"Mom! The mail's here!" Sehun called out as he was about to step out the door, briefly looking through the envelopes. One of them caught his eye- it was from the electricity company. He opened it to take a look and was surprised to see a warning letter and a hefty amount pending on their bill. Right then, his mother stepped out into the hallway and he frowned at her.

"Why didn't you tell me we haven't been paying the electricity for four months?"

She frowned at him for a moment. "Oh... I must have forgotten. Every time I tell myself I'll pay it I end up forgetting," she let out a weak chuckle, but Sehun knew it was just for show. That there was something off about her. He noticed then just how exhausted she looked and the creases around her eyes.

"Mom..."

She sighed, "I was going to do it soon, it's just... There's budgets cuts in the company and we've all been getting a down-payment. It's just been so difficult to manage lately."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to bother you with my problems. Besides I knew you'd just go and pay it yourself and-"

"Well, of course I would!"

"See? This is exactly what I didn't want! You worked so hard for that money, Sehun. I'll handle the bills but don't waste your tuition savings on this."

Sehun bit his lip, suddenly feeling guilty for having gone on that shopping trip, getting a haircut and splurging on himself, unaware of what his mother was going through all by herself. All because she didn't want to trouble him.

As much as Sehun hated to admit it, he did want to wear nice clothes. Sometimes, just sometimes, He wanted to look and feel attractive, to grab people's attention. He was only human after all. But ever since he was young and he saw that nice T-shirt, or a nice pair of jeans, he would bite his tongue because he knew their financial situation wasn't the best. He knew that there more important things they had to spend money on. Even before he got his own job, he saw how his mother was always struggling with money and tried to refrain from asking her for things as much as possible. Even when she offered, he would politely decline, or settle for something cheaper because "he liked it better".

But ever since Kai walked into his life he felt the need to do better, to look better. And just for a second, he forgot about all of that, and bought all those pointless things for himself. He didn't know how guilty and selfish he would feel about it later.

"Sehun?"

"I-I've got to go. Kai's waiting for me." He said simply and his heel, unable to bear the look on his mother's face. "I'll see you tonight."

"Take care of yourself."

He bit his lip as he stepped into the elevator, the stuffy feeling inside his chest taking over him. But he must have hid it well because Kai didn't notice anything was off when he saw him, greeting him with a sunny smile that seemed to warm the cold weather. Once Sehun was close enough, he smiled shyly before pulling him into a short, chaste kiss that seemed to ease Sehun's heart, even if just a little.

"I've missed you."

"We just met like yesterday," Sehun rolled his eyes.

"Yeah but I want to be with you all the time," he pouted cutely, softly caressing Sehun's cheek that was slightly flushed from the cold, "This winter break's been such a drag."

"You could come over sometime you know," Sehun muttered under his breath, avoiding the other's gaze.

"Is that an invitation?" Kai grinned. The younger shrugged, making Kai chuckle softly.

"Come on, Lay's waiting at the studio."

Sehun nodded as he watched his boyfriend stradde his bike before shortly following suit. Kai didn't miss how Sehun's hands rested loosely on his waist, his body not nearly close enough for his liking. After starting up his bike, he took Sehun's hands and tightened them around his waist, pulling the other flush against his back as Sehun let out a little surprised yelp.

"That's a lot better. And warmer," Kai grinned, looking back over his shoulder at his flushed boyfriend.

"Yeah, whatever," Sehun muttered and rested his head on Kai's back, making the other sigh happily before pulling out of the driveway.

When they arrived at the studio, there was already loud music bursting from the inside. They stepped in to find Lay immersed in a dance routine, having not heard them entering over the sound of the music. Sehun was taken aback for a moment by the other's dance skills, his moves sharp and powerful yet smooth at just the right times. It wasn't like he didn't watch his videos with Kai but his eyes were always so fixated on the latter, he never really noticed how good Lay was. But without Kai to distract him this time, he was really beginning to see Lay's charm shine through his movements.

Kai watched Sehun quietly for a minute before calling his friend out loudly over the music.

