“Sorry to interrupt but we heard shouting. The PA department’s usually empty at this time,” Chanyeol said as he fixed his eyes on the two girls.  

“Did you perhaps overhear everything?” Aeri questioned.

“N-No,” Baekhyun hesitantly answered.

Jaein was relieved that only 4 of them were here, but Baekhyun’s answer made it clear that they did in fact heard it all. She was waiting for them to excuse themselves from the room, but none showed any sign to do so. Shouldn’t they leave and let her finish her business?

“It would be better if you guys leave right now. This is a personal matter and you know well enough that I despise people who violate my privacy,” Jaein stated with a hint of anger in her voice.

“Why should they? I need witnesses to when you decide to smash my face with your fist,” Aeri said with a visible smirk, recalling Jaein’s threat from earlier.

Jaein’s patience ran out as she took a step closer to Aeri, but she realized that she shouldn’t act so rash. There will be consequences if she does this that would jeopardize her education. The boys had already stepped forward to prevent her from jumping on Aeri.  

Jaein wanted to continue her chat, but she wasn’t going to do it with an audience around so she decided that it was best to leave. Her feet walked its way to the door and muttered an ‘excuse me’ so that the boys would move aside. Kyungsoo caught her wrist and held it firmly, but she violently shook it off and left.

Back in the room, the 4 boys weren’t sure if they should leave or confront Aeri. They were smart enough to put the pieces together and realize that this was the girl that has been stalking Jaein.

“I don’t know who you are but you should stop stalking her. If we didn’t come in, I bet she would’ve already stabbed you in the eye,” Sehun started. He, like the other boys, didn’t like the fact that Jaein was followed by one of their ‘fans.’

“You did hear everything, right? How messed up her life is. The Song Jaein you know is just a façade,” Aeri replied, satisfaction clearly shown on her face.

“So? That doesn’t give you any right to harass her,” Chanyeol pointed out.

“Don’t you feel betrayed? She’s clearly hiding who she really is from all of you. She doesn’t deserve your attention!” Aeri exclaimed. She doesn’t understand why they’re still defending her.

“We all hide things from one another; it’s normal,” Baekhyun replied.

“Can’t you just it up and move on? It’s clear that we don’t have any interest in giving our attention to you or your hurt friends. Stop being so ing petty,” Kyungsoo added with a bit of rage in his voice.

Before Aeri could say anything, the 4 boys left the room and slammed the door behind them.  Aeri was speechless because what they said were very unexpected. She thought they would be on her side. Why didn’t she win?

“She’s not scared of us… at all. And the oppas are clearly on her side. What do we do?”

♦♦♦

“Should we check up on her? Or make sure that she’s in her room?” Baekhyun asked as they walked out of the PA department.

“I feel like we shouldn’t overcrowd her. Giving her some space would be the best option,” Kyungsoo said.

“But she shouldn’t go through this alone. Especially since we’re the main reason why this happened to her,” Sehun pointed out.

“Kyungsoo, you go check on her. You’re the calmest and most mature out of all of us,” Chanyeol suggested.

“That’s a good idea! We’ll tell the others about this while you’re at it,” Baekhyun added.

Kyungsoo had no reason to object, so he agreed to it and went on his way towards Jaein’s dorm. He didn’t have a lot of trouble getting passed the dorm supervisors because he has a respectable reputation among the staff due to his kind-hearted yet firm nature. He told them that he needed to return a book to one of his classmates so they simply let him in.

♦♦♦

After pressing the doorbell a couple of times, he felt like no one was inside. Kyungsoo tried twisting the doorknob and it surprisingly opened. He nervously crept inside the room and made his way to middle after passing the sky blue hallway. He looked around the room but Jaein wasn’t there, but her bag and the files she was carrying were on her desk.

“What are you doing here?” Jaein asked tiredly as she made her way out from the bathroom, making the nervous Kyungsoo turn around to face her.

Kyungsoo’s nervousness made him forget what he was going to say. Jaein wanted to smile because his eyes were bulged out and his face was frozen. It was a funny sight to see.

“Kyungsoo? Can you hear me?” she questioned again.

“I-I wanted to check up on you. We’re really w-worried,” he managed to stutter out an answer.

“Oh,” Jaein didn’t really know what else to say.

“Do you perhaps want to talk about it? I’m a good listener,” he suggested as the nervousness subsided.

“I’m a bad talker… and I feel fine already. You don’t need to worry about me,” she replied.

“I know what it’s like to keep everything to yourself. You think it’s better that way, but it’ll eat you up inside for sure. Trust me,” he explained.

“I’m aware of that, but there’s really nothing to talk about. You’ve already heard everything anyways,” she walked towards her bed and sat on it.

Kyungsoo walked towards where she was sitting and crouched down to her eye level.

“You can trust me. Share the weight of your problems with me. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

They both gazed into each other’s eyes. One was contemplating whether she could really trust him while the other wondered how one’s eyes could shine brighter than the stars.

“W-Where should I start?” she asked.

“Wherever you feel comfortable. My ears are yours for however long you want,” he replied with a kind smile.

After a few hours of just talking, Jaein’s shoulders felt lighter. She was finally able to share her problems to someone without fearing what he or she would think of her. Kyungsoo didn’t show any sign of boredom, uncomfortablness, or disgust. He was really into what she was saying and even moved to sit next to her while holding her shoulders. When she was done, Kyungsoo ruffled her hair while telling her that his ears will always be open for her. Jaein offered the same thing, in which Kyungsoo agreed. They ended their long chat with a big hug before Jaein sent him off.

♦♦♦

“Assuming from your non-panicked state, everything went well?” Baekhyun asked as Kyungsoo entered the dorm.

“I would always feel better after talking to you about my problems and I think Jaein felt the same way,” Chanyeol said.

“She was really hesitant at first, but I got her to talk. It seemed like I was this first person she ever talked to about her feelings because she wasn’t sure of what to say. Her expressions showed how foreign it felt to her,” Kyungsoo explained.

“I really don’t like the girl that stalked her. Park Aeri? Go die,” Sehun bitterly muttered.

“Please don’t mention her name here. This is a holy household Oh Sehun,” Baekhyun replied with a serious tone, making everyone laugh.

“I just hope she doesn’t show her face to Jaein anymore. From what I’ve heard from you boys, Jaein might just murder her,” Minseok pointed out. 

Short update, but I hope you enjoy :)