One-shot

“It’s just… unnatural,” Hyejin insisted.

The girl opposite her at the table seemed bored. Jieun was used to Hyejin’s tendency to get unnecessarily obsessed over tiny things that nobody really cared about. She had a habit of rambling on, even when nobody was listening.

“What is it now?” Jieun asked, with a sigh.

“The fact that Xiumin-oppa never gets angry,” Hyejin pressed. “Like, never. I’ve never seen him lose his temper. I’ve never even seen him get annoyed. How is that possible? How can someone not get mad no matter what?” she demanded.

“I have an idea,” Jieun piped up. “How about you stop trying to find faults with your perfect boyfriend, and let your miserable, single friend eat her lunch in peace?”

Hyejin frowned. “You’re just bitter because Baekhyun dumped you-“

“Excuse me? How many times do I have to say it, I broke up with him!” Jieun protested. Jieun and Baekhyun were that couple that were constantly on-and-off, bickering like crazy one moment and then madly in love the next. It was difficult to keep up with them sometimes. Hyejin often couldn’t remember if they were currently together or if they’d had some fight again. Jieun looked determined. “It’s over, though. I’m completely done. I can’t deal with his immaturity anymore.”

“You always say that a day before you get back together with him.”

“No,” Jieun said firmly. “I’m done. I’m going to go out and meet other guys.”

“Yeah, sure. Let’s talk about Xiumin, though. Don’t you think his constant sweetness is unnatural? I mean, I get that everyone’s sweet and smiley at the start of a relationship, but it’s been about six months now. Don’t you think we should have had at least a small fight?”

“You want to fight with your boyfriend?”

“Not the way you and Baekhyun do,” Hyejin said, making a face. “But shouldn’t we have a lover’s quarrel now and then? Not something serious. But along the lines of ‘don’t talk to that other guy’ or ‘I’m tired, leave me alone’ sort of fights?”

Jieun sighed. “Xiumin’s really never gotten mad at you?”

“Never.”

“But you’re so annoying.”

“I know. That’s the weird thing.”

Jieun sighed, and pressed her chin against her hand. “Yah. Let’s make a bet to solve our relationship problems. Winner has to pay for all drinks next time we go out to drink.”

“Oh? What are we betting?”

“If you can make Xiumin angry in one week, then you win,” Jieun explained with a smile. “And if I can keep myself from getting back together with Baekhyun for one week, then I win.”

Hyejin beamed.

“Deal.”

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Hyejin bit her lip as she paced the room. Her phone was ringing loudly from where it was lying on the table, but she firmly ignored it. She wasn’t going to pick it up. Trying not to listen to the annoying ringtone, she focused on the television that was showing re-runs of some drama. She’d seen it already, though, and it was difficult to maintain interest when her phone kept ringing.

“Will you please turn that off?” Jieun demanded angrily, stepping into the living room. “Your ringtone is so annoying and I’m trying to study here.”

Hyejin bit her lip. “Sorry,” she muttered. She quickly muted the phone, but it kept vibrating on the table with the incoming call symbol and Xiumin’s smiling face filling up the screen. Jieun glanced at the phone.

“What are you doing at home on a Friday night? Don’t you and Xiumin always go out to get dinner?”

Hyejin nodded. “I’m standing him up.”

“Standing him up?”

“Yeah. I figure if I stop answering my phone and don’t turn up for our date, he has to get at least a little annoyed,” Hyejin said, though she sounded unsure. She began pacing the room again and biting her lip nervously. “At least, that’s what I planned to do. But I’m not so sure anymore. It’s freezing cold out. What if he’s waiting outdoors? What if he catches a cold because of me? He has a conference next week.”

Jieun laughed. “How do you expect to piss him off with that attitude?”

“Yah, I’m worried about him!” Hyejin snapped. “He’s still my boyfriend. I just want him to get a little mad now and then. Besides, he’s really strong. And his arms. Do you know how many times I’ve dreamed about having rough, angry with him?”

“Ew, I don’t want to know. Besides, how late are you for the date?”

“It’s been 45 minutes since the time I agreed to meet him,” Hyejin admitted.

There was the sudden sound of another phone ringing, and Jieun pulled her own cellphone out of her pocket. Surprised, she showed the phone to Hyejin, holding it up so she could see the caller ID. “It’s your boyfriend. Looks like he’s calling me now, since you aren’t answering.”

“Don’t answer it,” Hyejin said simply. Then she shook her head. “Actually, no. You should answer him. Tell him I’m just sleeping in the apartment and that I didn’t go to the date because I was too lazy to get up.”

Jieun raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”

“Yep. He’ll be even more angry if I stand him up without an excuse. Say I’ve been watching dramas and eating chips all evening.”

Jieun sighed, and nodded, turning to answer the phone.

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The doorbell rang.

“It’s him!” Hyejin cried, jumping up excitedly. She couldn’t wait. Xiumin had to be angry by now, she’d left him waiting in the cold for over an hour, without answering her phone, while she’d been indoors in her pajamas, watching dramas and doing absolutely nothing. Containing her excitement carefully, Hyejin sat back down on the couch and threw a blanket over herself, grabbing a bowl of chips to place in her lap.

“Jieun-ah! Can you get the door?” she called out.

Jieun groaned as she came out of her room. “Yah. Aren’t you taking this a little too far-“

“Oh, hush, just go let my boyfriend in. Actually, maybe you can leave him out there for a few minutes. It’ll just add to his anger, right, if we keep him waiting at the door?”

Jieun rolled her eyes. “I’m letting him in.”

Hyejin sat back down, fixing her gaze on the TV. Her plan was to pretend like she’d done nothing wrong and be completely unapologetic about standing him up, so that he would get mad. Her spine tingled with excitement. She was desperate to know what Xiumin looked like when he was angry. She noticed him enter the living room out of the corner of her eye and tensed up slightly.

“Hey,” Xiumin greeted, plopping down on the couch beside her. He was dressed for the date, in a pair of nice jeans and a blue button-down shirt that looked especially charming on him. He leaned forward to peck her cheek lightly and wrap an arm around her shoulder. “I was waiting near the restaurant for you,” he said lightly.

Hyejin held back a smile. This was it. He would get angry now.

“I didn’t feel like going out,” Hyejin said coolly, barely turning to look at him.

“I figured. Sorry, baby. I forgot that you’ve been working hard on your paper all week and that you would probably be too tired to come out,” Xiumin explained, sounding a little apologetic. He tugged at the blanket that was covering her and lifted it so he could slide under it with her. He smiled, before holding up the plastic bag he was carrying. “I brought takeout from the restaurant, instead.”

Hyejin stared at him. What?

“You always order the chicken, right?” he asked, lightly, pulling out a stryrofoam package of chicken and handing it to her. Hyejin panicked. He wasn’t angry. Why wasn’t he angry? She hadn’t even apologized or given him a proper reason for standing him up. But Xiumin was sitting here and smiling his usual cheerful smile while holding out chicken.

