Sunji's POV

It took me nearly an hour to calm down. Longer than any other time before. It worried me that I was still reliant on my pills and that my emotional condition didn't seem to be getting any better. I was getting attacks much more frequently and they were more and more uncontrollable. They left me feeling insecure, afraid and I feared the day when I would no longer be able to cope with them.

I had called my teachers to tell them that I was feeling extremely unwell and that I would not be attending training for the whole day. They were surprisingly mellow about it and simply told me to take good care of myself. I hoped that me not being at training would mean that Hyesun had more time to shine and make friends of her own. Thinking of the perfect place where I would not be bothered by anyone, I walked into the sixth floor canteen in the company building. The building had 2 canteens. One on the first floor, and one on the sixth. Most trainees went to the canteen on the first floor since the training rooms were on the second floor and it was just so much easier to go down one level than to climb up four. But what the sixth floor canteen lacked in practicality, was made up for with its splendid view. Despite not being very high up, the sixth floor canteen had glass walls which gave us a fantastic 360 degree view of the sky. 

I flashed my card to the man at the dessert stall and received a bowl of patbingsu in return. I carried it carefully and chose a table right in the corner of the room where I could look straight at the beautiful rooftop garden of a bungalow. It probably belonged to some rich chaebol considering it's prime location in the middle of gangnam and how well kept the garden looked. I swirled my spoon in the bowl, watching as the ice melted into a puddle of colours. I wasn't hungry and playing with the cool dessert simply gave me something to do. I looked at the rooftop garden of the bungalow, trying to identify each flower I could spot and reminiscing the times where my mother and I would sit on the floor of our living room and flip through books on flowers and plants. Just then, I watched an elderly man walk into the garden and take a seat right in front of a bush of frangipanis. His actions confused me. His chair was directly facing the frangipani bush and nothing else. Any closer to the plant and his face would've been smothered by its leaves. He simply sat there and scrutinised the plant for the longest time, occasionally lifting a finger to gently smooth out the imaginary creases on each petal. 

Suddenly, loud chatters could be heard from the whole building as the sound of footsteps echoed through the walls. I checked my watch and noticed that it was 2.30pm, lunch time for all the trainees. I sighed with relief, thankful for being able to avoid the lunch rush. As the loud chatters faded into low murmurs, I looked back at the elderly man. He had now moved to a different spot, back facing me, with an easel in front of him and a paint brush in hand. I imagined that he would have had closed his eyes tightly in concentration before gracefully lifting his brush. I watched his brush fly across the paper like running water in a reservoir, smooth and gentle but yet, there was a ferocity to his demeanour. Just when I thought that he had finally completed his painting, he abruptly flung his paint brush to the floor and stalked off, leaving me to gape at the finished product. A frangipani painted in black and white, torn and trampled on. I wondered if the elderly man was sad. 

Just as I was about to take a step closer to the glass to further observe his painting, I felt a presence behind me.

Chanyeol's POV

"That class was so boring man. Let's go get lunch and have some fun, we have no more lessons for the rest of the day!" I cheered with Kai, fist bumping him and walking towards the vocal room where the other members always waited for us. 

"Yeol!" "Kai!" "Over here!" The boisterous shouts of the other members made me roll my eyes. As if I could not see 10 males standing right in front of me in a large huddle. "You're last today Yeol! Go get us some lunch!" Chen shouted excitedly. "WHA- What? What about Kai?!" I grunted indignantly, only to see Kai huddled happily amongst the group. He must have ran ahead when I was not paying attention. Too lazy to argue, "Fine. Meet you guys at dance room 4 in half an hour." 

