A/N: Hello guys~! Sorry for the long wait...I'm busy with the exams and all... *sigh* anyway, enjoy~!

-Chan Yeol’s POV-

I stood motionless right after Aerin and Sehun left the classroom. Suho hyung stayed behind with me, looking equally stunned. She apologized for what she did, I felt it, but that wasn’t actually the reaction I was after. I wanted to talk to her seriously. I still didn’t know why she did that, but I felt better knowing that she never really meant the words she said. It was all an act to…what? I was still confused though. I wanted to know the reason and it couldn’t wait anymore. I don’t think I will be able to sleep peacefully that night knowing that there was a big blank in my mind. I needed to hear it from her myself.

I moved towards the window after a while and saw her and Sehun walking towards the parking lot. He looked pained as he yanked his arm away from her. It must’ve hurt. I’ve experienced it one time and all I could say is that she had an iron grip. I remembered that time. It was my first time seeing her and I wouldn’t deny that from that time on, I was attracted to her like she was gravity itself. She looked spent, but better than the past few days. I’ve been watching her since that weekend. She hadn’t been herself and she spaced off a lot. I couldn’t even imagine what she had gone through right after she orchestrated her plan to dupe me and Sehun into believing that she was no better than that evil named Bae Eunmi.

I can’t believe I doubted her though. It was unforgivable. Sehun had been right all along when he called me the other day and told me that she was did it because something was driving her to. As far as I’ve observed, they were in better terms now. He knew her through and through, enough to believe that she would not stoop that low just for fun. Aside from that, we’ve done nothing wrong to her and she didn’t have any basis for doing it. She’s smart and she wouldn’t actually just choose random targets whenever she pleased to. Besides, she wasn’t the type to waste her time doing such illogical matters. Still, I had my misgivings.

Suho hyung joined me by the window, following my gaze. Aerin and Sehun were currently backing up the parking lot and out of the school. We watched as the car disappeared into the distance.

“You want to talk to her, don’ you?” he said.

I nodded slowly, staring out blankly.

“Then why don’t you go to her?”

I looked at him then. I thought he was just mocking me, but I saw the sincerity in his eyes. “I want to, but she’ll know of my uncertainties. I…”I sighed. “I doubted her…”

“She’ll understand.”

I shook my head. “How do you know? More importantly, what do you know?”

He smiled at me. “What I know isn’t important now, Chan Yeol. Aerin did what she could to make it easier for both Sehun and you. Do you think she did that without knowing the consequences?”

“I don’t think so.”

“See? She believes in both of you. She will understand. Knowing her, she wouldn’t have let you in if you weren’t important to her, even Sehun. It just became tangled because she seems to like both of you, but that fact won’t change how she looks at things.”

I shrugged. “I seem to be the only one who doesn’t understand her fully.”

“You understand her in ways we don’t just like Sehun does.”

I flinched when he said that. “Why does he always have to be right? I mean why didn’t I see that?”

“Did you ever hate her even after what happened?” he asked me, looking far away.

I shook my head. “I can’t find it in me to do that.”

“You saw it coming then, just not consciously.”

I considered hyung’s words for a while. “It’s so natural falling in love with her…like breathing, but trying to fight for her is just difficult.”

“‘The people we love are often the ones who hurt us the most.’” He chuckled. “You should talk to her.” He clapped me on the shoulder then left.

I guess I should. It’s the only way I’d be able to solve the puzzle. I pushed myself away from the window and went to the parking lot. After boarding my car, I drove off to Aerin’s neighborhood. As I was making the turn to the last corner before their street, I saw Sehun walking up to the doorstep right after activating the security alarm of the ivory Porsche Aerin owned. He entered the house and closed the door. I sped up towards their driveway and parked right behind the Porsche. I walked up to the doorstep, mustering all the courage I could. I wasn’t the one at fault and yet I was approaching as if I’ve done all that is wrong in the world and I’d be beheaded in a matter of minutes.

I sighed then rang the bell. No on answered so I rang it again.

“Sehun-ah~! Get the door, please!” I heard her voice coming from the above stairs.

