It's... too bright.

Eyelids reluctantly open, the sunlight streaming in through the cracks of the window blinds and onto Dalnim's face. In a daze, she took in her surroundings, groggy and unsure. From the bookshelf cluttered with English novels, to the few motivational volleyball posters hanging about on the walls, and to the slightly ajar closet door, Dalnim concluded that she was in her own comfy bedroom. However, she couldn't remember bringing herself inside after last night's events. She knew she was supposed to have a sleepover with Yeon Kyun, Tae Ri, and Hye Rin, but where were those three exactly?

The spiker tried to rise from her bed but was restrained instantly with the tight grip around her waist. She slightly craned her head over her shoulder and was met with a mop of messy hair. Dalnim blinked away the grogginess of sleep to make sure what she was seeing wasn't a dream... That short hair couldn't possibly be Tae Ri's as she was currently sporting a honey colored do. No, this was a dark brown...

A blood curdling scream echoed about the bedroom. Hands grabbing the closest object near her, Dalnim began to smack the intruder with it, which to his luck was a fluffy pillow. "WHY ARE YOU IN MY BED?!"

Poor Park Chanyeol couldn't have expected such a rash wake-up call and couldn't do much to protect himself from her attacks.

"NimNim! Yahhh, Dalnim-ah, stop it!" the idol pleaded with only his arms to shield himself from the hard blows of the pillow. "I didn't do anything, I promise! Dalnim, please!" In a swift movement, Chanyeol managed to snatch the pillow he was wrongly being beaten with from the well-known athlete.

As much as he wanted to tell her his reasons for this predicament in hand, that he was a completely innocent person that had done no wrong, he was suddenly distracted. Eyes blinking over to take in every sight of her, Chanyeol held in his breath. She towered before him with a peeved off look on her makeup-free face. With her naturally wavy locks cascading down past her shoulders, the loose fitted white shirt she wore, and the sunlight hitting her in such a way, she looked like an actual angel without her wings and halo. So breathtakingly beautiful.

He wouldn't mind waking up to this gorgeous sight every morning.

"Why are you in my bed, Park Chanyeol?" Dalnim was far calmer now but the irritation was still evident in her tone of voice.

The male sat up, so he was somewhat on the same eye level as his girlfriend. "You should thank me for carrying you here when you were knocked out cold!" he reprimanded her, a clock of his tongue. "You're actually quite heavy!"

Dalnim feigned a gasp, her eyebrows furrowed. "Who are you to tell me I'm heavy? Most of my weight comes from my muscles, alright?" she snapped at him. She then glanced down at herself. No memory of her changing out of her New Year's outfit came to mind either. "Wait a fucking second..."

"It wasn't me!" Chanyeol sputtered out with wide eyes, the realization hitting him the moment her expression changed. "Yeon Kyun-noona was the one to change you out your clothes, I swear! And you had clung onto me like there's no tomorrow once we put you to bed, how could I turn away from my NimNim?"

"Are you usually this disgusting so early in the morning?" the girl sneered at him with her nose scrunched at his cheesy reply.

The bedroom door swung open. Chanyeol and Dalnim looked over to see Tae Ri standing by the door frame, flour speckled across her cheeks and one of Dalnim's food themed aprons on. "Yah, we can hear you guys all the way from the kitchen, you know? You two already sound like a bickering married couple. Isn't it too early to be this loud, hmm?" she huffed out with a annoyed sigh. "We won't be done cooking breakfast until about thirty more minutes, so play nice and quiet until then."

"Tae Ri-yah, please tell Dalnim that I didn't do anything fishy last night!" Chanyeol piped up.

The younger girl let out another sigh, as she averted her gaze onto her raven-haired friend. "Dalnim-unnie, your boo is an innocent man. You can't trust the guy you considered a childhood friend and is now dating? Wow."

Dalnim pointed an accusing finger at her. "What do you think you're doing speaking to me with so much disrespect this early, huh?" she said, rather than try to defend herself. She couldn't help it, she was just flustered that a man was in her bed.

"Rest a little longer, unnie, oppa," Tae Ri told the two in a sickeningly sweet tone. A smug smile then pulled at her lips, her eyes narrowed in a judgmental stare. "However~ If you two suddenly backtrack to your honeymoon phase, don't expect us to share any breakfast!" Tae Ri was able to leave and close the door behind her before getting hit by the chucked pillow by a red-faced Dalnim.