"Lay, we're here!" He made his way to the stereo system to turn the music down, Lay having halted his movements when he realized they were there.

"Oh hey, took you long enough," Lay chuckled, before turning to Sehun who was now shyly staring down at the ground, pretending to be distracted. He walked over to him and held out a hand, a friendly smile on his face, "Glad you made it today, Sehun. Kai never really bothered introducing us, I'm Lay."

"S-Sehun," he said in a quiet voice, fidgeting slightly.

Lay chuckled, "Yeah, I realized." He retracted his hand, seeing as the younger didn't shake it. He didn't think much of it though, he already knew from Kai that Sehun wasn't very social.

"Come on, let's start already," Kai said, taking off his jacket, "We'll run through the choreography once before shooting."

"Okay," Lay nodded, making his way over to the stereo system. Kai walked over to his boyfriend who was still standing there awkwardly and smiled at him affectionately.

"Don't be so uncomfortable, you'll get used to Lay soon enough. He's one of the most friendly and humble people I know," he said softly, taking both of Sehun's hands in his, "Why don't you go sit down? And you can tell me if you get bored okay?"

Sehun shook his head, "No, I've always wanted to watch you dance. In real life I mean. I'm glad you invited me over today."

Kai smiled, "Great," he ruffled his hair and winked at him, "enjoy the show then."

Sehun rolled his eyes, before going over to the couch in the corner. His eyes drifted to Lay who was eyeing Sehun with a curious look, but quickly smiling when he noticed him looking and turning to Kai.

"Ready?"

Through the two hours that Sehun was sat in the studio, he realized that those YouTube videos really didn't do the dancing pair justice because watching them live was a completely different story. Kai was simply breathtaking, he exuded confidence and it didn't help that this particular routine had a hell of a lot of body rolls and ahem moves. And sometimes he found the guy glancing at him and smirking, and it was totally not okay because it definitely had him feeling some type of way. He couldn't help but let his already dirty imagination go to all sorts of places, that involved Kai doing... things... to him. Of course he'd stop himself before that got any further and decided to give Lay some attention as well, which he later came to realize was well-deserved. They both had a different style, Lay's moves were sharper, more polished, and were filled with confidence. He was a perfectionist, and it was clear that he was passionate about his art from how well-executed each move, heck each twitch of a muscle was. Kai however, Kai was sultry, charming, downright seductive. Granted, his skill was nothing to sneeze at either, but while not as polished as Lay, he was definitely a performer and once he caught your eye, it was almost impossible to look away.

Once they were done recording, they sat on the hardwood floor, reviewing their video and making a couple of edits before uploading it. It wasn't long before Lay excused himself to take a shower as Kai made his way over to Sehun. smiling sheepishly at him.

"What did you think?" he asked, nervously rubbing the back of his head. Sehun wanted to scoff- You dare have the audacity to act all shy now when just a couple of minutes ago you were gyrating like your life depended on it!

"Whatever," he shrugged, looking away from Kai. He pouted.

"Come on, tell me! Did I do okay?"

"Okay is an understatement," Sehun muttered. Kai smiled softly, sitting down next to his boyfriend.

"You know, I was really nervous having you here today."

Nervous? Is that how you look when you're nervous? Sehun side-eyed him, arms crossed, "Why?"

"It's just... I'm very self-conscious about my dancing. And having to dance while you were in front of me, watching me, especially with that deadpan all-calculating expression of yours, I got pretty nervous."

Sehun bit his lip, "You seemed really confident to me."

"Yeah, but you already know I'm good at pretending," Kai sighed, "On the inside I was just panicking over how to impress you."

The younger boy blushed, "I... Well... I already am impressed by you... I have been ever since I saw your video for the first time..."

Kai smiled, "Really?"

"Really..."

The older boy was about to wrap his arms around him but Sehun quickly stopped him, "Ew no, you're still sweaty."

"Right," Kai scrunched his face up, just as Lay came back in a fresh pair of clothes and a smile. "I'll go take a shower real quick, then," he said before standing up.

