| 12 |

Apple struggled awake with a gasp, her heart pounding in her ears. It was already sundown; her room dark and silent. At first, she was confused but when she finally remembered what happened just a few hours ago, she felt cold and hollow and embarrassed all at once.

She knew she had to face her friends who were waiting outside in the comfort area sooner or later but she chose later. She sprang out of bed, grabbing her box of oil paints from the floor and her unfinished painting, and sat down at her easel.

Apple rolled up her sleeves, noticing that someone had changed her into a hoodie that was way too big for her. She internally hoped it was Fia but she recognized the hoodie to be Chanyeol's. She shook her head and got to mixing brown, black, white, and a hint of red on a wooden board until she got her desired shade. She looked into the deep orbs staring back at her and got to work.

In the meantime, Chanyeol, Fia, and Kai were sitting outside, trying to watch an American movie on their second floor television, but couldn't help but worry about the girl passed out down the hall. Her attack had come so unexpected that they didn't even know how to process it. Fia just sat silently, knees tucked in, hugging a pillow to her chest, and blindly watched the movie. Kai bit his lip, staring at her until he sighed, and got up, plopping down right beside her.

"It's not your fault," he said, giving her a shy smile. "Although, we definitely could work on your driving," he added.

She chuckled. "I just wanna know what's up with Apple," she whispered.

Kai glanced over to Chanyeol, who hadn't stopped staring into the dark hallway since he came back from putting Apple to bed. “You’re not the only one,” he frowned. “We can check on her when she wakes up. But right now, we all need food. Chanyeol-ahhhh.”

Chanyeol finally snapped out of his spell and turned to them. “Can you make dinner?” Kai asked. “Fia and I are kinda… unable.”

Chanyeol quickly got up, readjusting his snapback. “Uh yeah, sure,” he muttered, scrambling towards the stairs. He tripped over the first step, but luckily caught his balance right before he tumbled down the stairs. He turned his head, giving them a nervous laugh, before running down. Kai shook his head.

“See?” Kai nudged Fia’s arm. Suddenly, he noticed just how close they were, shoulders touching, knees grazing. He coughed and excused himself, heading back to his room to wait for Chanyeol to finish making dinner. Fia looked on grimly after his retreating figure, but there was nothing she could do. Nothing she wanted to do.

Instead, she headed downstairs to help Chanyeol, or rather, watch Chanyeol because she was not to be trusted around sharp or hot objects ("So I guess I can't be trusted around myself," she'd snickered right before Apple hit her on the head with a spatula.). He didn’t even notice it when Fia walked into the kitchen and sat herself down on a stool, leaning her upper body over the kitchen countertop. Fia was so used to seeing Apple in the kitchen that it odd when Chanyeol stood in her place. She watched his movements, which were obviously a lot clumsier than Apple’s.

Chanyeol was so out of it that he didn’t even notice that he was accidentally touching the edge of the scorching hot pan until Fia called his name. “Hu-” he looked up, pulling his hand back. “OH !”

Before Fia could rush to his aid, a blur of green flew past her. Apple was by Chanyeol’s side in an instant. She pulled his arm towards the sink and immediately ran his hand under cold water. His eyes widened, finally completely snapping out of their clouded trance.

“Apple,” he said, relieved

But Apple narrowed her eyes at him. FOR ’S SAKE CHAN, she scolded. WHEN YOU’RE IN THE KITCHEN, YOU GOTTA PAY ING ATTENTION. Then, she grabbed the first aid from the cabinet and started wrapping his now-very-red hand with layers of gauze.

“Thanks,” he smiled. He felt someone staring holes into the side of his head so he turned around to see Fia giving him a cheeky smirk. Chanyeol visibly blushed and looked back down at the top of Apple’s head. ing Fia.

He wanted to ask about what had happened this afternoon. But she seemed fine as she wrapped his hand in a ball of white fabric, occasionally stopping to flail her hands around really fast. Chanyeol guessed she was yelling at him. How you manage to get hurt in my kitchen I will never know, she was saying. I've literally child-proofed everything, and we don't even have children.

Fia ran into Kai on her way back to her room. He stood there for a minute before looking away. "Is dinner ready?" he asked, trying not to meet eye contact.

"There was a situation," she responded quietly, brushing past him and slamming the door behind her as she entered her room. He stared at her closed door, biting his lip in frustration.

Kai felt the urge to barge into Fia's room and demand she tell him what was up. But he decided against it, not wanting to make a fool out of himself. There was no way Fia would tell him anyways. “I don’t roommates.” It echoed in his head. He imagined that, if he did go in there, she’d just say it again, fake a laugh, and then kick him out of the room before slamming her door again. He clenched and unclenched his fist before he sighed and headed downstairs.

But once he turned the corner, he stopped, turned around, and walked away.