Sorry everyone :^(

It's been about a year or two since I last updated. You guys probably want to scream at me for not updating sooner. Welllllll- I had a lot going on but I won't talk about it here.

But for the rest of the chapters I can say the story is done! I just need to upload the chapters onto here. I'll try and do it weekly but I might forget. Thank you to everyone that stuck around :^)

Sore. Her neck grew incredibly sore. With a groan, she opened her eyes and lifted her head off the floor and yawned.

Wait… floor?

Looking around, Malaysia realized that she was at a sleepover. That she and Indonesia slept on the floor while the guys were on the bed together.

She looked over at North Korea's sleeping figure, and her eyes widen in interest. North Korea's arms wrapped around Singapore's stature. She wasn't sure if she should be jealous or amused. North Korea has a habit of clinging onto people in his sleep. Singapore didn't even seem to mind it all that much in his slumber.

Malaysia only fell back on the floor with a small sigh, curling up in her blanket.

"Poke."

Indonesia tapped Malaysia's nose with her index finger, and snickered when she saw Malaysia's tired face scrunch up into an irritated expression.

A sudden idea popped into her head. Malaysia quickly grabbed Indonesia's arm and made a 'shh' noise with her lips. She motioned her to sit up from the floor as she pointed at the two cuddling men on the couch. Then Malaysia pointed at her phone.

Indonesia nodded, recognizing her plan. She swiftly took out her smartphone and took a high quality picture of them on her camera app. Then a few pictures later, Malaysia and Indonesia were taking selfies with Singapore and North Korea behind them.

The giggling and crackling finally made its way to the men's ears. A light shuffle was heard from the bed. Indonesia and Malaysia turned around in sync to see what was happening.

Singapore cuddled against North Korea and unconsciously pet his hair. Malaysia's jaw dropped while Indonesia started to record the moment. She isn't used to seeing two of her male friends being all touchy-feely on each other. It was all too abnormal for two dudes to act more than dudes. North Korea shifted even closer to the other man, making Malaysia feel embarrassed for the both of them.

The two huddled together and watched intensely as they recorded the two men cuddling in bed.

Their fun went to an end as Singapore slowly opened his eyes, then immediately widened them as he pushed North Korea away with a squeal. North Korea didn't wake up, but he did squirm on the bed a bit. Probably wanting to cuddle something, Malaysia thought. The two girls burst out laughing as Singapore's face flushed a bright red.

"S-SHUT UP!" He barked. In his rage, he grabbed his glasses and stormed out of the room. Indonesia put a hand to her mouth and gave a sinister laughter.

"Fufu, this is good blackmail material." Indonesia chuckled. The two girls high fived each other while North Korea stirred awake, looking at the girls in front of him with a confused gaze.

"W….hat?" North Korea squinted. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing!" They both squeaked. Indonesia pushed her phone into Malaysia's hands. "I gotta go find my spare clothes- bye!"

Malaysia sent Indonesia a death glare as the elder ran out of the room. She let out an irritated groan as North Korea stretched out his arms and yawned. Malaysia sat on the floor while watching North Korea. She set Indonesia's phone on the floor and sat still.

They sat in silence for a minute before North Korea decided to speak up.

"Did something happen while I was asleep?" He asked, his voice wavering from exhaustion.

"Ah… no?" Malaysia's voice went on a high note at the end. She let out a nervous laugh and let her head fall gently to the side of the bedpost. She closed her eyes and smiled. "I was making fun of Jing Yi with Amita. That's all,"

He didn't respond. Malaysia was worried if she said something wrong, so she opened her eyes to look up at North Korea on the bed. Her heart stopped because North Korea was only a couple centimeters in front of her.

North Korea had leaned forward from the bed to look at Malaysia closely. They were nose to nose with each other. Malaysia's ears perked up and her lip formed into a line as North Korea nonchalantly stared into her eyes. He tilted his head while Malaysia's face started to flush red.

"So that's all?" His eyes were half-lidded and his hand gripped onto the edge of the bedpost. She could almost feel his breath touching her lips. Maybe it was just her, but North Korea was in leaning closer to her.

Malaysia gulped as her eyes went wider. But then, her expression softened as she leaned in closer to him. She just wanted to be even more closer to him.

"Get a room." Singapore's voice had smacked both of them back into reality. Malaysia realized how embarrassing this situation was and backed away quickly. North Korea dropped his head down, abashed and quiet.

