CHAPTER 15

[Byun Baek Hyun’s POV]

I headed back to the dorm with heavy steps.

Hanna…

This will hurt her…

This will break her, for sure…

What have I done?

I left Taeyeon in her car without another word.

I’ve had enough.

I should’ve known it.

I should’ve sensed it right from the start.

Taeyeon wouldn’t help me.

She wouldn’t help me without getting something in return.

And she just succeeded.

The kiss…

The way she opened the roof of her car…

The camera…

That camera.

It was there for a reason.

It was there because everything that happened was a set-up.

Taeyeon planned this right from the start.

Calling me out in the middle of the night to meet her…

Me and her I inside her car…

Her kissing me on the cheek…

All of those things, when captured correctly, could make the two of us look like we’re actually dating.

Like were actually in a relationship.

My knees buckled, making me fall down.

My knee hit a flight of stair hard.

I flinched.

Moving into a proper position, I sat down on the stairs, my head held between my hands.

What am I going to do?

I closed my eyes, my hands gripping my hair tightly it almost felt like I’m about to tear off my scalp.

I know Taeyeon wasn’t joking.

She was really there to help me.

When the news about the two of us breaks out, this would surely take the attention away from Kris and the group. This would make us the new center of attention.

It’s helpful.

A perfect and effective plan, to be honest.

If not only for its downfall.

Hanna.

Images of her face began flooding my mind again.

I promised her I would never hurt her.

I promised her dad and Manager Song that I would do everything to protect her – to shield her from any pain.

And here I am…

Caught in a set-up which would change my life forever.

Just how can the two of us survive this?

Tears began to fall as I slowly felt my heart shatter into pieces.

I hate myself.

I don’t think I could ever hate myself as much as I do now.

Stupid.

Worthless.

What right do I have to love Hanna when I couldn’t even so much as protect her?

When I, myself, fell for this bait?

How can I even deserve her after what I just did?

I bit my lip and clutched my chest as I broke down into fits of painful sobs.

This must be the hardest I cried in my whole life.

Like my heart’s about to burst inside my chest