The embarrassed, even more flustered than before athlete tried to follow after Tae Ri but was suddenly grabbed by the wrist and pulled back down onto the bed. "Yah, what do you think you're doing!--" Chanyeol's arms slithered around her shorter body, pulling her close into his chest.

"Shhh, we have about thirty minutes to cuddle."

Dalnim was rendered speechless as Chanyeol held onto her tightly. As her ear was against her chest, she could faintly hear his heartbeat... or was it her own heartbeat that was racing right now?

After a minute or so, the idol then began to softly sing. Dalnim recognized the tune right off the bat, as it was one of his original works, Listen to the Letter. Even when there was none, she could hear the guitar strumming that compliments his voice all too well. She closed her eyes and let the boy sing to her.

This was nice.

It was this very moment that Dalnim lowkey wished she could turn back time. Would she be able to have more blissful moments like this if she didn't become a professional volleyball player or if Chanyeol hadn't become an idol to a worldly famous boy group? Surely they would, their love had supposedly started before they had pursued their wildest dreams.

No, no. Don't think that way, Dalnim.

She worked hard to be where she was with a bit of luck and perseverance. She shouldn't have to regret anything in her life.

She was then reminded of the reason why everyone was in her apartment.

The scandal must've have spread all over South Korea by now and possibly to other parts of the world. How could she have forgotten all about that so easily? It would've been more calm if it only spread within the volleyball world, but since a member of EXO was involved.

"Dalnim, we'll fix this mess," her boyfriend's low voice assured her, as if he had read her mind. She felt his slender fingers tangle themselves in her hair, running through them in a comforting manner and lulling her near back to sleep. "I'll talk to my manager on what we should do and we'll let your coach know. Everything will be fine and we'll be free to date soon enough."

Dalnim frowned at the situation. She figured a simple interview with everyone who's involved in the scandal would be enough to solve the dilemma. But... She wouldn't want Young Gi to be thrown into the spotlight and be pinpointed as a liar to a widespread of people. As much as she was furious with him, she didn't want him to be thrown under the bus so suddenly. Young Gi wasn't used to the humongous attention, and he wasn't one to voice out his mind usually.

No, she doesn't hate him enough to suddenly throw him into the world as the bad guy. He doesn't deserve that.

"I sure hope so," Dalnim sighed as she buried her face into his chest.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The day carried on. The four girls and the idol ate their decently made breakfast together at the small kitchen table. Stories were shared as well as laughter between the five until the only male's phone began to ring frantically. The girls kept quiet as they ate while Chanyeol answered the call.

His face said it all.

It must've been his manager who called him and he's no where near pleased with the missing EXO member. The volleyball ladies stifled laughter as Chanyeol muttered false excuses to the older man on the phone in hopes to get out of this situation.

But his manager knew well.

"Just get your ass back here now before anyone else notices you have slept over at Yoon Dalnim-sshi's! If we're to settle this scandal, we needn't slip until we get a statement out," the manager's voice boomed from the small speaker. "But do tell her I send my deepest apologies for something this awful to happen to her... Bye, and if you don't arrive within thirty minutes, there will be consequences!"

The call ended straight after.

And so, the girls hurried to help Chanyeol get ready to leave.

"I should help with the dishes at least, since you three have made breakfast," the tall male murmured as he was shoved towards the front door by Dalnim.

"Don't worry about it, oppa. You mustn't get in trouble with your company!" Hye Rin chimed. "We got it."

"Say hello to the boys for me," Tae Ri replied with a playful wink.

Chanyeol glimpsed down at his girlfriend. "I'll message you when I can, okay?" Dalnim beamed and gave a nod. The male quickly bent down and pressed his lips to her cheek, leaving the girl flustered for the hundredth time that morning. "I'll miss you for the time being."

The poor girl was burning at this point. Even now that they're (technically) together, her heart cannot take this cute sweetness from the EXO member. "Yeah, I'll miss you too," she shyly responded back.

She cringed as her three girl ooohed at her expense. "Come on, separate, ya lovebirds. Unless you want to be responsible for whatever Chanyeol has coming to him when he comes in late, Dalnim-ah?" Yeon Kyun piped up. Dalnim and Chanyeol meekly take a step away from each other.

Opening the door to let him leave, they all realize the unexpected visitor.

