“I didn’t even see what happened. I look up and you were on the floor, face first.” James stated, and even though he’d been dying of laughter a few minutes ago, he was now looking at you worriedly as he saw the look of discomfort on your face. You decided to ignore his statement as you leaned almost your entire weight on him, hoping that you’d make it towards the school nurse without him dropping you. Elena stared at the two of you, as if she wanted to run after you even though mister Jung had told her to stay put. During the last hour on Wednesday the three of you had gym together. You had never really been too fond of the course, as you didn’t really have a very good physical condition. You should have known it wouldn’t end well if you played football and even before the game had lasted thirty minutes you had been spread over the floor. You were convinced that someone had caused you to trip, but since it happened in such a hurry you had no idea who did it. though, Jongdae looked too innocent when you had left the room. The throbbing pain that spread through your ankle was killing you and each time you dared to put any weight on it you felt like you were going to cry. As if you hadn’t gone through enough already. You had enough things on your mind without this injury. Finals were coming up and you had to prepare for them and make sure that you wouldn’t start running behind with your classes. 

The hallways were empty as all students were in class and the two of you hopped clumsily through the corridor. Maybe it was a good thing that no one was there to witness the two of you. “Baekhyun is going to kill me.” You muttered softly, trying your hardest not to bump into anything as you stayed upright. Though, so suddenly that you almost thundered right back towards the floor, James stopped in his tracks. A scowl was lingering on your face and you were ready to start scolding him when you looked at him and saw the shock written all over his face. “What?” You asked, dumbfounded as you composed yourself and leaned back against one of the iron lockers. The nurse post was just a few meters away, if you tried hard enough maybe you’d be able to limp towards it. But just the thought made you feel tired. “Why would mister Byun try to kill you because you sprained your ankle?” He asked, and he sounded as if he was out of breath, but it wasn’t like you were that heavy. As his words penetrated into your mind your eyes widened and you were afraid that they were going to jump from your head. All different kinds of emotions began to rush through you. panic, because you had said something you weren’t allowed to say, that no one was allowed to know. Anxiety because you could get suspended, because Baekhyun might loose his job. Anrgy with yourself because you’d let information that was so important slip from your lips. 

Before you knew what you were doing you reached towards him, your fists clenching around his shirt as you stared him right in the eye, your gaze frantic. “Swear you won’t tell anyone! James, you can never tell anyone what I said!” You tried to whisper, just in case someone might be coming out of one of the classroom and be able to hear what you said. The last thing you needed right now was for another person to know, one was worse enough. Even though you hadn’t told James exact what was going on, you were sure he could count one and one together. He acted like it sometimes, but he wasn’t stupid. “Relax Heeri! You know I would never tell, no.” He said as he grabbed a hold of your hands and gave them a gentle squeeze, trying to calm you down as he pulled them away from the fabric and began to smooth it out. This guy and his clothes. You wiped your sweaty palms across your pants and took a deep breath, forced yourself to keep calm. You couldn’t believe you’d done something as stupid as this. You were lucky that it was James who was with you and not someone else. For a minute the two of you stayed completely silent, as if you were both too overwhelmed to say anything. The pain that was flowing through your leg wasn’t exactly getting much better, but it didn’t seem to be you biggest concern right now. “Are you dating him?” He asked softly, as if he knew just as well as you that it actually wasn’t safe to discuss something as important as this in the middle of a school corridor. His head turned from left to right to make sure that no one was around. 

“It’s complicated. My parents set up an arranged marriage between me and mister Byun. They bought us an apartment and now we live together, so we can get to know each other before we get into the real thing.” You whispered, and you could see his eyes widen in pure disbelieve and shock. His hand brushed through his perfectly styled brown locks as he tried to think of what to say. He’d probably expected a lot from you parents, but not this. You’d never really been trying to hide from him what you thought about your parents and since he didn’t really connect with his himself he always seemed to understand. But this even seemed too much for him to follow. “, that’s so messed up. I noticed you’ve been acting different lately. I knew you were hiding something, but I never thought…Oh sweetheart it must have been terrible to keep this all to yourself.” He suddenly said, a sympathetic look in his eyes and suddenly you realized how much you wanted to hear those words. For nearly two months you’d been running around these hallways, hanging out with your closest friends with this dark secret growing inside of you.