Hyejin’s stomach grumbled.

“I’m not in the mood for chicken,” she blurted out, desperately trying to annoy him.

Xiumin’s smile faltered a tiny bit. “Ah- really? I guess I should have asked. You can have my jajangmyeon instead, then, I’ll eat the chicken. Here.”

Damn it. She was too hungry to throw a tantrum twice. Hyejin bit her lip and took the jajangmyeon, hissing when their hands touched. His fingers were freezing cold and she stared at him, her eyes wide. “Oppa! Your hands are like ice!”

Xiumin chuckled. “Oh, really? I didn’t notice. I guess it’s cold outside.”

He waited out in the cold for so long, of course he’s freezing. Hyejin suddenly felt a rush of guilt overwhelm her. What kind of a girlfriend was she, doing this to him? She quickly covered Xiumin better with the blanket, and cuddled closer to him so that his arms were wrapped around her and she was snuggled to his chest. She clutched his freezing cold hands in hers and rubbed them to warm them up quickly.

“Oppa, you’ll fall sick like this,” she muttered.

Xiumin smiled down at her, before quickly leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. “I’m okay. I was worried about you, though. When you didn’t answer the phone, I thought maybe you were mad at me. I’ve been ignoring you because of work, right?”

Hyejin pouted. “No, you’re great.”

“Really?” he insisted. He nudged her head so that she was looking up at him. “You’re really okay?”

Hyejin nodded, before kissing him quickly. He smiled his usual, embarrassed smile before kissing her again, this time letting his lips linger against hers as they pressed together. His hands slowly drifted down to her waist as he pulled her closer, and they both curled against each other under the blanket. It wasn’t until his fingers grazed her bare waist that Hyejin pulled away suddenly.

“Oppa! Your hands are still freezing cold!” she whined.

Xiumin grinned and nuzzled his face against her neck. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll keep my hands away.”

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“Baekhyun! Just the person I was looking for! Wait up!”

Baekhyun turned around to see that Hyejin was calling out to him. He stood still in the corridor, waiting for Hyejin as she pushed past a few other students to reach him.

“Oh, Hyejin-ah. I was hoping to see you, too,” Baekhyun admitted. He didn’t seem to be his usual smiley self, and Hyejin could tell that something was bothering him. 

“Yeah? Let’s get coffee, I’m half asleep after that lecture,” she muttered. They both found the nearest coffee shop on campus, and quickly grabbed their coffees. They sat down near the window and Hyejin leaned back against her chair and sighed. She took a sip of her coffee and then set it down. Baekhyun was holding his cup between his hands and staring at it wistfully.

“What are you so miserable about?” Hyejin asked.

“It’s Jieun,” Baekhyun admitted, with a frown. “We had a fight the other day. I know we fight a lot, but… it was more serious than it usually is. She hasn’t been talking to me or answering my calls for the past three days.”

Hyejin blinked. “It’s actually serious?”

Baekhyun cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah.”

“What did you fight about? And if you say it’s because you munched too loudly at lunch or some stupid prank that pissed her off…” Hyejin threatened. She’d heard too many absurd stories about why Baekhyun and Jieun had fights. Once, they’d broken up because they’d been following a drama with two male leads, and each of them felt that a different guy would win the girl. It wasn’t until the drama ended that they got back together.

“I applied for a scholarship to pursue higher studies abroad after college,” he admitted. “It was for a two year post-graduate course in Europe. I didn’t tell Jieun about it because I just sort of applied on a whim. I forgot all about it, but I got a letter the other day and she saw it.”

“You’re going abroad?” Hyejin demanded, eyes wide.

“Ah… no. I got rejected for the scholarship. But Jieun’s mad that I never told her I was applying for something so far away.”

Hyejin blinked. That was actually… a reasonable thing to fight about. She could see why Baekhyun looked so worried. Their fights were usually so absurd that they would inevitably get back together, but he was clearly wondering if he’d screwed it up big this time.

“Give her some time to cool off,” Hyejin suggested. “If she was really upset at the idea of you going abroad, she won’t be able to leave you so easily.”

“Yeah, I know. I just wish she would talk to me,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “I said some things I shouldn’t have. She was getting mad and I was trying to defend myself, I didn’t really mean them.”

“What did you say?”

Baekhyun cleared his throat. “Something along the lines of, you’re not my mother, do I need your permission to do what I want with my life?”

Hyejin’s eyes widened in horror. “Are you suicidal?”

He groaned loudly and let his head land on the table, covering it with his hands. He clutched at his hair lightly, and his voice was muffled. “I know, I’m an idiot but I’m going crazy right now! I didn’t mean it! I’m not even going abroad, what am I going to do if Jieun dumps me for good? Hyejin, you have to help me, please do something!”

Hyejin tilted her head thoughtfully. It was in her best interests to help Baekhyun out. Partly because she knew he was a good guy that really cared about Jieun, and partly because if Jieun took him back before the week was up, then that would mean she lost the bet. Hyejin smiled and leaned back.

“Okay,” she decided. “I’ll help you. If you help me in return.”

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“When I think of Xiumin-hyung…” Baekhyun trailed off lightly, rubbing his chin. “He’s really clean. Like he keeps his stuff organized all the time. And he hates dust.”

Hyejin groaned slightly, stretching her aching back. Cleaning was difficult, but she’d never realized how hard it was to make something dirty in a short amount of time. Xiumin’s usually sparkling-clean apartment was now messy. There were empty soda cans on the coffee table, the couch cushions were strewn in awkward places and Hyejin’s course books and old notes were strewn all over. An uncapped pen was slowly leaking ink onto the floor.

The kitchen was slightly worse. There were dirty dishes in the sink- Hyejin had literally bought food and rubbed it over perfectly clean plates so she could put them on the sink. Then, for good measure, she’d spilled a little bit of food on the kitchen counter as well. She pulled out a carton of milk and left it lying next to the stove. Then she topped it off with a sprinkling of potato chip crumbs.

The place looked awful.

Xiumin was going to lose his mind.

 The front door clicked open and he entered, looking a little tired. Hyejin had talked to him over the phone earlier, and he mentioned how he’d had a long day at work and was looking forward to a long shower and a lazy evening cuddled in front of the TV with her.

“Oppa! You’re finally back!” Hyejin greeted cheerfully. She sat in the middle of the mess, munching on a packet of chips happily. She waved at him with a grin. “Jieun was being really loud at home and I had to study for a test, so I came here for some silence. It’s okay, right?” she asked lightly.

Xiumin cleared his throat. He glanced around the messy living room with a slightly blank expression on his face. “Of course,” he said slowly, as he walked towards her. His shoulders were a little slumped and he looked exhausted. “You’re always welcome here. But, uh…”

Hyejin blinked hopefully. “But…?”

“Nothing,” he said, finally. He smiled at her and then dropped his bag on the couch, stretching his arms above his head tiredly. “It’s been a long day. Can we cuddle on the couch and I’ll vent about it for a bit, before I shower?” he asked sweetly.

