Knock, knock, knock!

"Give me ten more minutes..." Dalnim mumbled out as she tossed about on the couch. She slowly opened her eyes, rubbed the sleep away, and blinked a couple times before her vision became clear. With eyebrows furrowed in confusion, she took in her surroundings as she stretched her legs. "This isn't my bedroom." She clicked her tongue at herself. "God damn it, I must've crashed here after cleaning everything."

Knock, knock!

Dalnim quickly glanced over to the clock hanging on her wall. It was merely nine in the morning... "Yah, nine in the morning?! I really slept in today," she groaned as she forced herself to stand up. "Who the hell would be visiting me right now? I swear that if it's Young Gi..." She shuffled over to the door and took a peek through the hole. All she could see was, odd enough, an array of colors. She swung the door open, ready to tell Young Gi off for doing something as silly as covering the peephole.

However, standing before her was a tall, slender man holding a plastic bag in one hand and a bouquet of sunflowers in the other. The man's face peeked out from behind the flowers with the most dazzling smile Dalnim had seen this early in the morning. The most dazzling and most familiar smile. "Sorry, NimNim, but my schedule got pushed up today so I decided to come around early."

Dalnim's jaw dropped. "Ch-Chanyeol?!"

The man in front of her was far from the goofy looking kid she knew seven years ago. It seemed like everything that she once knew about her ray of sunshine had changed in a blink of an eye. She knew that this was the same kid, her childhood friend and her first love. But all of this; his height, his face, his hair, his voice, his everything were all different.

He was undeniably handsome.

SLAM.

Dalnim gasped at herself. "Did I seriously just slam the door on his face?" She set aside her gnawing insides and rushed to dress up. First time meeting with him in so long and everything was already a mess. She was still in her show-more-than-enough-skin pajamas and she hasn't even started cooking lunch for the two of them. If only Chanyeol's schedule hadn't messed up on him!

She dressed up in lightning speed. With a appropriate outfit on, her teeth brushed, her face washed, and her hair fixed, she went back to the door and opened it sheepishly. She was honestly surprised to see that he was still standing there waiting.

"That really wasn't the welcome I was expecting," he murmured out.

Dalnim bared him a guilty smile. "I'm sorry, you caught me by surprise. You could've called me earlier that you were coming over."

Chanyeol smirked with a shake of his head, "I did, idiot. You didn't pick up."

The raven-haired girl blushed at the mistake she made. Now that she actually thought about it, she had left her phone in her bedroom before she cleaned. There was no chance to hear the calls from all the way over there.

She cursed to herself before glancing back at him. "Please come in." She stepped aside for him. Chanyeol walked in and let out an amused ah as his eyes wandered around the small apartment. "I told you not to judge my place."

"No, no, I actually really like it! I think it suits you very well," he answered. He turned his heel back to face Dalnim. He held out the flowers towards her, catching her off guard. "By the way, these are for you." She took hold of the sunflowers in her hands, all of varying bright colors.

Chanyeol remembered her favorite flower.

The tall male then held up the bag he was holding higher to show. Now that Dalnim got a good look at it, it looked to be food. "And since I figured that you wouldn't be ready, I brought our lunch!"

Dalnim's eyes shifted back and forth from the food and the flowers. How could he have gone so much out of his way to get both of those at this hour? Her lips perked up. "I... haven't had breakfast yet."

"I brought our brunch. I hope you're ok with some jajangmyeon, it was the quickest thing I could get." Dalnim only nodded at him. She watched as he set down the food onto her table, along with a pair of chopsticks to go along with it. As he did that, she made sure to get a vase with water for the flowers. She really was amazed. Even though their texts had showed that he was the person she knew, seeing him in person showed that he also bloomed into someone more, into someone that could've been some other person. "Do you like me, Dalnim-ah?"

The girl jolted at the question. "Huh?" she squeaked out.

"You keep staring at me," Chanyeol chuckled. "I know I look different from what you're used to. I became quite handsome, right?"