"You don't have to say it like that." Malaysia hissed. She looked at North Korea through the corner of her eye but his face was unreadable. Then, she turned to Singapore with a menacing glare. "I have blackmail on you. So you better watch out,"

Singapore rolled his eyes. "Get dressed already,"

He walked out of the room, not even noticing the silent tension going on in the room. Malaysia peered over at North Korea and gave him a nervous smile.

"I-i'll wash up first…"

North Korea turned his head towards her. He was biting his lip and avoiding her gaze by looking down. Cute, she thought to herself.

"Alright…" He responded. North Korea decided to look at her. But the moment their eyes met, they both turned away from each other.

Both of them were high on anxiety. Malaysia rushed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. She clutched the place near her chest, closest to her heart. It was beating too fast. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, but she laid her head in her hands and muffled her silent screams, kicking the carpet on the floor vigorously.

Meanwhile, North Korea had also made his screeches quiet by burying his face into a nearby pillow.

When everyone ate breakfast together, Malaysia and North Korea had both pretended that their moment had never even happened. Everything has to be normal again, Malaysia thought to herself. But she still couldn't bring herself to look into North Korea's eyes.

Indonesia noticed the tension, but Malaysia's glare kept her from saying anything about it. Singapore was grumbling to himself, since he ran out of coffee beans for his regular caffeine intake.

"... So- what do you think about the weather?" Indonesia asked. She just wanted to break the tension, and Malaysia appreciates her for that.

"It's cold and dark. England is always fucking gloomy,"

It was North Korea who answered her question. With no hesitation, everyone in the room started laughing. Maybe it was because it was such an expected and unexpected answer, everyone couldn't help but crack up. Singapore even spluttered out some coffee, and had a napkin over his mouth. Indonesia was banging the table with her fist. Malaysia dropped her spoon and clutched her stomach.

When Malaysia finally came to her senses, she noticed how the tension eased a bit. She looked back at North Korea, who gave her a small smile in return. It felt good.

Everyone finished eating, and Indonesia asked what time it was. Singapore checked his phone and blinked once. Then he widened his eyes, "It's… almost 9:45. We're gonna be late." The meetings started at around ten, depending on how long it takes for the nations to stop fighting and get in their seats.

Everyone turned to Singapore, who had a worried look on his face. Then he inhaled very deeply, then exhaled as loud as he could. "According to my calculations, we have to be at the train station in about ten minutes, then run to the meeting building in about five minutes so we can make it on time. We can't take a cab, there aren't many over here in this area of London. Any questions?"

"Yes. You spoke too much and I honestly blanked out on every word you said. Could you repeat that?" Malaysia asked him. Singapore only groaned at her before pointing towards the door.

"Hurry up! We need to go!" He shouted, ushering everyone out the door. Suddenly, he started running on the streets. They all knew he was going to the train station, so they just followed him. Malaysia was behind since she was overweight… curse her.

Her eyes streaked with color as she dashed towards the train station. A baby in a stroller, a couple on the sidewalk holding hands. It was if her world opened up. But it was more likely that she learned to open her eyes to her surroundings. It made her appreciate how life is always flourishing and evolving.

As the group went to the train stop, Malaysia sat on a nearby bench to cool down. Well, at least she burnt off some calories she thought. She glanced over at Singapore, who began to laugh eerily.

"I misread the time. The train won't come right away, but in five minutes." He said. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with his hand. "Don't get mad at mad."

Singapore said this as the group collectively stared at him through their tired, sunken eyes. He gulped as he adjusted his glasses.

"O-oh! I found a nearby fountain!" He salutes at them. "I don't want to deal with any of you, so I'm going to get some water now! Bye bye!" Singapore dashed off to the other side of the station. Malaysia stopped growling and sighed in exasperation. Indonesia decided to sit next to her and laughed a bit.

"He's really fun to tease! Almost as much as you," Indonesia nudged Malaysia with her own elbow. Malaysia looked at her with half-lidded eyes, but said nothing. Her silence indicated that she was too tired to deal with her at the moment.

North Korea sat on the floor next to the bench, since the girls took up most of the space. He looked up at them. "Damia, wake up. If you haven't trained your body to wake up when an enemy strikes, then don't sleep at all."

"Hwan-chu, you okay?" Indonesia winced back at his words.

"I am fine." North Korea stated. He laid his head against the bench's side. "I'll just lay here for a bit."

