Kangin entered the library and made his way towards where he knew he would find Leeteuk and Heechul. He and Leeteuk exchanged messages earlier that day so that Kangin could meet Heechul. Kangin knew he would be nervous but he didn’t expect to the extent of being jittery. Okay? Okay! Breathe in, breathe out. Kangin you can do this. Have confidence!

Kangin entered the second floor of the library and walked to the study room where Heechul and Leeteuk were in. He knocked and Leeteuk came to open the door, with Heechul looking tentatively behind him.

“Um... Hi?” Kangin tried his luck,

“Hey, Kangin do you want me to stay here or do you want me to leave and come back in an hour?” Leeteuk asked

“Yeah, I’d appreciate it if I could talk to Chul one on one, thanks Teuk,”

“It’s Heechul hyung for you,” Heechul finally spoke, and for the first time since Kangin walked in he could see the exhaustion transparent on his face.

“Sorry, Hyung,” Kangin apologized, he was walking on burning stones, he wanted to mend things with Heechul, not make them worse, so he apologized.

Leeteuk walked out but not before patting Kangin’s shoulder and telling Heechul to behave. Kangin pulled out a chair in front of Heechul, looking Heechul. He found himself avoiding eye contact for the first few minutes until he forced himself to look at Heechul. It was as if Heechul was even more intimidating than before, his arms were crossed and his facial expression was blank. He quirked one of his eyebrows up as if asking him to get started.

Kangin took a deep breath and began, “Heechul hyung, I think it’s better if I tell you this now than never. I sincerely apologize for all that happened in the past, and I’ve learned my lesson. Although I was also in the wrong, I wanted you to know the full cascade of events that happened before you choose how you want our relationship to go. I personally want to be friends with you again, and I know it’ll take time, of course, it’ll take time. But I’m willing to wait and be patient. Do you want to hear what I have to say?” He asked, surprised at how smoothly he was wording his thoughts.

Heechul sighed, his shoulders dropped a little and became slightly less tense, as he closed his eyes and then opened them while giving Kangin a nod, “I wouldn’t be sitting here if I wasn’t ready to hear what you have to say,”

Kangin smiled, feeling slightly more at ease yet still the overbearing nervousness was still present in his heart. Kangin began talking about what had happened, the same words he said to Leeteuk, he said to Heechul. Kangin focused on Heechul’s expression the entire time, and unfortunately, Heechul was extremely good at keeping a poker face.

“I know I ran away, but when I was younger I was a coward, and now I want to mend for the mistakes I made,” he finished, finally looking away from Heechul’s eyes.

It was silent for a few minutes before Heechul put his arms down on the table and intertwined his hands in front of him. It seemed as if he was contemplating something, which in reality he was.

Of course, I want to have my friend back but it’s really hard to trust a person again once they’ve lost it. But I need to give