"Yes." I answered, "I like him a lot."

Chanyeol's and Baekhyun's expressions were hard to read. But there was definite surprise in their eyes, maybe the slightest tinge of anger. I couldn't blame them, really, if they were mad at me. But in the end, you can't control who you fall for. It's something that just happens, and you can't do anything to stop it. From what I knew, Jongin was in a long distance relationship. I didn't know much else than that. He seemed to avoid talking about his partner. I didn't even know the gender.

I tried to not like Jongin like that. Because I knew whoever Jongin's partner was, he loved them very much. But Jongin was too kind to me. Even if I had Yixing and Tao to help me fit in, Jongin helped a lot. He helped me with my Korean speaking, and he spent a lot of time with me, when Yixing or Tao couldn't. I felt safe around him. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't do it. I like him. I really, really like him.

I looked down at my hands, suddenly feeling tears prickle my eyes. "I'm really sorry. I-I know he has someone else, and I'm well aware that he won't like me back." A tear slid down my cheek. "But...I can't exactly just stop liking him, right off the bat. Please understand that." I moistened my lips, due to them being dry and almost cracked. I took in a deep breath, then making eye contact with Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Baekhyun's eyes had softened...but Chanyeol's stayed the same. I swallowed hard.

Chanyeol looked at me, his eyes hard with anger and disgust. Of course he's mad...he's Jongin's best friend...and a good friend of Jongin's lover...it's only natural. "Go." demanded Chanyeol in a raspy, raged voice.

Baekhyun jerked his head up to Chanyeol, his hand resting on Chanyeol's chest. "Yeollie." He said sternly.

"Please just leave, Luhan." Chanyeol's voice was filled with so many emotions, that I couldn't place all of them. He was on the verge of crying. "Please."

I grabbed by bag quickly, more tears streaming down my cheeks, and slung it over my shoulder, while running out of the room.

Why...why did you have to love Jongin, Luhan?

|•~•||•~•||•~•|

Whilst I was running back to the apartment I shared with Tao, I collided with a taller figure, and I fell on my . I tried to hide my face from the person...until I heard his voice.

"Luhan-hyung?" It was the voice of Sehun, Jongin's other close friend. I glanced up at him, a look of concern in his eyes.

I swallowed a whimper, managing a smile. "H-hi, Sehun." My smile faded.

"You're crying..." He mused, then offered his hand to pull me up. I grabbed hold of his larger, warmer hand, and he pulled me off the ground. "Are you okay?" Only more tears came down. I shook my head, burrowing my face into his chest. I felt him tense a little. "H-hyung?"

"Please...," I sniffed, "please just hold me for a while..."

Then, I felt his arms close around my waist. One of his hands began petting my hair as I sobbed into his chest. I don't know why I asked him to comfort me like that. But in that moment, he was the only person to soothe me. Quite frankly, I didn't expect myself to cry when I was talking with Chanyeol and Baekhyun. The tears just started...and never seemed to stop.

After a bit, he let me go, cupping my tear-streaked cheeks, and drying them with his thumbs. "Do you want to come to my place for a bit?"

I bit my lower lip. "Is Jongin there?"

He shook his head no. "He went to Jongdae's and Minseok's for a while."

A faint smile emerged on my lips. "Then yeah. I'd like that."

|•~•||•~•||•~•|

Sehun came back in the living room with two cups of warm, peppermint tea, and he handed one to me. I wrapped my hands around the mug, the warmth hitting my cold skin perfectly. "Thank you, Sehun." I said quietly.

He smiled gently, something I didn't see a lot from him. "No problem." He sat down next to me, sipping the liquid in his mug. "Why were you crying?"

I sipped some of the tea as well, then held it in my lap. "Baekhyun and Chanyeol asked me if I liked Jongin." I started, biting down more tears.

"Oh."

"A-and I said I did. But I also said that I understood he had someone else and that I knew he could never possibly like me back..." I swallowed the lump rising in my throat. "I don't know...after I said that, I completely broke down. The last time I liked someone as much as I like Jongin, they told me...," I trailed off, yet another tear threatening to fall, "they told me no one would ever love me."

His lower lip rolled inside his mouth.

"I guess that's what made me cry. The thought of Jongin not liking me back, and the thought that nobody would ever love someone like me."

I watched Sehun set his mug on the coffee table. "I can't believe someone would say something like that to you."

"It's true though..."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at me. No one wants to date nor love a boy with girlish looks. I'm...I'm a freak..."

He glanced at me, a serious expression churning in his face. "Well...I guess I'm 'nobody' then."

My lips parted, my eyebrows knitting together. His face came closer to mine. Then...his lips met my own.