Like a coward I hid from you.

Like a fool, I pretended to not love you.

Like a thief, I have been caught.

Like a ghost, I wish to be invisible.

And like ice, I am unable to run.

Hayley’s POV

"Are you going to tell Donghae you love him?" Sami suddenly asks, just when the door opens.

Donghae is standing at the door, and my jaw drops.

His eyes are wide, and his face is a mixture of emotions.

"Omo" I whisper.

He stands there, with his horrified face. Staring at me.

Oh no.

My heart…I can’t tell whether it is beating extremely fast or coming down to one beat per year. Absolutely petrified, as I look at him. Feeling like a child, who just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. As if I’m a mouse, who has been cornered by a cat.

Oh no.

“Hayley?” Miki sounds through the laptop.

I can’t move my head to look at them, stuck.

“Hayley? What’s going on? Are you okay?” Sami begins to shoot questions at me, panicking.

I can explain…

Donghae slowly, turns around. Keeping his eyes on the ground, lips sealed. He walks away, the sound of his bedroom door closing shut.

Oh no.

A trembling hand of mine, flings over my mouth. My breathing becoming unsteady.

Oh my God.

“Did someone walk into the room?” Miki blurts.

I turn to the screen, and use every ounce of strength I have left to nod. Feeling absolutely drained and helpless. Mind fogging up.

“Who walked into the room?” Sami nervously asks.

I can’t answer them, my heart in my throat.

“D-D-Donghae?” My two best friends stutter together.

I nod once, feeling tears spill down my face.

“I-I’m so sorry”

Donghae’s POV

I should check on Hayley.

I open her bedroom door, knocking not even passing through my mind. When a voice fills my ears.

"Are you going to tell Donghae you love him?"

The world stops moving, everything on pause. My pupils dilate, my throat closes up and my body is stuck to the ground as if I have been glued there.

"Are you going to tell Donghae you love him?"

"Are you going to tell Donghae you love him?"

"Are you going to tell Donghae you love him?"

The question repeats over and over in my head, as I just gawk at Hayley. She’s sitting on her bed with her laptop, mouth agape. Terrified. I continue to hold her gaze, trying to process what I just heard.

You’re in love with me?

The colour from her face has been drained, eyes desperate. Perhaps she wants to say something, but is unable to. Whatever the case may be, I’m shocked. Shocked and paralysed. Thoughts shooting through my head, so many questions clogging up my mind.

You’re in love with me?

How long have you felt this way?

Things like that. Confusing questions, that I never thought I would ask myself. The person I’m closest to, I never thought I would have doubts about this person for a minute.

She looks like she might break down into tears at any moment now, her body quivering. As much as I want to sprint over to her and envelop her in a hug…as much as I want to comfort her…protect her…I cannot. I find myself instead, turning around. Stare kept on the ground, and hurry back to my room. Closing the door behind myself, and shakily sitting on my bed.

“Hayley…in love…with…me?”

I lie down, legs dangling at the end of the bed. My hand over my heart, breathing heavy. The thumping, rhythmic, beats, hammering against my ribcage. The muscle throbbing.

“Why are you beating so fast?” I whisper.

Memories playing through my head, of times with her. The accidental kisses, the awkward walk ins, the falling asleep in each other’s arms. The tears, the laughter, the weird thoughts. The days where strange feelings would stir in me. The days where all I wanted was to protect her.

Eunhyuk’s POV

It’s only Hayley, Krystal  and the rest of us at the table. Hayley’s parents having gone out somewhere for the night. Eating dinner, quietly. Everyone is acting normal or how they’ve been acting for the past week…except for Hayley.

She looks worse than she has been looking, not even touching her food this time. Head low, resembling a drooping daisy.

What’s going on?

I furrow my eyebrows, sipping water from my glass.

“Hey, where’s Donghae?” Leeteuk sounds, looking around the table.

I arch an eyebrow, and surely enough Donghae is missing from dinner. A plate of undisturbed food sitting there, alone.

“In his room” Yesung replies.

“He hasn’t come out of there for hours” Ryeowook adds, frowning.

What the-

That doesn’t sound right. Donghae never acts like that…

“Did something happen to him today?” I ask, concerned.

“He found out that I’m in love with him”

All of our heads snap in the direction of the voice, cutlery dropping onto plates. Gaping at the depressed Hayley.