Dalnim tried to calm her poor heart before scoffing at him, "Being cocky now, are we?"

"If it's any consolation, you look beautiful yourself."

Oh my gosh, I hate him, Dalnim thought, her heart feeling like it was about to leap right out her chest. If he keeps this up, she might have a heart attack from all the sweet words.

She went over to her fridge and gotten out two water bottles for them to drink. She set them down and sat down across from him. Chanyeol flashed her another charming smile, and she found herself cursing in her mind again.

She doesn't even know how to process everything right now.

"I must've really shocked you, hmm?" Chanyeol reached over and tore off the plastic wrapping of the jajangmyeon for her. He began to mix the sauce to the noodle with her chopsticks while all she could do was wait. "You better eat up, alright? I wish I could just hang out with you the whole day, but duty calls, you know?" Chanyeol glimpsed up at Dalnim, only to be met by her intense gaze. "What? Do you want me to feed you too?"

A crazy idea had hit Dalnim. She reached across the table and with both hands, she grabbed onto his face. Despite his bewilderment, Chanyeol made no movement to pull away.

She made sure to take in every detail and let it all sink in that this was her ray of sunshine now. So different but yet... recognizable. She would still be able to spot him from miles away no matter the differences he made. Her hands mended his cheeks, squishing and pinching. Chanyeol could only watch, his lips pouted out as his childhood friend mushed his face. "Now this? This is right here is actually model material! Little Sunny would be so proud of Big Sunny."

Chanyeol tore away from her hands, his eyebrows knitted. "Yah! I got second place in that modelling contest," he told her, his chopsticks pointed in her direction. "I was fabulous and you know it."

"You needed a haircut," Dalnim replied, a smirk pulling at her lips.

The male fell back onto his seat, looking incredulously at the girl. "You told me you liked my hair then."

"I was lying."

"Some best friend you were!"

Once making eye contact, the two fell into a fit of giggles and went on to eat their jajangmyeon. The two continued to share their fond memories together and eventually, they want on to talk about their present life, most of which Chanyeol was doing most of the asking and Dalnim the answering. He made sure to get the facts CHEER Magazine may have failed to verify and much more.

"Wow, right after college? That's my athletic Yoon Dalnim, making it on the national team like it was nothing!" He hooted. "I'm so proud of you!"

Dalnim finished up her bowl of jajangmyeon and pushed it to the side. "Well, the coach said I could've been on the team earlier."

"Why haven't you?"

She grinned up at him. "Because remember my other dream?" She asked him.

"Yeah, to be an English teacher," he replied. Once realizing the situation in hand, he nodded. "Oh I get it. You were probably torn from becoming a professional volleyball player and being a teacher."

"That's right." Dalnim's coffee brown eyes casted to the side to where her bookshelf stood. Within it were the old college textbooks she used for her education courses. She hadn't used them since her junior year of college. "And of course, you saw which path I took."

"Are you happy with this choice?" Dalnim glanced back at them and nodded her head in reply. "That is what matters, alright? No regrets."

"Yeah, no regrets," she mumbled out, her lips then pressed into a thin line. She let out an awkward cough and asked him, "So, enough about me. You've read a gist of what I've been up to in CHEER. What about you?"

Chanyeol's eyebrow raised, both in bewilderment and amusement. He crossed his arms and leaned forward on the table. "Are you being serious right now?"

"Of course I'm being serious! I would like to know if my friend hadn't become a homeless bum," Dalnim shot back.

A hearty chuckle left his lips, which Dalnim couldn't understand. She had asked a genuine question, so why was he not giving her a direct response? "I can't believe this," he replied. He took a swig of water and continued. "Would a bum look as good as me?"

"Just answer the question, idiot!" The smile Chanyeol showed gave Dalnim an unsettling feeling. She retreated back into her seat with a frown on her face. "Have you achieved your dream or not, Sunny?"