Indonesia sighed. "I'll go to Jing Yi. I actually want to get some water too." She got up and left. The area was filled with a quaint silence, which was broken off by the sound of snickers.

Malaysia opened one eye to see a couple of men peering at her. She scrunched her face up in disgust and sighed. She didn't want to deal with a couple of these men right now. She looked down from the bench to see North Korea sleeping. This won't be pretty.

One of the men staggered towards her with a toothy grin on his face. Malaysia pretended to ignore him while he whistled at her.

"You've got a nice set of assets if I do say so myself." He sneered, his friends laughing in the background. Malaysia glared at the man. But he didn't back away.

"I have… a what?" Malaysia asked.

"You speak English? Not bad for a foreigner!" Malaysia winced and turned her head. He started to come closer to her. "It's not nice to ignore someone ya know?"

Malaysia huffed. "It's not nice to talk to someone with a stinky breath like yours."

"Hey, hey now. I'm just trying to be your friend here. Now why don't you come with me." He grabbed her wrist as she widened her eyes. She was ready to throw a punch at him until someone beat her to it. The men in the back stopped laughing as their friend fell to the ground.

North Korea stood in front of Malaysia protectively with a venomous glare their way. Malaysia gulped as his gaze seemed to have the man fixed in his place.

"W-what was that for?" He yelped. North Korea responded by holding Malaysia close to him, her head laying on his broad chest. She wondered if she was the damsel in distress in some cliche otome game. She didn't know what to think of that.

North Korea lifted his gaze up and sneered at him with a hateful glare. "Fuck off already. She doesn't want to be manhandled by some toothless rat."

The stranger was of course offended, but backed off in the end. He didn't have a comeback and he would have looked even more pathetic if he had tried to come up with one. He motioned his friends to move away and they left without a word.

He held her in his arms for only a couple seconds, but it felt like centuries to her. After the men had gone, North Korea immediately let go of her and held a bashful demeanor.

"Sorry for uh- touching you without permission. I know you can handle yourself," He put his hand on the nape of his neck and averted his gaze towards the ground. "I overheard them while I was lying down, but I decided to stay back because you could've handled the situation better than I would have. But he grabbed you and… I just got so angry." He closed his eyes for a moment, before looking back at her with a soft gaze. "You don't deserve to be treated like that. Heh, they don't know how to keep it in their pants, do they?"

Malaysia widened her eyes, but smiled afterwards. She touched his hand and gave him a reassuring nod.

"It's okay, la. You have good intentions! Just let me punch them a few times before you step in." She chuckled. To her surprise, he clutched her hand and patted it with his other hand. His laughter made Malaysia want to pinch his cheeks.

"I'll be sure to do that." North Korea then looked off to the side and crossed his arm. "Also about this morning- I was really tired. I wasn't really thinking and I don't even know what I was doing. Can we forget about that?"

'How can I forget about that?' Malaysia thought. To her, it seemed like he wanted to kiss her in the morning. Maybe she was wrong. Or maybe she didn't want to admit the possibility that he liked her that way. Because if he did, then what happens next?

Two can play that game. She smiled and patted North Korea's back, surpising the other.

"Don't worry about that! Even I had no clue what you were doing. It's alright, I will forget all of it." Malaysia couldn't hide the slip up in her voice. It sounded a tad diappointed. North Korea gave her a concerned look before smiling nervously.

"Thank you." He said. He just couldn't elaborate on anything else at the moment.

Her eyes fell towards his hand, a hand that was just wanting to be grabbed. Malaysia tried to resist the temptation to hold it because she was a little mad at him. But with North Korea making that adorable awkward expression on his face, how could she not?

She slowly inched her hand towards his, but was sadly interrupted.

"How cute," Singapore awed. They both jolt alarmed as they turn around to see Singapore and Indonesia with a smug look. Malaysia wanted to flip them off but North Korea was there, with a content look on his face. They can't ruin this for her.

"He is cute. Cuter than the two of you combined," Malaysia stuck out her tongue.

Singapore only shrugged at the remark. However Indonesia- she was visibly offended. She put a hand on her chest and raised an eyebrow at Malaysia. "Wait… really? How could you… did I raise you to be like this?"

"You're not that much older than me. I raised myself," Malaysia sighed.

"H-how dare you…"

North Korea titled his head. "Um? Am I missing something here?"

"Trust me," Singapore stood at his side, shaking his head visibly. "You're not missing much. Indonesia is just being needy."

"I'm not needy!"