Hyejin stared at him. Could he not see the mess? Was he not going to say anything about it? At least a snarky comment or a light scolding for dirtying up the place? She stiffened and turned her head away from him, looking back at her books. “Nope. I have to study. Sorry, oppa,” she said coldly.

Xiumin blinked and his hands dropped limply to his sides. Hyejin watched from the corner of her eye as his shoulders slumped a little further and he silently trudged out of the room into the kitchen. She smiled to herself. At least when he saw the state of the kitchen, he had to get a little pissed off, right? Hyejin listened hard for a few moments, but she heard nothing. After an entire minute, there was the sound of the kitchen tap running.

What is he doing?

Curious, she shoved her books aside and quietly walked up to the kitchen. She noticed that Xiumin was standing at the sink, quietly humming to himself while he did the dishes. Hyejin could only gape at him in horror. He was cleaning? He was cleaning up her mess with a smile on his face? Who even did that? Her heart sank into her stomach.

“Oppa…” she muttered, guiltily.

Xiumin turned and glanced at her, giving her a soft smile. “Yah. Didn’t you have to study? Go prepare for your test, I’m just going to clean up a little before I shower, or I won’t be able to sleep.”

Hyejin felt her stomach twist in guilt. She didn’t even have an exam the next day. She’d just been pretending in order to piss her boyfriend off. Hyejin shoved him aside and immediately picked up the dirty plates that she’d left in the sink herself, and began scrubbing them furiously. “I’m done studying. I’ll clean,” she insisted. “Oppa, you go take a shower and I’ll make dinner, okay? Are you in the mood for jajangmyeon?” 

Xiumin hesitated. “Are you sure? Jagiya, if you have to study…”

“I’m really done. I need a break from my books anyway,” Hyejin insisted, trying to hide the guilty expression on her face in the suds. When Xiumin only blinked at her, she shoved at him lightly and gestured towards the exit of the kitchen. “Why are you staring at me? Go shower!”

“Okay,” he said with a smile. He looked slightly relieved and leaned forward to kiss her forehead lightly, before whispering. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Hyejin admitted.

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“Thirty calls,” Baekhyun insisted, shoving the phone in Hyejin’s face. He looked annoyed. “I’ve called her thirty times in the past three days and she hadn’t picked up even once. What is going on here? Weren’t you supposed to help me get Jieun back? That was our deal!”

Hyejin glared at him. “Slow down, buddy. Your end of the bargain hasn’t been going too smoothly either.”

“That’s your own fault. You try to make Xiumin-hyung angry, but you keep caving into  your own guilt.”

Hyejin clenched her fists. Baekhyun was right. She always started off determined to stand her ground, but Xiumin’s sweetness and ability to be understanding about almost anything kept making her feel so bad that she abandoned her plans before they were complete. She wouldn’t do that this time. Now, she was going to stick it through to the end and she wouldn’t let herself feel guilty or bad for him.

“We have to pull out the big guns,” Hyejin insisted.

Baekhyun shook his phone in her face again. “What about Jieun?”

“Jieun’s smart, we need a lot of planning for hers. Don’t worry, I’m formulating a plan and I’ll let you know as soon as I come up with the particulars,” Hyejin fibbed. “Help me with Xiumin first. And I don’t mean little things like standing up on dates and making his house dirty. Tell me something that no man in his right mind would ever be okay with.”

Baekhyun sighed. “Well, if you want to go that far…?”

“I’ll go to any length.”

“You could try flirting with other men in front of him,” he suggested. “That’s not just annoying, that strikes at the core of your relationship so he wouldn’t be able to ignore it. And it makes men feel really insecure and angry, especially since you guys have been together for a long time. I’m sure Xiumin-hyung will confront you about it.”

Hyejin bit her lip. “Would you be willing to-“

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “Don’t even think about it! You think Jieun will ever take me back if she hears I’ve been flirting around with her best friend? Are you trying to help me, or sabotage my life even further?”

Hyejin sighed. “Fine. But how do I do it, then?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this. But… Chen is throwing a party at his place tomorrow night.”

Hyejin’s eyes shot open. “But Chen and Xiumin are like brothers.”

“That only makes the betrayal all the better.”

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Hyejin shifted uncomfortably in front of the mirror. The dress was tight, and reached only mid-thigh. She’d never worn anything this short before. As if to prove it, the band of skin on her thigh was pale as compared to the slightly darker skin on the rest of her body.

“This part of my leg has never even been exposed to the sun,” Hyejin muttered to herself. Not to mention that the neckline was so low that she kept having to tug it up lest she expose something indecent to everyone. She had to constantly look down to check that it hadn’t slid down further than it should.

Jieun, who was applying lipstick, paused and glanced at her. “Don’t keep tugging your neckline up like that. It looks really awkward.”

“What am I supposed to do, let it fall and reveal everything?” Hyejin shot back.

“You could just wear one of your usual dresses! Who are you even trying to impress, you’re not good at wearing revealing clothes. Xiumin doesn’t seem like he would appreciate the ty dress. He’s kind of the conservative type.”

“It’s not for him,” Hyejin muttered. “I’m going to seduce Chen.”

Jieun stared at her for a long moment, before shaking her head in disbelief. “I don’t even want to know.”

“What’s going on with you and Baekhyun, anyway?’ Hyejin pressed, as she tugged on her heels. “He’s moping around everywhere and looking miserable. It’s such a mood-killer. You could just forgive him. Baekhyun probably didn’t even think about what he was doing when he applied for that scholarship.”

Jieun stiffened. “You’re right. He doesn’t think about anything, much.”

“But he feels awful about it-“

“He doesn’t need to feel awful about it,” Jieun cut her off sharply. “It’s not like he did something wrong. I’ve just realized that a relationship with him is not what I need. So no matter how many times he calls or apologizes, it won’t make a difference because he doesn’t need my forgiveness.”

Hyejin blinked for a long moment, trying to understand just what Jieun was saying. Before she could collect her thoughts, a knock sounded at the door and she smiled. “Looks like my boyfriend is here!” Hyejin chirped happily, before hurrying over to the door.

She answered the door, and beamed as soon as she saw Xiumin. He was dressed well, in a button-down shirt that made him look extremely classy, and his usual sweet smile on his face. His hair was slicked back a little, and it made him look older than he usually did. “Hey baby. Are you ready to go?”

“Yup!” Hyejin chirped. Unable to control her excitement, she reached up and hugged Xiumin happily, wrapping her arms around his neck. He laughed and hugged her back, although Hyejin felt him subtly grab the hem of her dress at the back and tug it down a little so it covered more of her leg. Pleased, she pulled away and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “I’ll go tell Jieun to hurry up. We should go quickly!”

Xiumin nodded, smiling as Hyejin skipped back into the apartment.

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“Wow. I didn’t know Chen’s house was this big,” Hyejin muttered, as they pulled up to the front of the large house. It was already lit up, and there were a lot of fancy lanterns and stuff outside. She cleared . “I thought this was an apartment party. Doesn’t Chen live in the same building as you, oppa?”