"Uh, I'll keep Sehun company."

Kai nodded, "Thanks, I won't take long."

Once he walked out, Sehun went back to being a nervous wreck. Now he was alone in the room with Lay. Which meant he probably had to... gulp... talk to him.

"Hey, mind if I sit next to you?"

Sehun almost jumped when he heard the guy's voice right in front of him, a friendly smile on his face.

"Yeah, s-sure," he said with a shrug.

"So you do mind?" Lay cocked a brow.

"No! I mean, no I don't. You can... sit."

Lay chuckled, "Thanks." Thankfully, he kept a good amount of space between them on the couch.

"I hope we didn't bore you today."

"N-No... not at all... You guys were um, good."

"Thanks," Lay smiled, "So who was better?"

Sehun was taken aback by the question, "Huh? B-Both of you were great!"

Lay rolled his eyes, "Come on, that's a lie and you know it. Of course you liked Kai more. Can't say that's totally unbiased though."

"No... it's not like that. You guys have a different style. I'm not an expert in dance so I can't objectively tell you who's a better dancer but each of you has their own unique charm and comparing two different charms is like comparing two flavors of Doritos... in which case Sweet chilli pepper is my favorite so no it's not actually like that. What I mean is! You're both phenomenal dancers and-"

He was cut off by Lay letting out a choked laugh before bursting out into a fit.

"Ah dude, you took this way too seriously. I was just messing with you."

Sehun glared at him, unamused, before staring back down at his lap. Ugh I just embarrassed myself in front of one of Kai's best friends with my dumb rambling. Just kill me now.

"Hey, come on. I'm sorry," Lay nudged him, "I didn't mean to upset you."

"Tch, whatever. That wasn't even funny," Sehun grumbled.

Lay chuckled before leaning back comfortably on the couch. They sat in silence for some time before Lay spoke again.

"You know, at first I didn't understand why Kai spent so much time with you. I mean, no offense but, you seemed like a pretty plain, boring guy."

That's because I am.

"But now I realized I totally misjudged you. I can see now what Kai sees in you."

Sehun lifted an eyebrow curiously at that, glancing at Lay, "And what would that be?"

"Well just like you were talking about us having different charms, you have a charm of your own. Maybe you don't realize it but the people around you do. At least the ones who know you... and now me as well. Which makes me think... Damn, I've been a pretty shallow person."

"My... charm?" Sehun echoed curiously. He never really thought of himself as someone... charming.

Lay chuckled, "Yeah. You're very unique, I can tell."

"Oh, uh," Sehun wasn't sure how to respond to that, "Thanks, I guess." It got a little uncomfortable after that. Lay didn't mutter a word but Sehun could feel his eyes on him the whole time. He thanked the Heavens when Kai finally came back, immediately smiling once he saw his boyfriend. Sehun stood up and made his way over to him.

"Took you long enough. Uh... I need to run some errands so can we go now?"

"Aw, so soon? I thought we could at least have dinner together, I was looking forward to getting to know Sehun a little more," Lay said, looking disappointed.

"S-Sorry, I really am in a hurry. Maybe next time," Sehun said, and the guy shrugged.

"Alright then, cool. Nice to finally meet you though. We should hang out again," Lay smiled at him.

Kai looked between them curiously before wrapping an arm around Sehun almost possessively.

"Likewise," Sehun muttered, feeling a little more comfortable with Kai by his side.

"Yeah, guess we'll be off now. See ya, dude," Kai said.

"Bye."

Sehun instinctively let out a sigh of relief when they left the studio.

"Hey... is something wrong? Did Lay bother you or anything...?

"N-No, nothing like that. I guess I was just a little uncomfortable, being alone with him."

"Oh, I'm sorry I had to leave you. He's harmless, I promise you."

"Yeah, I know... I'm just not used to him."

Is what Sehun said but he could sense that there was more to it than that.


 

"This winter break's been so dull."

"Tell me about it," Amber sighed, "It's boring, depressing and cold as . And Sehun's way too busy with his boyfriend to hang out with me."