I plodded away from the group and headed to the canteen to collect food for the members. Wanting to avoid the large crowds and overexcited trainees, I decided to get food from the sixth floor canteen instead. Sighing, I forced my legs to climb the endless flights of stairs and nearly collapsed into a heap at the door when I finally reached. Man, I really needed to get into shape. I glanced around and was glad to see that I had indeed made the right decision since the canteen was nearly empty. Shuffling to the store vendor, I flashed my card and asked for 12 servings of food for my members. Since 12 servings of food did take awhile to make, I walked towards the corner of the room wanting to see if the old man from the house opposite was there to say hello like he sometimes was. To my surprise, I saw Sunji standing there alone, her palm on the window and her face squished adorably against the glass. I walked towards her silently, admiring how her hair seemed to cascade down her back in pretty curls and how she daintily tucked her hair behind her ears to keep it out of her face. I smiled unconsciously.

"Hello." 

Sunji spun around instantly and flushed when she saw me, probably embarrassed of the situation I had caught her in. "Oppa? What are you doing here?" Sunji took a seat at a nearby table as she looked as me expectingly, waiting for an answer. "I'm packing food for the members!" I grinned and sneakily sat in the chair opposite hers. There was a comfortable silence between us that I still desperately wanted to break. "Are you okay Sunji?" 
She looked up at me in surprise before quickly glancing in another direction. Her apprehension was palpable. 
"Yeah, why?"
I knew there must've been a reason why she did not want to tell me what was wrong so I decided not to ask her any further. Wanting to start conversation however, I was desperate to bring up a topic that would catch her attention.
"Uh...uh... Can you teach me how to uh... braid hair?" I stuttered, mentally slapping myself at the stupid question. Surprisingly, Sunji smiled in amusement and said, "Sure!" 

I stood up to stand behind her while she put her hair up into a pony tail. "Split my pony tail into three and bring the first section over the second section...." Her instructions utterly confused me and my fingers fumbled unprofessionally. I think she could tell that I was completely messing up her hair but she did nothing to make my job easier. When I reached the end of her braid, she stifled a giggle and said, "how does it look?" I inwardly panicked and nervously cleared my throat, staring at the clump of hair that had 0 resemblance to the beautiful braid I had seen her in once before. Laughing, Sunji undid my "hard work" and told me to 'watch and learn'. She deftly tied a neat braid and I could only stare in awe at the transformation. Halfway through, she stopped and said, "Take over from here Oppa." I hesitantly allowed my fingers to replace hers and prayed to the hair gods that I would not screw up again, when she placed her tiny hands over mine. 

My heart fluttered and I'm pretty sure it skipped a beat. My cheeks involuntarily flushed and I was glad she could not see my reaction. Completely distracted, I did not even notice that we had finished the braid and that I was just gripping on to her hair like a weirdo. "Oppa? It's done. You can let go now!" Sunji teased, as if she knew how fast my heart was beating. My cheeks tainted and I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"Chanyeol-ssi, your food is ready!"

Thankful for the interruption, I quickly strode over to the stall and thanked the Aunty for her food. I stared at the 5 huge bags of food, mentally wishing that they would all shrink and jump into one bag. 
". How in the world am I going to carry all this down 4 flights of stairs?" I swore under my breath and glared at the bags.

"Oppa, do you want some help?" 
I turned around and smiled, "Are you sure you can manage with that bad leg of yours?" Bumping my shoulders with hers, she l nodded and grabbed 2 bags of food before I could even protest. "Sunji ah! Just one bag is fine!" I rushed forward towards her toddling body and grabbed a bag away from her. Grabbing the four bags into a big bundle and hugging them against my chest, we both walked towards to staircase. When I met with another problem. 

"Ermmm. Sunji?"
"Yeah Oppa?"
"I can't see where I'm going." 

Breaking out into a boisterous laughter, Sunji retraced her steps and flew to my side, interlocking her slender arm with mine. My face instantly flushed as if it was programmed to and my heart skittered at the simple skinship. I can't even remember how I managed to keep my cool when I hugged her back in the dance room.

"Dance room 4 Sunji!" I informed, unable to see anything but the tip of her/our braid, bobbing as we went down each step. 

Co-A/N: Really long chapter (I think) and Chanyeol is my ultimate bias so I really love writing about him and in his POV! 

As usual do comment any questions or suggestions and we'll do our best to answer them! 

geezeebee <3