(A/N Warning - Triggering content up ahead. Please read at own discretion)

~Areum's POV~

It had been a fairly warm day today - uncharacteristic for late-autumn weather. I decided to walk to school. Heading to my locker with a hum, I opened it, only to have it shoved closed. I gave a yelp of surprise, glaring at the culprit. As I suspected, Hyuna's smug face was looking right back at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Ugh, Hyuna, what do you want? It's a lovely day today and I'm not in the mood to deal with you," I grumbled, shoving my locker open again.

"I'm going on a date with Sehun-ah after school today!" She declared loudly, catching the attention of many people in the hallway.

I froze, my eyes widening.

'I'm going on a date with Sehun-ah after school today!'

'I'm going on a date with Sehun...'

Gasps and whispers began filling the corridor. Forcing myself to act nonchalant, I turned to her.

"And?" I raised an eyebrow at her. "What's that got to do with me?"

I acted casual, but inside, my mind was whirring. I was pretty certain that Sehun didn't like Hyuna. Was she lying? Of course, whether he actually did like her or not didn't concern me. It's not like I liked him or anything. It was just...

Why was I so bothered?

We didn't like each other, obviously, but that didn't stop the fact that we were engaged. Didn't that mean anything to Sehun? Why was he going on a date when he knew that he had to be married to someone else as soon as he graduated? Was he going to start cheating on me with other women after we were married? Was that the kind of relationship we were going to have? Was I going to have to sleep alone on the bed each night, knowing Sehun was out with some other woman?

Somewhere deep in my chest, I felt a small pang. Whether it was hurt, frustration, worry or anger, I couldn't tell.

Hyuna smirked at me. "I know you like him, but back off, alright? He's mine."

I scoffed. "Hyuna, I don't think you've gotten the message yet, but I. Don't. Freaking. Care. I don't like Sehun in any way, alright? So off and stop bothering me." I slammed my locker shut and strode off, ignoring her laughs that followed behind me. For some reason, that chat caused my mood to plummet. I sat in my seat for first period with a huff, ignoring Taeyeon, Sehun and Kai's questioning looks. I looked out of the window, trying to reason with myself.

"You okay?" Taeyeon asked uncertainly. I nodded wordlessly, giving her a half-hearted smile before turning to the teacher who just walked into class. I could feel Sehun's stare drilling into my back, but I ignored it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't concentrate the entire day. At lunch, I decided to sit with Taeyeon inside the classroom. She didn't question me, which I was thankful for. She seemed to understand that I wasn't in the mood to talk. I didn't want to see Sehun, for some reason. We were just beginning to get along, but I couldn't look at him without remembering Hyuna.

Throughout the day, I could feel Sehun staring at me. Probably wondering why I was suddenly avoiding him and giving him the cold-shoulder.

'As if he didn't know why, that jerk,' I thought bitterly.

I was packing my bag, ready to go home when my phone buzzed.

[To: Princess]

[From: Oh Sehun]

I'm going out after school today. I'll probably be home late. Have dinner without me.

I frowned at the message. Short, blunt and simple, like he didn't care. It's never bothered me before, but Hyuna's claim this morning really must have put me off. I was...worried. We were slowly growing closer, but what if it slowly disintegrated? What if it was all for nothing? What if he fell in love with someone else and began resenting me because of it?

'I'm going on a date with Sehun-ah after school today!'

'I'm going out after school today.'

All the worries and doubts began piling up in my head. What if our marriage didn't work? Then not only would Sehun hate me, but so would his parents. My parents would also be disappointed in me and-

"Areum?" A voice interrupted my thoughts, snapping me out of my daze. I looked up to see Kai staring at me. His locker was right next to mine. Out of their group, I was probably closest to him. I blinked, eyes wide. He frowned at my expression. "You alright?"

Taking deep breaths to calm myself, I nodded and smiled at him. "I'm fine."

His gaze lingered on my face for a little longer, but then he nodded. "Alright. But you look a bit pale. You should probably head home soon."

I shook my head. All of a sudden, I didn't want to go home, where I knew I would be alone. "I'm going to the library to study. I have an AP chemistry research paper I need to finish."

The tan boy nodded, but he still looked hesitant. "Do you want me to drive you there? I know you walked to school today."

"Nah, it's alright. Thank you, though," I smiled reassuringly at him before grabbing my bag. "Well, I'll be off then."