Malaysia then heard the familiar ring of the train. She turned around only to find the doors of the train had just closed. She widened her eyes as the train started to move on without them.

"GUYS!" She pointed at the bus with a look of horror. Indonesia stopped babbling and stared at the train that was moving. The rest of the team silently stared as the train went on without them. It was honestly depressing to look at.

After a minute of silence passed by, Indonesia turned to North Korea with a blank stare. "Ah, want to get some coffee?"

"... Alright."

"Hey, hey, wait a minute. We need to get to the meeting." Singapore pointed at his watch. "If we get on a cab then we can make it to the buildin-"

"I can go for some coffee." Malaysia nodded, ignoring Singapore.

"Well that's decided." Indonesia put a hand under her chin and nodded. "We'll come back to the meeting after lunch so England won't yell at us." She looked at Singapore with a soft smile. "Do you want your coffee black?"

"... That would be nice."

After getting food, walking around town, eating more food, they finally went back to the meeting. Malaysia thought it was nice hanging out with everyone instead of listening to America taking over the meeting with his loud, annoying voice. She liked this relaxation. It might get too repetitive but she liked everything during that moment in time. She liked making fun of Singapore. She liked play-fighting with Indonesia. She liked peering over her shoulder to see North Korea keep up a conversation with everyone. She liked him most of all.

The only downside of their ditching was going back to the meeting.

Inside, they all met with an angry Germany and England.

Germany was scolding them for missing the meeting and getting off schedule. England was pissed because they ditched a meeting in his own country. While North Korea and Indonesia were unphased by them, Malaysia and Singapore felt squeamish. The both of them still feel uncomfortable thinking about the old days when England acted awful towards them. He's fine nowadays, but the lingering tension between them all hasn't changed.

"Do you understand what problems you caused?" England asked, almost on the verge of yelling. "You're making me look bad!"

"Ah..." Singapore whistled, averting in gaze elsewhere. "Yelling won't change the past. I thought I said don't come fifty feet near me, old fart."

"I didn't raise you like this!" He ran his hand through his hair and muttered curse words under his breath. Malaysia could see the dark circles under his eyes and remembered his insomnia. She almost felt bad for him. Almost.

"Hey, hey. Hey England," The Englishman looked towards North Korea. "Shut the fuck up. No one even likes these meetings." England was about to speak up again but Germany beat him to it.

"England! Korea! I beseech the both of you to keep matters civil. We don't have all day to criticize others, even if there's a room full of countries to do it." Germany's words got through to England. He puffed his cheeks and grumbled quietly. Germany turned towards the four. "I apologize for the brashness. Romano drained all the coffee outside the window, so everyone has been restless."

Malaysia really was thankful that they skipped the meeting for coffee. Singapore was unbearable without it. She makes his black coffee really strong because of this fact.

Germany gave them notes from the meeting and said to go back into the room. The four waltz in there, pretending they were movie stars on a red carpet. Indonesia thought it was a nice idea to buy them all sunglasses, which added to the effect.

America was the first to approach them, with his omnipotent presence suffocating the room as usual.

"What's up with the glasses?" He laughed. North Korea looked at him for a moment and smiled.

"We are using the sunglasses Indonesia pushed onto us out of obligement." He said. Malaysia's jaw dropped as she saw North Korea nonchalantly walk off to his seat, having a conversation with Cuba.

This seemed to catch Indonesia's attention as she started to giggle. She lifted her hand to cover her mouth. Singapore wasn't paying attention as he was on his phone. Malaysia couldn't stop staring at North Korea.

He was in a good mood. Never would she have imagined that North Korea would willingly talk to America without any snark. Or even smile at him. She supposed that it wasn't on purpose, but maybe his smile just came naturally. Those sweet, gentle smiles she longs for everyday.

"Stop overanalyzing." Singapore bumps his elbow into her ribs and Malaysia snaps back into reality. The meeting had just started and they both sat next to each other. Indonesia was all the way at the end of the table with North Korea was across from them.

He gave them a little wave of acknowledgement before writing down the notes for the meeting. Malaysia squeaked and pursed her lips into a smile. She turned to Singapore, who raised an eyebrow at her.

The entire meeting consisted of Malaysia staring at North Korea while Singapore silently judged her. The entire time, Malaysia was internally screaming while Singapore sat back and enjoyed the scene before him. Malaysia was ready to full on fight Singapore for thinking about how funny this situation was.