"Oh," Victoria smiled weakly. Amber cocked a brow.

"Wrong topic? Sorry."

Victoria shook her head, "No, it's not that. It's just that I'm still not really... over him. Even though I try to act all casual around him."

"Yeah, I understand. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's fine, really. And he's happy with Sehun so I couldn't ask for anything more."

Amber studied the other girl for a minute, before cracking into a grin, "Ah you're such a hopeless romantic."

"Shut up," Victoria elbowed her, but stopped suddenly on noticing something from the corner of her eye.

"Ugh, looks like I have guests at home," she groaned, motioning to the unfamiliar car outside her house.

"Count me out of that," Amber chuckled.

"No! Come on, please! I'll die of boredom in there. We can just go up to my room, at least with you here I have an excuse not to sit with them."

The short haired girl glared at her before sighing, giving in.

"Fine. You're lucky I'm awesome."

"That you are," Victoria said happily, leading Amber to her house. "I'm home!" she called out when she entered with Amber in tow, taking off her boots.

"Oh, Victoria! Good you're back, and with Amber too," her mother said, walking out of the kitchen.

"Sup," Amber said nonchalantly.

"Guess who's here to visit!" She said, motioning Victoria to the living room. The two followed her in and Victoria froze at her spot once she saw a familiar face break into a very familar smile.

"Vicky! How's my favourite little niece doing?"

Her fists clenched as her teeth gritted. Luckily her mom was too distracted to notice it, but Amber wasn't.

"I'll let you guys catch up, I have to go check on the food!" Her mother said before leaving the three of them in the room.

"It's been a while, come here and give your old uncle a hug!"

Victoria visibly stiffened, not moving from her spot. Amber frowned at her before looking up at the man who had an almost creepy smile on his face.

Is that...?

Quickly reading the situation, the realization dawned on her.

Oh.

He's that uncle.

She could feel the anger rising within her but managed to keep a straight face.

"Don't you think she's a little too old for that?" Amber spoke up, hardly able to mask the venom in her tone.

He turned his attention to Amber, looking her up and down before smiling, "Are you friend of Victoria's?"

"Yeah, I'm her friend. Amber. Pleasure," she almost spat.

"Nice to meet you, Amber."

"Hey, um, mind if we go up to my room for a bit?" Victoria spoke, looking at Amber pleadingly.

"Sure let's go. Excuse us Mr. Lee."

He simply nodded, still eyeing Victoria and Amber really had the urge to gauge his eyes out then and there.

Once they made it upstairs and into her room, Victoria immediately broke down.

"Hey, hey, shhhh," Amber gently pulled her into a hug, "It's okay."

"Why d-did he have he to come back?" Victoria murmured, "I... I thought I would never see him again... ! W-Why?!"

"Shhhh," Amber comforted her, "Don't worry. I'm right here. I won't let that son of a come anywhere near you, I promise."

Victoria clutched the front of her t-shirt tightly, digging her face into her shoulder.

"Actually, I think it's about time we taught him a lesson."

Victoria looked up at her frowning, "What?"

"You can't tell me you were just gonna let him get away with the he did to you! We have to teach him a lesson."

"It's fine, Amber, seriously-"

"No, it's not!" Amber suddenly yelled, taking the other girl by surprise. She stepped away from her, "You need to stop letting people walk all over you! Stop feeling sorry for yourself for 's sake and shape the up! Standing here and crying won't do you any good. If I'm willing to fight for you then you should be ready to fight for yourself! Get it together, Victoria!"

She grabbed her shoulders, staring straight into her eyes, "I have a plan. I need you to be ing strong, to show him you're not scared. Not stand there mumbling like an idiot. That's the worst thing you can do! Showing weakness is not an option! Now I know it mind sound horrible but I need you to trust me right now."

"You're..." Victoria grumbled, shaking her head, "Really ing cruel."

Amber crossed her arms.

"But you're right. I really am pathetic and it's about time I stood up for myself," she looked at Amber straight in the eyes, a determined look on her face, "What's your plan?"