"Alright. Be careful."

I waved to him and headed off, conscious of his gaze on my back. Glancing down at my phone again, I decided not to reply to his text and slipped it into my pocket.

**********************

Sehun frowned when he didn't receive a reply from Areum. The girl had been ignoring him the entire day and he wondered why. He thought back to the previous days. She had been acting completely normal. Then all of a sudden this morning, she started giving him the cold-shoulder. He couldn't think of anything he had done wrong.

'Why are you worrying so much about it?'

He shook his head, slipping his phone away. Just as he did, it buzzed. Immediately whipping it out again, he couldn't help feel a slight wave of disappointment when he saw it wasn't a text from Areum, but rather his best friend Kai. He frowned when he read the message though.

[To: Oh Sehun]

[To: Kim Jongin]

Hey, I saw Areum after school today. She didn't look very well, but she says she's going to the library to study. You should make sure she gets home safely. She's walking home today.

The blonde boy furrowed his eyebrows in concern. Areum was walking home? Didn't she take her car? He didn't know as he had gone to school before her today. And what did he mean when she wasn't looking well? Was she sick?

He mentally cursed his geography teacher for pairing him up with Hyuna of all people for their assignment. The girl had been ecstatic and bugged him all day to go out to work on the assignment. She wanted to work on it straight after school at the school library.

He sighed, leaning back against the chair in the library, waiting for the girl.

"Sehun-Oppa!" A familiar, feminine voice drew his attention. He saw Hyuna running towards him, bag in hand. He scowled at the sight.

"You're late," He said curtly, opening his textbook. "Come on. I want to get this done as soon as possible.

She pouted. "Why are you so impatient, Oppa? Why not get some dinner first?"

She looked at him hopefully and his scowl deepened. "No. I just want to finish this please."

She sighed and nodded, still pouting. She threw her bag down and sat down far too close for comfort. She leant in, her chest basically rubbing against his arm as she peered at the textbook. Sehun leant away awkwardly, wishing he was anywhere but here.

"So..."

Hours passed. Surprisingly, Hyuna began concentrating on the assignment instead of shoving her cleavage at Sehun. Hyuna was a lot of things, but she was not stupid. She wanted to become a stylist in the future but regardless, she was the daughter of a famous business owner which meant that she valued her grades too. The two began working together well and managed to finish the assignment.

Still, Sehun couldn't help thinking about Areum. Hyuna was a decent partner, but part of him wished that it was Areum who was working with him. She made things interesting and more entertaining, but she was also the only one who could keep up with Sehun. Sehun was one of the most advanced students in their year level and he liked to speed through things. With Areum, he could go as fast as he wanted, knowing that she would be able to keep up without a hitch. They worked well as a team, both amazingly intelligent - Areum was more creative and better at thinking out of the box, coming up with ideas and problem-solving while Sehun was more logical and liked patterns and formulae, better at memorising facts  and statistics. They balanced each other out well. Others weren't able to keep up like that. Sehun often had to force himself to slow down to accommodate for the other, which irritated him. He was never a patient person.

(A/N: Idk if it's just me but that entire paragraph sounded like one big innuendo)

Hyuna was smart, but she wasn't Areum.

'Since when did you begin thinking so highly of her?'

Sehun paused, pondering the question that suddenly sprang into his mind. He used to hate her, detest her with every fibre of his being. He believed that it was partly her fault that they were forced into getting engaged, and that she was nothing but a stupid, naive spoilt brat who he wanted nothing to do with.

But then he remembered the night when his grandmother passed away. How she'd known that he didn't want petty words of comfort or sympathy. She knew such things meant little to him, so she just did what she always managed to do - surprise him. She gave him space and gave him distractions, with enough casualty in her tone so he wouldn't feel uncomfortable or put off by a sudden change in attitude, giving him some normality so that he'd have no time to think and brood. It meant a lot more to him than any sort of sympathy did. 

They still weren't exactly friends, but they both had a certain respect and regard for each other. Slowly, Sehun had become accustomed to her smart mouth and her insults and sarcasm.

Even Areum could feel the slow changes and development of their relationship. Their insults were no longer heartfelt, but more like the lighthearted banter between friends. She began enjoying their verbal sparring, knowing that Sehun wouldn't be offended by her insults like a lot