Xiumin shrugged as he parked. “This is his fiancée’s house.”

“Fiancée?” Hyejin choked out.

“Babe, I told you this was his engagement party. Weren’t you listening?” Xiumin asked with a chuckle.

Hyejin unbuckled her seat belt in disappointment. She didn’t know that Chen was engaged. She couldn’t flirt around with an engaged man, how horrible would that look to his fiancée? She clenched her fists and refused to be deterred. Hyejin wouldn’t give up. If she couldn’t flirt with Chen, then she would find some other guy. Surely there were plenty of them to go around. She took a deep breath and smiled to herself. Everything would be fine.

They entered the party and greeted Chen and his fiancée, both of whom seemed to be overflowing with happiness. The girl was apparently quite rich; they’d spared no expense, and the food and drinks were flowing in abundance. Once they were done congratulating the couple, Hyejin quickly pulled Xiumin away from the rest of the group.

“Oppa, I want a drink,” she decided.

Xiumin blinked. “Are you sure, jagiya? You don’t drink often.”

“Yeah, but I want to tonight.” Besides, I need courage. I haven’t flirted with random guys at a party since I met you. Hyejin smiled up at him happily and Xiumin nodded, linking their hands together and heading over to where they were serving drinks. He was surprised to see her gulp down her drinks quickly, and blinked. “Wow, that was good.”

“Baby, take it slow-“

“Hyung! Xiumin-hyung! Hey! Over here!”

Xiumin and Hyejin both turned around to see a tall figure waving his lanky arms cheerfully from across the room. Chanyeol was normally enthusiastic, but he got even more so when he was drunk, which was how his booming voice could reach them from across the room. Xiumin blinked in surprise.

“Oh, it’s Chanyeol. He must be back from abroad. Let’s go say hi-“

Hyejin blinked. This was her chance to escape and find a guy. She pouted and shook her head. “I don’t want to, oppa. Chanyeol is really annoying, I feel like my eardrums might explode when he talks to me. He was sitting next to me when we all went to that movie last time and I thought there was an earthquake every time he clapped.”

Xiumin chuckled. “That’s true. But…” he trailed off, glancing towards the still-waving Chanyeol.

“You go talk to him. I’ll find Jieun. She must be moping around alone since she and Baekhyun broke up and she can’t exactly talk to his friends anymore,” Hyejin said simply.

“Okay,” Xiumin agreed. He slid an arm around Hyejin’s shoulder and pulled her close to press a kiss on her forehead gently, before giving her a gummy smile. “If you want to find me, just follow the sound of Chanyeol’s voice.”

Hyejin laughed and nodded, as Xiumin left. She took a deep breath. Okay. She could do this. All she needed to do was find a random guy that would be willing to dance with her, and make sure that Xiumin saw them flirting. The sleazier the guy, the better. Besides, everyone here was a friend of Chen’s, so surely nobody was too dangerous. Hyejin smoothed down her dress and sighed.

She spotted a lean guy nearby, looking a little lost. Perfect. He was considerably handsome too, and she waltzed up to him with a smile on her face. He didn’t quite notice her, and Hyejin had to tap his shoulder before he turned around.

“Hi,” she said with a smile.

Tao blinked. “Uh, hi,” he greeted.

“This is some fancy party, isn’t it?” Hyejin asked coolly. She wondered if she sounded extremely awkward; she’d never been so good at making conversation with strangers. She’d even embarrassed herself the first time Xiumin had talked to her at a social gathering.  “Are you a friend of Chen’s, or his fiancée’s?” she asked.

“I went to school with Chen,” Tao admitted. He blinked at her confusedly. “I feel like I’ve seen you before…”

“My name is Hyejin,” she said, holding out her hand for him to shake. She shot him a dazzling smile and Tao looked rather pleased at his luck. He’d been hoping to score at the party, but he wasn’t expecting a beautiful girl to approach him herself.

He grinned. “I’m Tao.”

“You have a really toned body,” Hyejin replied, trying not to cringe outwardly at her own cheesy words. Tao seemed a little too enthusiastic to notice. “Do you work out?”

“I do martial arts, actually,” he replied, puffing up his shoulders up.

“Oh, really? Well. If you can do martial arts, then surely you can handle a dance with me?” Hyejin teased, reaching down to grab his hand. She tugged at Tao’s hand playfully. They needed to move closer to where Xiumin and Chanyeol were, or there was no point. “It’s crowded here, let’s move over-“

Tao’s eyes widened suddenly, and he yanked his hand away from hers as if he’d received an electric shock. “Oh my God. Hyejin? Aren’t you Xiumin-hyung’s girlfriend? I saw you at Baekhyun-hyung’s birthday party a few months ago!”

Hyejin blinked. “Oh.”

“Are you crazy?” Tao demanded. He looked panicked and his big eyes were wide. “Why are you asking me to dance when your boyfriend’s right there? Do you want me to die?”

“Who’s going to kill you?” Hyejin wondered, confused.

“Look. Do me a favor. Think…. think of me as your little brother, okay? Damn it, I need to get out of here. Where’s Kris-hung when you need him…?” Tao trailed off, before hurrying away. He slipped in between a couple of people and disappeared from sight, before Hyejin could even say anything. Hyejin sighed and turned away. What a wimp. She’d find somebody else, no problem.

Hyejin scanned the room, desperately looking for guys who seemed to be single. There weren’t many of them; most of the attractive men seemed to have girls hanging off their arms already. Feeling disappointed, Hyejin was about to turn away, when she suddenly spotted one out of the corner of her eye. The guy was standing alone, a drink in his hand and watching the party with boredom. His jawline looked like it could cut glass.

Hopefully, this one wasn’t as much of a wimp as Tao.

“You look bored,” Hyejin said coolly, sauntering over to him. Sehun turned and blinked at her, his gaze calm and cool. His eyes scanned her briefly from head to toe, but there was no change in his expression. “Don’t like engagement parties?” she wondered.

“Everyone comes in couples,” Sehun replied coolly. He took a sip of his drink. “Not much chance of getting laid in a place like this.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Hyejin replied. She moved closer to him so that her arm was lightly brushing his in a teasing manner. “I think with that face, you could easily steal a girl away from her date. Want to try?”

Sehun looked amused and Hyejin felt relief flood through her. Jackpot. Here was a guy who wouldn’t mind flirting around with someone else’s girlfriend. Thank heavens for his loose morals. This was exactly the kind of shameless guy she needed for her plan. Sehun smiled at her. “Maybe. What would it take to steal a girl away from her date?”

“Not much. How about a dance?”

Sehun chuckled and held out his hand for her to take. “You have no idea what you’re asking for. My name is Sehun.”

“Hyejin,” she replied coolly.

Sehun paused for a second. There was a flicker of doubt in his eyes. “Hyejin? That sounds familiar. How do you know Chen and his fiancée?” he asked curiously.  