"Well, I--" She noticed his gaze averted onto his phone on the table. His eyes then widened and he scrambled onto his feet in a flustered mess. "I'm going to be late!"

Dalnim shot out of her chair as well, her heart sinking to the pit of her stomach over the sudden end of their hang out. "Wait, really? You have to leave now?"

He nodded at her. The two hurried over to her door. The male paused. "This was nice. I'm glad to see you after all these years, NimNim. I'm sorry I have to dash," Chanyeol muttered.

Dalnim shot him a smile. "I know, it really was great to reunite with you after so long. Let's try to keep in touch this time and not break our promise." She held out her pinky out towards his face, wiggling in a way to tempt him. Without much reserve to begin with, Chanyeol linked his pinky with hers. They then pressed their thumbs together to seal the deal. "Good. See, this is what we didn't do the last time we've seen each other, and see what happened?"

"Shame on us for forgetting, huh?" Chanyeol chuckled. He reached over and patted her head, his fingers slightly running through her raven locks. "I promise to tell you my answer on that question next time we meet."

"You can't tell me right now?" Chanyeol shook his head. "But when will we be able to meet?" Dalnim questioned him with her hand on her hip. "With me preparing for the upcoming competition and you doing who knows what, that can take ages!"

"Don't worry, I know we'll see each other real soon."

How vague, Dalnim thought to herself, but it didn't stop from her cheeks from reddening. At least she knew that he wanted to see her again.

"Who are you?"

Dalnim jumped away in surprise. Across from her own apartment, her neighbor's door was wide open. "Seon Young Gi, you startled me!" She shouted at him with a smack to his arm.

The still-tired nurse rubbed his eyes and let out a loud yawn, not fazed by Dalnim's weak hit. Young Gi, still clad in only a grey t-shirt and boxers, glanced over to the other male, eyed the paler male from head to toe, not sure what to make of the random visitor.

For Chanyeol, all it took was one look at Dalnim's neighbor to worry him. Why on earth was this guy showing off his underwear out in the open like that? And in front of a woman too! Does he not have any decency to put on some pants on before opening the door?

"Oh, Young Gi-yah!" Dalnim burst out, a bright smile on her face as she looked back and forth between her two close friends. Chanyeol's lips turned down, she's ok with this guy just being in his boxers? "Remember that childhood friend who texted me yesterday? See, this is him! My intuition is always right."

"I can name more than enough times when your intuition hasn't," Young Gi snickered. Dalnim made a move to hit Young Gi again. Once seeing him flinch away, she refrained, pleased with the terror she could bring to him.

The nurse snapped his fingers and pointed over at Chanyeol. The taller male froze as the other observed him as he tried to remember who knows what. "Oh! You're... You're that guy!" Chanyeol's eyes widened. "You're Sunny. That's what Dalnim-ah said."

Chanyeol internally thanked the lord that he doesn't know a thing. "That's right," he replied.

"And Sunny, this is Young Gi, my best friend. We went to college together," Dalnim introduced, her hand gesturing over to the other.

"Best friend?" Chanyeol mumbled out, his voice noticeably lower. He jolted back when Young Gi unexpectedly held out his hand towards him. He had a warm and welcoming expression on his face, like he hadn't just now rolled out of bed. Chanyeol met his hand with his.

"It's nice to meet you, man. I'm glad that you're not some stalker. Now that Dalnim's getting popular, you can never be too cautious for creeps, you know?" The two men shook hands on it, even though all Chanyeol can think of was how this guy was giving him a creep vibe.

"Hey, I can take care of myself. Thank you very much," Dalnim snapped at her neighbor. She glimpsed over at Chanyeol again and patted his shoulder. "You need to go, right? You're going to be late."

Chanyeol looked to be in a daze. He blinked, snapping away the thoughts he had. "That's... Right. Yeah, I'll be going now. I'll text you later, ok, NimNim?"

Dalnim agreed, baring him another dazzling smile. Chanyeol then hurried off while waving goodbye to the two before disappearing around the corner to the stairs.

