A/n: haven't updated in awhile, so here you go!!! Enjoy your reading 😉✨

"Oh, you're already there. Great," Joohyun saw her friend standing in front of the news administration's door. Baekhyun, who came as fast as he could when Joohyun called him during his lesson on Opera History, was catching his breath and leaning his back on the wall.

"Why would you ask me to run here if you came later yourself?" he complained, "ah, it is tiring to run through the whole building and 5 floors, you know?!"

"Don't whine. Did you see the news?" Joohyun came closer to him, biting her lower lip with her teeth. 

"Yeah! And I'm glad that they came out. Jinah came before the class and told me that she's gonna quit her courting since I'm 'dating' you," Baekhyun smiled at his friend slash secret crush. Joohyun glanced at him awkwardly and tried to avoid his eyes seconds later. He tilted his head to the side, his smile dropping. 

"You seem tense... what happened?" He asked worriedly furrowing his brows. 

"Joon doesn't know about the whole thing," she sighed glancing at him timidly. Baekhyun's mood became gloomy for two reasons. One, because Joonmyeon didn't know about the situation, and two, because she called him by his sweetly 'Joon' nickname. 

Baekhyun thought that her mentioning her boyfriend affectionately wasn't necessary at the moment. Or maybe it wasn't pleasant to hear only for him as he looked at the standing girl in front. She looked so cute and squishy with her lips pouting a little in thought and eyes focused on the wall opposite her. 

'Of course, he's her 'real' boyfriend. Who do you think you are?' Baekhyun's current thoughts made him ten times sadder than the times when he had to deal with Jinah. 

Now the said girl seemed to distance herself from him. At least for the last few days. And when she came to him this morning with a face that had a lot to tell, he thought that his efforts were unsuccessful. 

He expected her to continue and annoy him further. However, Jinah had other things in her mind.

Looking at Joohyun, his best friend from school days, he was first of all sorry to drag her into another possible trouble. He knew she didn't have the heart to say no to him anytime. And he kind of 'used' this kind and generous side of her. For his selfish reasons. 

"You want the news to disappear, right?" he asked her standing taller now. 

Joohyun looked at him with a surprised expression adorning her face and Baekhyun once again wanted to beat himself. 

Just how the hell did he fall for her? She was the third friend and the first female friend that he had and opened up to unawarely and without any reason. Why did he fall deep and hard for her? 

"I think we should fix this as soon as possible. Joonmyeon doesn't pick up. He must be at another party," Joohyun was restlessly looking around. After a big inhale she stood closer.

"Let's enter then," she knocked on the door they were standing near. Nothing was heard. Joohyun tried to turn the handle but the door was locked. 

"What the hell? Is it closed?" Joohyun glanced at Baekhyun confusedly. "Why did you not tell me it was closed?"

"How would I know that?" Baekhyun chuckled. 

"You came here earlier! Did you not check it?" Joohyun whined. 

"Hey. I was catching a breath after you made me run a marathon through the whole university."

"We study in the same building. What are you talking about?" she rolled her eyes. 

"Well, not on the same floor, missy," Baekhyun continued his complaining. "And for your information, you came here after half a minute I did. You could've checked it yourself!" 

Joohyun scoffed, "we are just wasting our time here arguing about it, you know?"

"You started it," Baekhyun smirked, winning the argument. His smile became wider when she sighed in surrender. 

"What do we do now?" She asked. 

"Hope for some angel to come to save our heads from Joonmyeon- ouch! What!?" Baekhyun rubbed his chest from not so painful slap. 

"Shut up. I'm not in the mood to joke," she hissed, glaring at him. 

"Well, you know that I'm always up... wait a second. Hey?" He said to the boy who was sneakily snapping the pics of them. 

"Hey, what are you doing there?" Baekhyun walked near the boy who got caught in filming.

The boy put on the hood of his hoodie to hide his face and started to run away from the 'couple'. 

"Yah!" Baekhyun ran after him. "Stop right there!" 

Joohyun ran after them, frustrated that her day was already ruined despite it was still the morning. 

"Did you get him?" She asked when she reached Baekhyun in the main hall. He was leaning on his knees. 

"No, I lost him," Baekhyun chuckled. 

"This is insane. Let's go back to administration," Joohyun sighed turning around to go the opposite way. 

"If Joonmyeon knew about all this, we wouldn't have to chase people around," Baekhyun mumbled but she heard him because she wasn't gone that far. 

"What?" She turned to him. Baekhyun didn't know if he should continue. He didn't want to fight with her. 

"I said... why are you so against the news? You know it was fake already. Why bother to fix everything now? It was going to end in a week, anyway," Baekhyun said. His heart beating harshly in his chest. 

"I don't want Joonmyeon to know. That's why!" Joohyun laughed sarcastically. Baekhyun caught the bitterness in her eyes.

"Why didn't you let him know from the start?" 

"Because he wouldn't agree. Do you think you will gladly let your girlfriend fake date someone else for time being? Huh? You wouldn't," Joohyun stated firmly. 

"I... I-" Baekhyun ran out of words. His mind was swirling with a million thoughts and his heart continued to thump with hardness. 

"I know you, Baekhyun," Joohyun smiled a little. "You would never do that." Her innermost feelings were battling with each other. 

"I am sorry I got you in trouble. Let's tell him now. Should we?" Baekhyun looked at her waiting for her reply. 

"No. We shouldn't. I don't want him to know," Joohyun averted her gaze to the outside through floor to ceiling windows in the hallway. 

"But why?" Baekhyun complained. He couldn't understand the reason for her disagreement. Everything would have been easier if he knew. "It's that simple-"

"Because I don't want to lose him," the answer from his friend came so rapidly that Baekhyun reckoned that it was his imagination or he heard her wrong.

But no. He heard her pretty clearly cause they were the only ones standing in the corridor, and it was not his fantasy that played with him. Judging the look on her face, Baekhyun realized that everything was real. 

He felt like the thumping of his heart receded, following by a halt and staying still for a few moments. His whole body felt like it was thrown into the ice-cold water. 

Joohyun looked at his face searching for the support that she wanted to get. Selfish. Yeah, she knew. Completely egotistical. 'How else would I secure the one who can save me from my misery? You're my misery,' thoughts buried deeply in her mind and to her heart that it started to hurt. Her h