Hyejin flipped her hair back with a smile. “One of Chen’s close friends is the date you’re going to be stealing me away from.”

Sehun narrowed his eyes. “Chen’s friends…Hold on. Aren’t you Xiumin-hyung’s girlfriend? I’ve heard him mention a Hyejin before! Didn’t you come to Baekhyun’s birthday party a few months ago? I didn’t recognize you because you weren’t dressed up then…”

Damn it. Why does everybody here recognize me? “Yeah,” she admitted. “But it doesn’t matter. Let’s dance-“

“I don’t think so,” Sehun replied. He pulled his hand back. “Maybe before, but after that day… whew. I’d have to be an idiot to mess with Xiumin-hyung. Sorry, Hyejin-noona. But you really shouldn’t be flirting with me when your boyfriend’s right there.”

Hyejin narrowed her eyes at him. “You didn’t seem to have these morals two minutes ago.”

“It’s not morals,” Sehun said with a dry laugh. “Just self-preservation. See you around.”

He grabbed his drink and hurried away. Hyejin stared after him, feeling anger rise up inside of her. She’d been so close. Why did all these guys run away as soon as they heard she was Xiumin’s girlfriend? They were all tall, strong and looked like they could handle themselves, while Xiumin was a fluffy, cuddly teddy bear. What were they even afraid of? Annoyed, Hyejin took a deep breath. She would try again. There was still time.

Hyejin went to grab a drink and instantly spotted Lay standing nearby. She knew him. He was close to both Chen and Xiumin, the three of them used to work together. Lay looked like he’d gained a lot of muscle since the last time Hyejin had seen him. Besides, he had always been sort of gullible. He was perfect.

Hyejin waltzed up to him. “Lay. You’re not afraid of Xiumin-oppa, are you?”

Lay blinked at her. “Oh-hello, Hyejin-noona-“

“Answer my question.”

Lay tilted his head and looked thoughtful. He cleared his throat. “Xiumin-hyung? Not exactly afraid of him, but why are you asking-“

Hyejin cut him off. “I heard you’ve been teaching dance classes recently?”

Lay beamed and nodded. “Yeah! I got a job teaching at the-“

“Great. Why don’t you teach me, too? Let’s go dance right now.”

Lay’s eyes widened in surprise, and he shook his head. “Right now? I don’t know. Maybe it would be better for you to drop by the studio, I can get you a discount if you’re thinking of signing up for a course-“

Hyejin groaned. “I just want to dance! Now!”

Lay cleared his throat and pointed vaguely in the direction of the DJ. “Yeah, but it’s an engagement party so they’re mostly just playing slow and romantic songs. Why don’t you ask Xiumin-hyung? He’s gotten a lot better at dancing recently!”

Hyejin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Forget it. I shouldn’t have even asked you, you’ve always been like this.”

Lay looked a little hurt. “Noona, I don’t understand-“

She shook  her head and walked away from him, clenching her fists. Why was this so difficult? How hard could it be to get a guy at a party to dance with you? Why were they all so oblivious and stupid, didn’t Chen and Xiumin have any sleazy friends who would throw themselves at pretty girls? Hyejin groaned and leaned against a wall, resisting the urge to bang her head against it. At this rate, her plan would never work.

She opened her eyes and stared across the room, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning to the side, Hyejin spotted a rather dejected-looking Baekhyun blinking at her. If he had been a puppy, his ears and tail would have been drooping.

“Hey,” he said miserably.

Hyejin raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’ve had the worst day,” Baekhyun admitted with a sigh. Then he pointed across the dance floor, where Jieun was happily twirling in the arms of an extremely good-looking man. He looked vaguely familiar. “And now Jieun has been flirting around with Kai all evening. I don’t know if she really likes him, or if she’s doing it to make me miserable.”

Damn it. I should have gotten to that guy first. How did Jieun find him? Hyejin wondered, eyeing up Kai.

“Do you think it’s really over?” Baekhyun asked, biting his lip. He looked genuinely upset. “I don’t know if I can handle the silence for much longer, it’s driving me insane-“

Hyejin whirled around. “Baekhyun, am I pretty?”

Baekhyun gave her a dirty look. “Excuse me?”

“Am I pretty?”

“I’m nearly in tears about my girlfriend dumping me, is this really the time to be-“

“Oh, boo-hoo. Answer my question.”

“You’re pretty,” Baekhyun allowed. His mouth twisted down into a frowning shape and he sighed. “Why are you asking?”

“Because I can’t get a single guy to dance with me! They’re all either completely stupid, or they run away as soon as they find out I’m Xiumin’s girlfriend. What is that? Is it some kind of bro code or something? I’m going crazy here.”

Baekhyun blinked in understanding. “Ah.”

“Ah?”

“They’re probably still suffering from the after-effects of the day. I don’t blame them. I still get nightmares about it too, sometimes. No wonder they went running away from you.”

“What happened on that day?” Hyejin demanded, curious.

Baekhyun lowered his voice. “It was a dark day. Nobody really talks about it unless we have to. Most of us just want to forget about it, to be honest. It was the day Xiumin-hyung crushed every single one of us at arm-wrestling. Tao still says his right hand hasn’t been completely right since then.”

“Arm-wrestling?”

Baekhyun nodded. “Nobody imagined Xiumin-hyung was that strong.”

“He has pretty strong arms,” Hyejin admitted. She was struck with a sudden memory of Xiumin picking her up playfully and spinning her around in those strong arms. She flushed a little, and shook the image out of her head. “But he’s harmless, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I can’t even make him angry no matter how hard I try. What are they so afraid of?”

“It’s not a question of temper,” Baekhyun explained.

Hyejin raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Think of it this way. Imagine a cute little girl- six years old in a princess dress and she’s playing with a doll. She’s harmless. Would you hesitate to take the doll away from her? Of course not. You would just take it. But if that same six year old girl had a gun hidden in the folds of her princess dress… you wouldn’t be so quick to take the doll away from her. It’s not worth it.”

Hyejin stared at him. “You’re all idiots.”

Baekhyun shrugged. “It’s common sense. Xiumin-hyung might be the nicest guy around, but if he wants to hurt you then he can. That risk is enough to stop most guys.”

“So, no guy here is willing to dance with me, because they all know that Xiumin is stronger than them?” Hyejin clarified.

Baekhyun tilted his head. “Pretty much. You might have had a chance with D.O… but he’s not here, he doesn’t like parties much.”

“Great. Looks like I’m left with you, then.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Do you see any other guys willing to go along with my plan?” Hyejin demanded. She grabbed hold of Baekhyun’s arm and tugged him forcefully towards the dance floor. He stiffened as she threw her arms around his neck and stepped closer to him. “You’re my only choice.”

Baekhyun glared at her, looking extremely uncomfortable as Hyejin started swaying to the music. “Wow, this is really uncomfortable.”

Hyejin rolled her eyes. “Just go along with it-“

“Why should I? You haven’t helped me one bit with Jieun, you’ve been so preoccupied with your plan to make your perfectly happy boyfriend upset. What kind of crazy girlfriend does that? Let go of me.”