At the end of the meeting, Singapore had a red hand mark on his cheek. He nonchalantly searched through apps on his phone while North Korea stood next to him, wide eyed.

"How did you get that?" North Korea asked, pointing at Singapore's new slap mark.

Malaysia gulped as soon as Singapore made eye contact with her. He gestured towards her, "That is why. She can't take a joke,"

"... Do you wanna fight?" Malaysia starting cracking her knuckles. She lightly punched Singapore on the shoulder in a childish manner.

North Korea squinted at them in confusion while Indonesia chuckled at them. "Both of you are so stupid," She said.

"I wish I understood what's going on." North Korea sighed.

After the meeting, they all decided to go their separate ways. Malaysia spent the rest of the day at the mall. Although crowded places aren't really her thing, she enjoyed the sales after Christmas and New Year.

She had bought a bunch of pots and pans she could use for cooking. She already used some stuff she got from Christmas to help her with her cooking. Like Singapore's stupid, ironic knife and North Korea's cute coasters. She had difficulty using the pressure cooker because it had buttons she didn't know how to use. Stupid advanced technology, giving her a hard time.

Malaysia was hauling a bunch of bags on her arms while she walked to her temporary home. She was tired, but kept moving forward. But her tiredness went away as soon as she saw North Korea.

He came out of his own home's door and saw her as well. He called out for her as he started walking towards Malaysia.

"Do you need help with those? It looks like you're struggling a bit." North Korea said.

"Yeah... I am pretty weak. Maybe I should start lifting weights," She said eerily. Malaysia was pretty embarrassed by the fact that she can't carry a couple of pots and pans. And this was the second time he had to help her. But when North Korea's fingertips made contact with her own, she felt like it was worth it.

Malaysia handed him the other half of her bags and they walked across the street to her own home. How convenient was it for them to be so close together? Malaysia felt like she was on cloud nine.

She opened the door and let North Korea inside.

"Are you having fun?" Malaysia asked suddenly.

"Honestly, I am." He answered, setting down her bags on her kitchen countertops. He turned to face her. "I think I can even consider them close allies."

"What about friends?" Malaysia questioned. North Korea bit his lip and stared off to the side.

"I… I don't know. I don't want to assume such a big thing. I just don't want to get disappointed in the end." He confessed. "I think we're friends. But there's a small part of me that believes they don't feel the same."

"They like you. Of course they consider themselves as your friends. We're friends, right?"

"Of course." He nodded, crossing his arms. "Unless you say otherwise-"

"Hwan Soo. You're important to me. That's what matters," She smiled at him, but he only frowned. Malaysia couldn't describe it, but something about his expression was odd. He stared at her for a while- looking a bit hurt- but she didn't know why. "What's wrong?"

He snapped out his daze and blushed. "It's nothing serious. Anyways, I need to go. I have to prepare dinner."

"I could come over and help." She said. Malaysia took a step closer to him, but his eyes widened and he flinched. He wasn't scared or anything, just awkward. What else could be interpreted by his sudden red cheeks?

North Korea tensed up again and looked away. "It's alright."

Something felt strange. He was getting nervous and timid, which was weird to her. Just moments ago, North Korea was calm and collected. Maybe a sudden thought struck him in the head and he couldn't stop thinking about it. What could possibly be going through his mind? Was the thought about her? She wouldn't know.

He left her house, making her question what could possibly be wrong with him.

Meanwhile back at his house, he put his hands over his face and sighed loudly.

'I can't keep pulling this off.' He thought to himself.

He was satisfied with the way things were. He was fine with being her friend and suppressing any feelings he had for her. But as soon as she said those words, he just couldn't stop thinking about them. It really struck a nerve inside of him.

Something inside of him churned. He hated this feeling. Knowing that Malaysia and him would only stay as friends while he painfully deals with his internalized problems. He didn't want the others to know. But they probably did know, and that thought scared him. What if they were mocking him?

He hits his head as he thinks, no they wouldn't do that. They aren't cruel enough to hurt someone. Even if he's an outsider in their circle of friends, he liked pretending that he was wanted there.

North Korea hugs himself as he thinks about Malaysia. Her gentle smile, sudden outbursts, and kind hearted personality makes his heart flutter. He feels better around her, but falls apart if she's not there. North Korea realized he's becoming too dependent, too attached to her. He reached a breaking point after coming to terms with all of this. It finally hit him that he wanted to become something more with Malaysia.

That scared him more than anything he could ever think of.