Much as he hated to admit it, Jongin was right.  Chanyeol couldn’t keep his eyes off her.  Kyungsoo looked so pretty tonight, barely with any make-up and clad in a bright yellow top with white tights and yellow flats...

God, he wished he could march over there and...

Then... say what?

Hi?

Thank you for coming to my party?

You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me?

I love you?

Chanyeol shook his head to clear his silly thoughts.  She came with her cast mates, and Jongin probably invited her.  Her attendance only meant that she was persuaded into coming, since she was the girlfriend. 

And the birthday cake?

It was a moving gesture.  He wouldn’t be able to forget the trance-like way she had approached to give it to him, with her enchanting heart-shaped smile...

Chanyeol prayed, the moment he closed his eyes to make his wish, that the time would come Kyungsoo would feel the same way for him. 

She was finishing her pizza.  Then, she picked up the neglected pepperoni slices and ate them for last, laughing as Professor Hwang looked at her strangely.  She shrugged, gave no further elaboration and enjoyed her pepperoni. 

Before Chanyeol could ponder whether their conversation about pepperoni had something to do with it, Kyungsoo suddenly glanced at his direction.

Chanyeol quickly cut the eye contact as Mr. Park passed by him then, transferring the massive cooler to the other side of the table.  “Appa, I’ll help you with that.”

It seemed ill at ease to approach Chanyeol now, even if they were only a few feet away from each other.  He hadn’t walked over to her either.  Perhaps because he had quite a number of guests, and that he needed to spend time with them too.  She turned away, listening half-heartedly to Sehun’s punch line to a joke...

She blinked as she realized that everyone around her was already laughing.  She cracked a small grin instead, however, still perturbed about Chanyeol’s... distant manner...

Baekhyun walked up to the birthday celebrant, with a Canon camera around her neck. “I’ve been taking photos of your party for an hour.  Your turn.” Then she unceremoniously put the sling over Chanyeol’s neck and hauled a bag of ice to distribute to guests. 

Chanyeol laughed as adjusted the settings to black and white to test it out.  He closed his right eye and zoomed the lens on what was front of him.

It was Kyungsoo.

Smiling softly.

His right pointer finger froze from pressing the button.  “H-Hi.”  Chanyeol slowly lowered the camera to properly look at her. 

“Hi,” she greeted back, shyly holding up her empty plate.  “Uh... where do I... put this?”  

“Let me take it,” he offered, as she gratefully handed her dish. 

Then she looked around for paper cups.  “Um... where is...”  Her eyes lit up as she located the cooler. 

“You want a drink?” Chanyeol guessed, immediately opening the cooler for her.  “We have soda, water...” He held up a small bottle.  “Iced tea...”

“That one,” Kyungsoo said, grinning.

He handed it to her in relief.  “How’s the food?”

She laughed.  “Terrific.  I don’t remember the last time I’ve ever felt this full.”

Chanyeol grinned back.  “That’s good.” 

Then the unfortunate happened.

He went completely tongue-tied as he stared into her hopeful eyes.

Say it, his brain commanded.

Tell her she’s beautiful.

Tell her you thank God everyday that she came into your life.

Tell her you’re in love with her.

But his mouth refused to cooperate.

His world came crashing as her smile began to fade, and the look in her eyes was replaced with...

Dismay.

Chanyeol looked away, mumbling that he’d take the plate to the trash.  He met Baekhyun on the way and dejectedly returned the camera to her, absolutely in no mood n