“Are you sure?’ Hyejin wondered. “Because Jieun’s off dancing with a guy that’s way hotter than you, and you’re just moping around. Do you know how pathetic you look? At least show her that you can have fun without her.”

“This isn’t fun,” Baekhyun muttered. His hands were extremely awkwardly situated on her waist, and he was trying not to touch Hyejin as much as possible. “Can you not get so close? It’s really awkward, I feel like I’m flirting with my sister. What if Jieun gets the wrong idea? What if Xiumin-hyung beats me up? Are you going to answer to my parents?”

“Nobody’s going to beat you up, Baekhyun.”

“Yeah, but do you know that?” he demanded. He swayed awkwardly with Hyejin to the music, his hands barely touching her waist as he glanced around nervously. Baekhyun noticed Xiumin standing a little distance away. Xiumin looked up suddenly, and the two of them made eye contact.

“, he just saw us,” Baekhyun muttered, panicking. Xiumin had just seen him with his arms around his girlfriend, slow-dancing to a romantic song. Forget winning Jieun back, Baekhyun wasn’t going to be alive long enough to even see her face again. Panicking, he quickly pushed Hyejin away. “Sorry, Hyejin. You’re a great friend, but I want to live. See you around,” he insisted, before ducking away in the crowd.

Hyejin sighed as Baekhyun left. She scooted off the dance floor awkwardly. Today was a complete failure. She wrapped her arms around herself, just as she spotted Xiumin making his way over to her. He had his usual wide smile on his face.

“Hey baby,” Xiumin greeted sweetly, sliding an arm around her shoulder. “I finally shook off Chanyeol. He’s drunk now, so I handed him over to Suho. What have you been up to?” he wondered. 

“Nothing,” Hyejin muttered.

“Are you okay? You look upset.”

Yes, and it’s all your fault. Hyejin shook her head and forced a smile. “No, I’m okay.”

“I saw you dancing with Baekhyun earlier,” Xiumin said slowly. He gave her a small smile. “He’s really trying hard to win Jieun over, huh? He doesn’t need to worry, though. Kai flirts around with a lot of girls, he never really sticks to one for long. He won’t even remember Jieun tomorrow.”

Hyejin bit her lip and looked up at Xiumin with a sigh. “Oppa.”

“Hmm?”

“You… you really trust me, right?”

Xiumin squeezed her shoulder lightly. “Are you drunk?” he teased.

Hyejin shook her head. “No, I’m serious.”

His smile fell a little. Xiumin lifted his free hand and placed it under her chin, tilting her head up so he could look into her eyes. He gave her a genuine smile. “I trust you more than anyone. It’s kind of scary, sometimes, but… I know that you would never do anything to intentionally hurt me. I’ll never let you go, because I would be an idiot to lose someone as amazing as you.”

There was a long silence, and Hyejin felt tears pool in her eyes. Xiumin sounded so honest, and he chuckled at the expression on her face before pulling her into a hug. Hyejin wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, holding back a sniffle. “I’ll never let you go either,” she mumbled.

“I know, baby. Why are you so emotional? It’s not like you,” he teased, gently rubbing a hand up and down her back comfortingly. “Is it because Chen’s getting married?”

Hyejin bit her lip, keeping her arms tightly around his neck. “I don’t know.”

Xiumin smiled and let her bury her face in his chest, continuing to her back gently. “I hope that’ll be us, someday.”

Hyejin lifted her head to look at the happy couple- Chen and his fiancée were glowing as they danced to the slow, romantic song that was playing. They looked perfect together. Hyejin pulled back a little and looked Xiumin in the eyes. “Yeah. But maybe not exactly like them.”

Xiumin blinked. “Hmm?”

“It’s just… Chen’s fiancée can afford to wear heels, but if I wear them then I’ll be taller than you, oppa.”

Hyejin laughed at the way Xiumin’s face dropped slightly. He was so adorable, she wanted to squeeze him tightly. Xiumin loosened his grip around her, a little perturbed. “What are you complaining about? His fiancée is taller than you too-“

“It’s okay, oppa,” Hyejin insisted with a smile. “I can give up heels for you.”

Because I’ll never lose someone as amazing as you.

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Hyejin sighed as she sipped on the hot coffee in front of her. Classes had just ended, and she and Baekhyun were sitting in the café. She had intended to talk to him about an assignment that their professor had set them, but Baekhyun looked far too miserable and sad to even listen to what she was saying.

“Are you still moping about Jieun?” Hyejin demanded.

“She gave Kai her number,” Baekhyun complained. “She never gives random guys her number. I had to follow her around for two weeks before she would give me hers, how can she just hand it over to Kai so easily? And-and Kai came up to me earlier and said hey man, I heard she’s your ex, it’s cool if I ask her out, right?” Baekhyun was clenching his fists and he looked angry now. “It’s not cool! She’s my girlfriend!”

Hyejin sighed. “You need to relax.”

“I can’t,” Baekhyun decided. He stood up abruptly. “I’m going to go up to her and beg her to take me back, I don’t even care how pathetic it looks-“

“Sit down,” Hyejin told him, with a sigh. “Begging won’t solve anything. You need to make her realize how much she needs you.”

“How?”

“I’m working on it.”

“You’ve been working on it since forever,” he whined, sitting back down. “How much longer is this going to take? All you do is focus on your own stupid plans with Xiumin-hyung.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Hyejin reassured him with a smile. She took another sip of her coffee coolly. “I’ve abandoned my plan to make Xiumin angry. I realized how stupid it was. The reason he never gets mad at me is because he trusts me and loves me so much. I’m lucky to have someone as amazing as him in my life.”

Baekhyun gave her a dirty look. “Gross.”

“What are you complaining about? This is a good thing! Now my entire focus is on you and Jieun! Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to get you two back together in no time. In the meantime… you can’t look this pathetic in front of her. We’re going to a club tonight. Find your nicest jeans, put some gel on that hair and a smile on your face so that Jieun wants you back, okay?”

He sighed deeply. “Fine…”

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“Clubbing?” Xiumin asked over the phone. His voice was quiet, and Hyejin could tell that he was talking softly because he was still at work and he probably didn’t want anyone to overhear their conversation. He didn’t sound annoyed; only a little worried. “With who? Are you drinking?”

“Just a couple of friends from college. Jieun and Baekhyun are both here,” Hyejin reassured him lightly. She clutched the phone to her ear and smiled to herself. “Why? Are you worried I’m going to flirt with other guys? You said just the other day that you trusted me, oppa!” she teased.

Xiumin chuckled. “Of course I trust you.”

“You can come join us if you get off work,” she added.

“I want to, but I don’t think I can, baby. We’re preparing for this conference next week so my boss is on my about the deadlines. I’ll give you a call once I’m leaving. I can come pick you up from the club if you’re still there.”

Hyejin nodded. “Hmm. That sounds good.”