Hana blinked in surprise at the amount of people inside Dalnim's apartment, especially at the EXO rapper. She refrained her shocked expression and bowed in greeting to the five. Hye Rin, being the closest one to the girl, greeted her first, "Hana-unnie! Hello~ What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to Dalnim," the girl muttered, her eyes meeting the one mentioned for a brief moment. "And I'd prefer to chat with her alone." Her unamused gaze rested on the remaining three, eyebrow perched. "Coach Seon called for an emergency practice today in about a couple hours so I would advise that you three get home and get ready."

"Yah, we'll leave in a few, alright?" Yeon Kyun grumbled. The oldest wrapped her arms around Tae Ri and Hye Rin's shoulders. "Let's get to washing the dishes while our lovely spikers have their conversation." The three bid a last goodbye to Chanyeol before returning back into the kitchen.

The idol however was hesitant to leave now. He wasn't okay with leaving his girlfriend with the person who had given her difficulty in the past.

Dalnim noticed his reluctance and bared a smile his way. "Chanyeol, you should leave before your manager gets even more furious. I'll be fine, you know." She glimpsed back at her lone teammate. "Let's talk on the roof, we'll be able to have our privacy." Before the two girls could leave, a hand shot out and grasped onto Dalnim's wrist. "Yah, you really like grabbing me a lot today."

Chanyeol pulled her into his arms once again for a short hug. He then whispered into her ear, "Don't hesitate to call me if she gives you any trouble."

"Ha! As if you'd be able to do anything," Dalnim snickered as she pulled away from him. "Did you forget who I am? I may be your girlfriend now, but I'm no less weak."

At her words, Chanyeol's lips twitched into a small smile and he couldn't help but caress her cheek out of affection. "Okay, babe. I'll leave now." His smile only grew wider at her surprised expression. Hah, I'll have to call her babe more often.

Chanyeol finally left and so the two girls turned to the direction of the staircase that leads straight to the roof of the apartment building.

Greeted by the bright sunlight and the chilly air, the two girls faced each other. Now that Dalnim looked at the other, she could sense a bit of nervousness. One foot kicking the ground, hands fiddling with each other, and her gaze not meeting Dalnim's, it was the very same stance she had the day she returned back to a competition match after her full recovery. The very same movements Hana had done whenever she feels nervous about something. This wasn't something Dalnim sees often.

Despite how Hana might be feeling, the events of last night were still fresh in Dalnim's mind. It's bewildering enough that the other spiker stood before her in her own silence since she had been flared up to kick her out of her party. Not invited in the first place, too. Now, what does the woman want from her?

"So," Hana murmured out, her voice nearly going by unnoticed. "Do you know if... Young Gi got back safe to his apartment last night?" Dalnim was taken aback by the question but she thought back to last night, she couldn't recall the familiar sound of unlocking the door across the hallway. It was unlikely that Young Gi had returned between the times of 5 in the morning to now. So, all she could do was shake her head in reply that she, in fact, didn't know. "Oh, I see... That's fine, whatever."

Dalnim frowned. It looked like Hana and Young Gi were in bad terms, too. Well, he did have to talk to her last night about the CD issue, but surely there was something more to it.

"I'm sorry."

The two girls made eye contact.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," Hana repeated herself. Plenty of different emotions swam in her eyes, but the guilt was the most evident. "About... Everything and how this all turned out. I feel like... It's partly my fault." Dalnim's brows furrowed at the statement. "The CD, I took it away that night of the Christmas show because I didn't see a point in the confession. I mean, it was so obvious from the very beginning that you and Chanyeol were so into each other. But because of me, Young Gi snapped and went to the media--"

"It's not your fault, Hana," Dalnim interjected, surprising the other girl. "You never would have guessed Young Gi's actions. I didn't even know he liked me until he flat out told me last night. I won't blame you for anything."

Hana pursed her lips as she stared at the other.

Just why did we have to drift apart?

"It looks like you're ready to go to the gym," Dalnim pointed out, nodding her head to the sports bag.

"Yeah, I am. I kind of want to get that early practice in. The competition is a couple weeks away now."

Right. That was a thing, too. "Would you be okay if I tagged along with you? I think it'd be good to get my mind off what's happening recently," Dalnim murmured as she stretched back her legs, as if to get ready. "Plus, I'm still kind of sluggish after the holidays."

Without much hesitation, Hana quipped in a playful tone, "Sure, but don't hold me back."

"Ha, we'll see!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/n: Very chill chapter. I promise for something more exciting in the next one.

Unedited for now since I'm sneaking this in right in the middle of class.