasn't as original as I thought," Chanyeol admitted, scratching his head. He, Baekhyun, and Junmyeon had gotten me a box of bapsang, which got distributed amongst ourselves.
There was one last welcome gift from the ten. "This is from me," Kyungsoo spoke up and motioned toward a gingerly wrapped gift in black and white. I carefully unwrapped it. Inside was a brand new hardbound sketchbook, raising a chorus of "oohs" and "ahs." "I noticed that your other sketchbook was getting messed up, so I thought you could use another." It was true. My sketchbook had a cardboard cover instead of a hard one, and it was tearing off. Kyungsoo ran his fingers through his hair. "I hope you like it."
"I love it." I hugged it to my chest and looked around the table. Everyone was smiling, except Sehun, whose eyes were downcast, I turned away, not letting it bother me too much."Thank you all so much. I'm thankful for this, and for all of you."
It was the first time I felt welcome among them.