“Take care, okay? Don’t drink too much,” he added.

“I won’t. Bye, oppa.”

She hung up, a smile on her face. Part of her was disappointed that she hadn’t been able to make Xiumin angry, but part of her had accepted it. The fact that he was so caring and understanding about everything made him an amazing boyfriend. Hyejin sighed to herself happily, just as Jieun tapped her on the shoulder.

“Done with the sweet talk?” Jieun asked, annoyed. She frowned and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “You can stop flaunting how understanding your boyfriend is now.”

Hyejin made a face. “You’re just jealous.”

“I’m not!” Jieun protested, before lowering her voice. She leaned closer to Hyejin so that she would be able to hear her over the noise in the club. “Why did you have to bring Baekhyun, anyway? I was going to dance and pick up a new guy but he keeps sitting there, and drinking, and giving me those miserable puppy-eyes.”

Hyejin beamed. “So you still like his puppy-eyes.”

“Screw it. I’m done. I’m going to ask that guy to dance. You just call your boyfriend again,” Jieun replied angrily. She slid down from the barstool and slipped away, headed in the direction of a group of guys. Baekhyun watched her leave miserably, his ears practically drooping. Hyejin moved over to stand next to him, and punched him in the arm.

“Ow!” he grumbled.

Hyejin glared at him. “Do you have to look so pathetic? You’re not making my job any easier!”

Baekhyun shook his head, looking miserable. He was drunk, and he set his empty glass down on the bar clumsily;. “I can’t do this anymore,” he mumbled, his voice slurred. “I am pathetic. She’s never going to take me back, I screwed up for good this time. Maybe I should just- just go home.”

Hyejin frowned, feeling bad for him. Baekhyun started to trudge out of the club, and she followed him quickly. “Yah! Where are you going? You can’t just leave!”

“Home,” Baekhyun muttered. They both stumbled out into the parking lot and Baekhyun fished his car keys out of his pocket. Hyejin stared at him, horrified. Was he going to drive? She rushed after him as he started to get into the driver’s seat, and grabbed his arm.

“Yah! Are you crazy? You’re drunk, you can’t drive!” she insisted.

Baekhyun shook her off roughly, getting into the car. “Let go of me! I want to go home! It’s not like you’ve been any help in getting Jieun back, so why do you care so much?” he demanded angrily, his words slurring. Hyejin blinked. He was more drunk than she’d thought. “I’m going home, I’m tired of moping around after Jieun!”

Hyejin panicked. She couldn’t let Baekhyun drive a car when he was drunk! He shook her off and slammed the driver’s door shut. Hyejin hurried over to the other side and yanked open the passenger side door. She held her hand out sternly. “Byun Baekhyun, hand over those keys now.”

Baekhyun glared at her. “No! I told you, I’m going home! Go away!” He started to insert the keys into the ignition and Hyejin lunged across the partition, trying to snatch them away from him. When he finally turned the engine on, Hyejin was forced to sit down in the passenger’s seat and shut the car door. Baekhyun kept batting her hands away. “Get away! Don’t touch me! I’m going home!”

“Okay, okay,” Hyejin said, lifting her hands calmly. He was too drunk to see reason. “Just hold on for a second, Baekhyun. Calm down. Let’s talk. Why don’t you let me drive?”

Baekhyun scoffed. “Yeah? Because you’ve been so helpful in the past.”

“I promise, I’ll drive you home. You’re going to get into an accident if you start the car like this. Think rationally,” she tried to persuade him.

Baekhyun ignored her completely, using one hand to push her away while the other hand started the car. Hyejin’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even put the car into reverse to pull out of the parking space. She watched helplessly as Baekhyun slammed his foot down on the pedal and the car shot forward, banging hard into the pole in front of them.

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“You need to come back in two days for a check-up,” the doctor said with a frown, looking down at Baekhyun’s bandaged wrist. He could see that the accident had happened because Baekhyun was drunk, and he clearly disapproved. He was tired of dealing with drunken accidents in the middle of the night. “No more alcohol for a while. It could react with your medication. Understood?”

Baekhyun nodded his head miserably. “Yes,” he muttered.

“And if you abuse it, the fracture will just take longer to heal. Give the hand some rest. Maybe your girlfriend can take care of you,” the doctor added, nodding towards Hyejin who was standing nearby. There was a small plaster on her forehead, but she was otherwise unhurt. She was giving Baekhyun a dirty look.

“Girlfriend?” she scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. “Like I would date this idiot.”

“No driving either,” the doctor added, as he picked up his clipboard to leave the room. “You should call someone to pick you up, or take a taxi. Did the nurse give you the medications? Good. I’ll see on Monday, then.”

The doctor left the room, and Baekhyun sat up on the white hospital bed with a sigh, gingerly trying not to disturb his fractured wrist. He gave Hyejin one of his miserable looks and then glanced down at his wrist with a sigh. “Sorry about all this,” he muttered. “Are you okay?”

“Better than you are,” Hyejin replied. She gestured towards the plastered cut on her forehead, where she had banged her head when the car crashed. “But if this leaves a scar, you won’t live to see that wrist heal.”

Baekhyun nodded, slowly getting up off the bed. “I’m going to go down and catch a cab home. Are you headed back to the club?” he wondered.

Hyejin blinked. “Oh, shoot. I completely forgot that we left Jieun and the others at the club. They must be wondering where we disappeared to.” She fished her phone out of her pocket and found that she had a bunch of missed calls, mostly from Jieun, a couple from some other friends and one from Xiumin. “I should call Jieun and tell her what happened.”

Baekhyun groaned. “She’ll think I’m pathetic.”

Hyejin rolled her eyes. “Of course not, she’ll probably just get worried….” She trailed off, her eyes widening. “That’s it! I know how to get Jieun to take you back! Admittedly, it’s not a very nice thing to do to someone, but it might work!”

Baekhyun stared. “What?”

“Excuse me!” Hyejin waved over a nurse that was passing by and gave her a big smile, holding out her phone. “Could you do me a favor? Could you call this number and tell the person who answers that Hyejin and Baekhyun got into a car accident and are currently in the hospital?”

The nurse raised an eyebrow and glanced between her and Baekhyun. “You’re both fine.”

“Yeah, I know. But don’t tell her that. Just tell her there was an accident and she needs to come immediately. Please?” Hyejin fished in her jeans pocket and pulled out a nice-sized currency note, handing that over to the nurse along with the phone. The nurse took it quickly, before anyone noticed, and then took the phone.

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The door to the hospital room burst open, and Jieun ran inside. Her face was flushed and her hair a mess about her face. Her makeup had spread a little bit, and she looked like she was about to cry. Her eyes widened as soon as she saw Baekhyun, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed and cradling his wrist.

Baekhyun blinked at her. “Jieun-ah…”

“Are you okay?” Jieun demanded, running over to him. Her eyes were scanning him rapidly, looking for injuries and trying to ascertain how he was. He gave her a slightly sheepish smile and she let out a relieved breath when she saw nothing but the bandage on his wrist. “W-what happened? How did- the accident- the nurse told me to rush over- are you…?”