 

After a long dinner full of passive aggression and dirty looks that thankfully went unnoticed by Victoria's parents having been too caught up in conversation, her uncle was finally leaving and it was time to put Amber's plan into action. Just as expected he said the words he always did everytime he visited.

"Vicky, could you please walk me down to my car?"

Those same words sent a shiver down her spine but she knew she had to be strong, she had to do this. She'd kept a straight face the whole time during dinner and didn't show a sign of weakness, but it was different when she had to be alone with him.

But I'm not really alone. She's gonna be right there for me.

The thought comforted her as she walked down the stairs along with her uncle. He suddenly stopped and turned to her, a smirk forming on his face.

"It sure has been a long time, Vic," he said, stepping disgustingly close to her and twirling a strand of her hair in his finger. She gulped, feeling the familiar crawling in her skin as he raked his eyes up and down her body, "You've grown to be so beautiful."

She could feel his other hand moving to her waist but before he could touch her, she gripped it harshly.

"Stop."

He cocked a brow, amused, "Oh? Well this is new."

"I'm not going to let you do this anymore. I'm not the little girl you can just harrass whenever you feel like it anymore."

He harshly pushed her by the shoulders and pinned her against the wall, smirking at her. She could feel her heart racing in her chest in fear, the look in his eyes absolutely petrifying her. She didn't let up though, struggling against his hold.

"Let go of me you ing pig!"

"You can drop the act, you know," he said, leisurely running a finger down her arm, "You're shivering. You might be acting all strong now but you're still the same little girl I used to play with, Victoria. Come on, haven't you missed me?"

"Alright you head, that's enough," Amber came down the stairs angrily, shoving him away from Victoria and watching him trip slightly.

"Wh-What are you doing here?!" He growled angrily, glaring at Amber.

"Just keeping a ic uous erted old in check," she said, holding up her phone and showing him a video. A video showing the conversation he just had with Victoria, both of their faces and voices clear as day. His eyes slowly widened and he glared at her, a look of pure hatred on his face. "I hated having to let Victoria go through this again but it was the only way I could expose you for the sick er you are."

"You little wench... I knew I didn't like you the moment I saw you!"

"Don't forget I have the upper hand here. One wrong word and this video is going to her parents. or better yet, the police. Or both."

Victoria stood next to Amber with her arms crossed and her head held high, feeling a certain strength fill her with Amber by her side. Their glares were unwavering. He stared between the two of them in disbelief.

"Are you threatening me? Do you even know who I am?"

"I know you're a disgusting old man who ually harrasses his own neice when he's thrice her ing age! You're the lowest of the ing low, nothing but garbage in my eyes. And in my hand I have the power to destroy you. Your face is clear as day and they'll know it's you," Amber said menacingly, putting her phone back in her pocket as she watched his face contort. "Don't you have a daughter? How would you feel if some dirty old man was harrassing her? Unless you were doing it yourself, and honestly I wouldn't put it past you..." Amber gritted her teeth, "Now unless you want me to show everyone this video, you better do everything I'm about to ask you."

Victoria frowned at her friend. What are you doing? She mouthed.

Amber gave her a look that said just play along before turning back to the man.

"Fine, what do you want?" He scowled.

"First of all, you're not going anywhere near Victoria ever again. If you get within a 10 foot radius of her you better believe this is going to the police. You're not gonna talk to her, touch her, heck you're not allowed to even look at her."

He spared Victoria a side glance, flinching slightly at the absolute look of hatred on her face.

"F-Fine. What else?"

Amber had a thoughful look on her face before holding her hand out, "Your wallet."

"Amber!" Victoria yelled at her in disbelief.

"Are you serious?" he said with gritted teeth before begrudgingly handing it to her. She smiled and looked through it, scrunching her face up.

"Seriously? Are you supposed to be rich? Lame," she said, taking the couple hundred dollar bills inside it before throwing the wallet right into his face. "Whoops, sorry. Now give me your car keys."

"Amber!" Victoria yelled at her again, eyes wide open.

"I was just kidding, Jeez. You're free to go old geezer."