I was half wishing that he wouldn’t come. I wanted to talk to her alone, but then, my hope was doused when I heard his voice from somewhere in the house, probably the kitchen. “Ara!”

I heard footsteps approaching the door and it swung open. Sehun stood right there, holding a bottle of Gatorade with his blazer off. His left brow shot up when he saw me and shot me a withering look. “Why are you here?” he demanded tersely.

“Evidently not because of you,” I answered.

He smirked then shook his head and slammed the door shut. “What the hell?” I knocked this time, twisting the doorknob, but it was locked. That was really mature. I turned around, putting a palm on my face in agitation.

“Who’s at the door?” I heard Aerin. She must have gone down.

“No one,” Sehun answered loudly. I’d bet it was for me.

“I heard knocking just now,” she argued.

“Don’t answer it.”

“What?”

I heard the doorknob click and turn as the door swung open again. Aerin was the one who answered this time, but she was looking at Sehun who was standing right behind her.

“You’re being ridic –” she said as she turned to face me, stopping in midsentence as her eyes widened and she took a step back.

“Told you,” Sehun muttered.

“Shut up!” she growled at him then faced me again. “It’s you…uh…”

“We need to talk,” I said when she didn’t continue speaking. She just stared at the floor. “May I come in?”

“No,” Sehun said, earning another death glare from her. “If it were up to me,” he was quick to add.

I rolled my eyes at him while Aerin opened the door wider. “Sure.”

I stepped in while she led the way. Sehun just stood up, leaning against the white sofa as he watched me enter. He was really aggravating at times, but I liked that fact that he bows to everything that Aerin says. The three of us stood in the living room in awkward silence until she turned around and headed to the kitchen.

“I’m getting drinks,” she murmured.

Sehun smirked at me then sat down on the couch, picking up the remote on top of the center table. He pressed the power button, but the TV didn’t turn on. I guess it was unplugged. He shrugged then glanced at me. “You’re not just going to stand there, are you?”

Pft! I wanted to strangle him already, but I just sat on the couch with him. “Happy?”

He shook his head, not taking into regard my sarcasm. “No. What the hell are you here for? And don’t give me that smart-talk crap.”

“I need to talk to her.”

He leered at me. “Yeah? Whatever for? You said it yourself. If it’s just the blow on her head talking, I can count you out. I believe that’s the reason why.”

“Can you hear yourself talking?”

“You can go now.”

“I believe you made that clear a while ago when you slammed the door to my face.”

“You noticed? Exceptionally observant. How unlike you.”

I clucked my tongue and decided to ignore him. “Forget it, maknae. I didn’t come here to pick a fight with you.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have shown your face here. Your actions lately are very illogical, you know.”

I made a face at him. I really hated it when he talks to me like we were of the same age. Unable to help it, I countered his words. “Yeah? I didn’t know you actually wasted time cataloging every move I make. Now where do you categorize that part where I beat you until you know what respect means?”

“I’m just doing you job, hyung,” he said calmly. “You should be the one watching your actions, not me.”

“I didn’t tell you to do that for me.”

“Just thank me already for feeling responsible for the things you do. You’re an embarrassment if I may say.”

I lost it and stood up. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“SEHUN!” someone growled from the kitchen, but the annoying maknae just continued to smirk at me like he didn’t hear anything.

“What? He was the one who showed up here in the first place,” he yelled over to Aerin from where he was sitting.

“Quit it already.”

“Not until he goes.”

“Stop being a brat already, Sehun,” I said.

At that, he stood up and stared at me murderously. “You think you can just kiss her in front of me and get away with it?” he growled.

I took a step forward and stared him down. “So what are you going to do about it?”

“Damn you,” he hissed.

“Jealous?” I smirked at him. “You can always do it, but it would lose its originality.”

He smirked back with a menacing edge. “I can always do better than that, moron.”

“I’ll take you on anytime, numbskull.”

“Back off before you regret it.”

“Regrets are for sissies,” I spat.

He chuckled. “Just don’t go crying to me when you lose.”

“Dream on, maknae. You think I’m not capable of making little kids like you cry?”

“Come back down, hyung. I haven’t laid a finger on you yet and you’re already delusional.”

“You’re real