Baekhyun gave her a small smile. “I’m okay.”

Jieun stared at him for a long moment, before lunging forward to wrap her arms around his neck. Baekhyun was startled, but he held his injured wrist out of the way and wrapped his free arm around her as she sobbed into his shoulder. “I was- I was so worried-“ she choked out. “I thought something had happened to you- when she said there was an accident- are you stupid? Where did you even go, why didn’t you stay in the club?”

Baekhyun blinked and bit his lip. “I-I couldn’t watch you flirt with those guys.”

Jieun bit her lip and looked ashamed. “It’s my fault you were drinking so much. You never go beyond your limit. I’m sorry, Baekhyun-ah, I know I should have tried to talk things out with you after we fought, I just… I just couldn’t face you. I didn’t think me cutting you off would affect you so much.”

“How could it not?” he muttered. “I love you, you mean so much to me. And you haven’t even looked at me for a whole week.”

There was a long silence. Jieun was trembling.

“I was afraid,” she mumbled.

Baekhyun looked down at her, surprised. “Afraid of what?”

“I always thought that you and I were in it for the long run,” Jieun said quietly. “I thought that the fact that we keep getting back together, was proof that we were meant to be. But when I saw how easily you’d applied for that foreign scholarship… I realized we had different ideas about our relationship. I felt like you were just dating me for fun and you wouldn’t hesitate to break up with me and leave if the opportunity came.”

Baekhyun stared at her. “That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it? Because I would never have applied for a foreign scholarship without talking to you about it first,” Jieun replied. “And it scared me. I felt like maybe I was falling too deep into our relationship, while you were just taking it lightly.”

“That’s not true,” Baekhyun insisted. He pulled Jieun closer and hugged her tightly. “I’m not dating you just for fun. What I did for fun was apply for that scholarship. Jieun-ah, I love you so much. I went crazy these past couple of days, thinking that things were really over between us.”

Jieun looked up at him miserably. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

“You won’t.”

He kissed her gently, and the two of them wrapped their arms around each other. They kissed passionately on the rigid hospital bed, until the sound of somebody clearing their throat loudly interrupted them.  They broke apart, and looked up to see Hyejin staring at them, her eyebrows raised.

“Yes. I’m alive too, thanks for your concern,” she said coldly.

Jieun jumped up to hug her, embracing her friend tightly. “Hyejin-ah! I’m so glad you’re okay! I was so worried about you!” she insisted, before looking at her quickly. “Are you hurt? What happened?”

“Really? You didn’t look too worried earlier,” Hyejin grumbled. She sighed and returned Jieun’s hug, before pulling away. “Just a tiny scratch. See? But I’m honestly exhausted, I just want to go home. I hope you drove your car here? Baekhyun’s engine is busted and I don’t have any money left for a cab, I used it all to bribe the...uh- never mind.”

Jieun blinked, confused. “I have my car. But Xiumin-oppa’s probably coming to see you-“

Hyejin’s eyes widened. “Xiumin-oppa?”

“Yeah, I asked someone to call him because you were in the accident too. He said he would come straight to the hospital. He sounded really worried, Hyejin-ah, he’s probably panicking the same way I was.”

Hyejin groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. “Why did you have to call Xiumin? Now I have to call him and tell him I’m okay-“

Before she could pull her phone out, though, the door to the hospital room opened again, and Xiumin entered. His eyes were wide as he looked around at the three of them, his eyes landing on Hyejin. He glanced briefly at the bandage on her forehead, before clenching his fists. His eyes were red.

“What happened?” Xiumin asked quietly, his voice shaking.

“It was a really small accident,” Hyejin reassured him quickly. “Baekhyun was drunk and he drove the car into a pole in the parking lot. He fractured his wrist, and I hit my head, but otherwise we’re okay. Nothing happened, oppa. I’m sorry you had to come running from work.”

Xiumin’s fists were clenched and he took a deep, shaky breath. When he turned and looked at Hyejin, his eyes pierced into hers sharply. Hyejin felt a shiver up her spine. Xiumin had never looked at her with such anger. “Are you stupid?” he asked quietly, though his voice sounded dangerous. “Why would you get into a car with him if he was drunk?”

Hyejin froze, unable to respond. “I-um-uh….”

“It-it was my fault, hyung,” Baekhyun piped up slowly. “She was trying to stop me from driving-“

“You’re a bloody idiot, everyone knows that already,” Xiumin snapped, glaring briefly at Baekhyun. He turned back and narrowed his eyes at Hyejin. “I’m talking to you. Don’t you have any sense? Do you have any idea how worried I was when you didn’t answer your phone and then someone calls me telling me you were in a drunk driving accident? Do you?” he yelled.

Hyejin felt tears come to her eyes. “Oppa-“

“How can you be so immature? How am I supposed to trust you to take care of yourself when you go around pulling like this? Do you think It’s funny? That was so dangerous, you could have gotten yourselves killed!” Xiumin ran a hand over his face, and closed his eyes, trying to calm down. His heartbeat was thudding. “I thought you were going to die,” he mumbled quietly.

Hyejin’s eyes blurred with tears. She felt herself trembling and she wrapped her arms around herself quietly. was closed up. Xiumin had never talked to her like that before. He’d never raised his voice or even looked at her in an annoyed way. And now that he had…

Hyejin hated it.

“I’m sorry,” she choked out, trying to hold back her tears. “I- I know it was stupid, I’m sorry I worried you. It won’t happen again. Oppa? Oppa?”

Xiumin turned to look at her, his expression softening as soon as he was that she was crying. He looked ashamed, and he quickly closed the distance between them, wrapping her into a tight hug in his arms. Hyejin sniffled into his chest and wrapped her arms around him as well. “Shhh,” Xiumin whispered, nuzzling his face into her hair. “Don’t cry. I didn’t mean to get mad at you. I’m so relieved you’re okay. Don’t cry, please. I’m so sorry.”

“Are you really angry?” she asked quietly.

Xiumin closed his eyes, ashamed. “No, baby, I’m not angry. I just panicked. I thought you were really in danger. I was so afraid something had happened to you, so I exploded. Please don’t cry.”

Hyejin nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. She closed her eyes as Xiumin hugged her, relieved that she was all right and that nothing serious had happened. He her hair gently, and sighed, pressing a kiss to her forehead next to the bandage. “Are you okay now?” he asked quietly.

Hyejin nodded, pulling away slowly. Her eyes were red.

“Oppa.”

“Hmmm?”

“Promise you won’t get mad at me like that again,” she mumbled. “I don’t like it.”

Xiumin bit his lip. “I won’t. As long as you promise you’ll never scare me like this again.”

“I promise.” 

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A/N - Hope you guys enjoyed this! If you did, leave a comment or go check out my other EXO/OC stories! If you guys have any reccomendations for which EXO (or SHINee :D) member I should do next, drop those too!