The girl's focus went back to her other friend and flicked his arm. "OUCH! What was that for?!" Young Gi whined while rubbing away at the stinging sensation on his arm.

"Why are you up on your day off? You usually sleep in until 11:30," Dalnim said, her body now laying against her doorframe.

"First of all, it is 11:40 now," He responded while holding up his phone for proof of the time. "Secondly, you made quite the racket out here so I had to check on you. I could hear your voice all the way from my room." Young Gi pointed towards the direction Chanyeol had left. "So that guy was seriously your childhood friend?"

"That's right. You had nothing to worry about, Young Gi-yah."

"I can't believe you met up with him the day after you got that text! You couldn't have waited a bit longer to meet up, just to make sure?" Dalnim's nose scrunched at the unnecessary nagging she was receiving. "And why did you have to meet in your own apartment? Why did you let a guy in, huh?"

"Young Gi, you've been in my apartment plenty of times before," Dalnim pointed out.

"But I've known you for over five years."

"I've known him for 16 years."

Young Gi stepped out and placed his hands on her shoulders. He stared intensely into her eyes. "Stop being so careless. Even though he's your childhood friend, he's a guy."

"He's not like that," Dalnim frowned.

"Well, then that'd be abnormal if hasn't had those thoughts before."

Before Dalnim could retort, a voice interjected from the end of the hallway. "Oh my, again, Young Gi? You need to stop going out and about in just your undies!" Their neighbor to the left of them, an older woman in her sixties, scolded him.

Young Gi looked down at himself and he gasped, as if now realizing what he was wearing or the lack of. His hand flew over the crotch region, trying to cover up whatever he can for the old woman. "This has become a nasty habit, Young Gi. Don't you have any shame? You should be thankful it's just me and Dalnim out here right now. What about Apartment 37's children, huh? You should feel ashamed."

"I-I apologize," Young Gi sputtered out.

"Yeah, jeez, Young Gi-yah. So indecent! Go put on some pants. Disgusting," Dalnim joked about. A look of betrayal crossed her friend's face at her words. He bowed to their old neighbor and rushed back into his apartment, slamming the door behind him. Dalnim let out a laugh at the ridiculousness at this hour.

"My, Dalnim, that lad from earlier, he was quite handsome, isn't he?" The old woman brought up as she began fishing out her keys from her bag. Dalnim bobbed her head in agreement as she tried to suppress a smile. "Is he your boyfriend?"

The young woman froze momentarily before throwing her hands up and waved at her neighbor dismissively. "What? No, he was actually my childhood friend. This was the first time I've seen him in years."

"Really now? You have such handsome friends, Dalnim, although Young Gi may have some loose screws. You should find yourself a man, Dalnim. It's a shame a lovely girl like you is still single." The old woman finally took out her key and unlocked her door. "Have a nice day, ok? Work hard."

"I will." Just as the old woman entered her apartment, Young Gi trudged out of his, now in presentable clothing. "You really do need to put on pants before you open the door, idiot."

Young Gi rolled his eyes before shoving Dalnim back into her own apartment. "You've fallen behind in your workout today. My mom isn't going to be pleased to know you're slacking."

"Neither is she going to be pleased to know that her son is starting to be known as the pants-less guy of the third floor."

"Touché. But don't think I'm going to let you go easy."

"That's fair."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chanyeol and Dalnim finally get to see each other face to face for the first time! Does it seem all of a sudden to y'all? I hope not because, yeah, this story ain't supposed to be too long sooooo I don't want to drag it out too much. But do tell me what you think!

ALSO, LETS GO SUPPORT OUR BOYS AND GET THEIR WINTER ALBUM. PRAISE IT. WATCH THEIR SING FOR YOU MV. Unfair is seriously my new jam!! WAY TOO GOOD.

Alright, that's all I got for now! This was unedited so I will be editing this chapter once I get my hands on my computer. I'm actually on my phone right now. Peace out, everyone!