"Don't think I'm stupid. Delete the video, right now, in front of me."

"Yeah, no. How else will I make sure you don't come near her again? Sorry dude, the video's staying with me. Now off."

He gritted his teeth, "I'll get you for this."

"What are you gonna do to two high school students anyway? You think I'm scared of you?"

She scoffed, turning to Victoria, "We're done here. Let's go. Unless you have something to say to him."

She didn't even bother looking at him, "I have nothing to say to a dead man. Except I hope he rots in hell for everything he's done."

With that she walked up the stairs, not bothering to wait for Amber. She whistled after her, "Harsh," before walking up the stairs and leaving Mr. Lee standing there in disbelief.


 

"I can't believe you did that! Why would you take his money?!"

"Vic, don't think much of it. Just think of it as our celebration for finally getting rid of the guy. Besides, I'm still turning him in anyway."

"What?!"

"What, did you think I was just gonna let him go with that? Your parents need to know, the cops need to know, and he needs to be put behind bars for what he did. The money was just me milking what I could out of the situation. And don't worry, we're splitting it fifty-fifty." she shrugged.

Victoria stared at her in anger and disbelief, "You.... UGH! Why are you taking this so lightly? I don't want his damn money!"

"Don't think of it as his money, think of it as just money for getting a job done. We earned this by putting that bastard in his place."

Amber stayed silent for a while, watching Victoria's face gradually soften.

"I don't want to turn him in. As much as he deserves it... I think I already got what I wanted. To feel like I have the upper hand for once. I'm not scared of him anymore. But he has a family, and I don't want to ruin their lives. They have no fault in all this. Some things are better left unsaid."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Amber nodded in understanding. "You do what you think is right."

Victoria nodded to herself, feeling like she was doing the right thing. There was no need to be a home-wrecker. He wouldn't dare come close to her ever again after this. And she sure as hell was going to enjoy her silent victory.

"Sooooooooo.... Sixty-forty then?"

Victoria sighed in exasperation, before laughing softly. She looked at Amber who had a small, genuine smile on her face. Even through everything, you still stuck by my side. She bit her lip before stepping forward and wrapping her in a tight hug. It didn't take long for Amber to wrap her arms around her comfortingly.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"I said I'd be here for you, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Victoria mumbled, pulling away so she could look at Amber. She found herself studying her features. This is the girl whose heart I broke a couple of years ago. How could I ever do that to her?

"Amber," she whispered, cupping her cheek softly as Amber's face morphed into an unreadable expression. Before she could even speak, Victoria was leaning forward and pressing their lips together. Amber stiffened in shock, but once she snapped out of it, she quickly pulled away and stepped back. Victoria slowly opened her eyes, realizing what she had done and quickly covering .

"I'm sorry. You must have misunderstood me... I don't have those feelings for you anymore," Amber said, her face completely void of emotion. Victoria bit her lip, fidgeting slightly. "Moreover I don't want to be your rebound."

"No! It's not like that. I'm really sorry, I... I wasn't thinking." She apologized softly, "I hurt you again didn't I?"

Amber stared at her for a long moment before chuckling, "What do you think I am, glass? I'm not hurt, those petty things don't bother me."

Petty? Victoria felt a little pang at her chest.

"Oh," she nodded slowly, "Okay."

"Come on, let's go downstairs and watch some TV."

"Wait!" Victoria stepped forward, smiling and holding her hand out, "My cut. Sixty-forty, remember?"

Amber grinned, "That's my girl."

Wow I haven't updated in forever. Sorry guys xD I hope you liked this chapter though, finally justice for Victoria! But ooh a little awkward at the end there huh? And I wonder what's going through Lay's head. Is he getting the hots for our Sehunnie perhaps? Lol

I've really missed this story guys, it feels great to get back to writing! It's been a really busy couple of months and it'll probably get even busier later but I might be free for now... maybe haha. I just want you all to rest assured that no matter how long I take, I'm never gonna abandon this book because it is very dear to my heart <3

Anyway until next time!