“W-w-what?” Siwon sounds.

“He found out” Hayley nonchalantly announces, lifting her head to meet our gazes, eyes rimmed red.

Oh God…

“Donghae found out? Only now?” Krystal pops in disbelief.

Hayley nods sullenly.

“He’s really slow” Krystal comments.

“I know! That’s what I said too-” Sungmin starts, but stops when Leeteuk glowers at him.

“Never mind” He bows his head.

“So…unicorn …you finally confessed?” Kangin chuckles.

Now is not the freaking time you idiot!

“That’s it, Sungmin and Kangin. Leave the room right now” Leeteuk snaps.

Thank you hyung!

Krystal stands too, and the three leave the room with their food.

“Why aren’t any of you surprised?” Hayley softly questions.

“We’ve all known for a while…” Kyuhyun answers, rubbing the back of his neck.

“How did he find out?” Shindong asks the question that we’ve all been itching to know the answer to.

Hayley tells the story, bitterly. Obviously upset. Describing his reaction, and how he abruptly left.

Damn it Fishy.

What are you thinking?

“He wasn’t meant to find out this way!” Shindong shouts, frustrated.

“This is bad, really bad” Kyuhyun groans.

“No kidding, Captain Obvious” Ryeowook retorts.

“Ryeowook, not right now” Leeteuk warns.

“It’s one thing to have a disheartened Hayley, but now we have a torn Donghae” Siwon sighs.

“How are we meant to sort this out?” Kangin, Sungmin and Yesung chorus.

“We can’t sort this out!” I bark, shutting everyone up.

Geez, you guys can be as thick skinned as my best friend!

“There’s nothing we can do about this” I breathe, calming down.

“But-”

“The best thing we can do for those to right now…is to leave Hae alone…and let him think long and hard…we don’t have that much time before the wedding. He cannot have his thoughts interrupted, it is vital that we leave him alone” I say.

Fishy you better wake up.

“I cannot stress this enough” I run a hand through my hair, tired.

“What about Hayley?” Siwon questions.

She needs to find a way out of the wedding so that Donghae has more time!

“As for Hayley, we need to be there for her…because her shoulder to cry on is unavailable” I purse my lips.

“Do we still attend the wedding?” I turn to Leeteuk, whose face hardens.

“We were not going to attend the wedding before this incident?” He responds.

Silence meets him.

“Of course we’re going to the wedding. Though it is not Hayley’s choice, she is like family. Family support each other, or at least normally they do…so we will be there for her till the end” He says firmly.

So we will be there for her till the end.

Hayley’s POV

Say goodbye to friendship.

Say goodbye to romance.

Say goodbye to happiness.

“Violet, what do I do?” I ask, snuggling my puppy.

She merely whimpers, my face.

I sigh, pouting at my baby.

“I forget, you can’t talk”

Her big eyes, seem to stare straight into my soul. Seeing what I see, feeling what I feel. No matter how delusional that sounds. I take a deep breathe in, closing my eyes.

“If you hurt Hayley, I will make you suffer greatly”

“I’m sorry for being a bad friend. I never meant to lie to you, let alone break my promise. I saved her, but I didn’t save you, and that kills me Hayley. Because it should have been me….”
“It should have been me”

“Believe it or not, I remember everything about you Miss Jung”

“Don’t ever touch her again”

“I’m here Hayley, I’m here”

“I’ll never leave you Hayley, as long as you need me I’ll be here”

"I'm sorry, that you're hurting"
"But...you can cry on my shoulder any time Hayley"
"Don't cry to anyone but me"
"Only use me Hayley"
 

“I guess you’ll be the only thing I will have left of him, huh?” I inwardly smile, bitterly.

I crawl under the covers, cuddling Violet close to my chest. Closing my eyes, and letting out a sigh.

“My romance ended before it could begin”

Mr. Jung’s POV (Hayley’s Dad)

“Surely you have heard that the Kim Corporation stocks have dropped by 75%?” Byun Geuk drinks from his flask, as we sit in his office.

“Yes my wife and I are well aware of that” I reply politely.

Only the top 5 wealthiest groups are told, a week before the media is informed.

“They’re practically bankrupt, not even in the top 5 anymore” He carries on, running a hand through his hair.

“Why have you called us here today?” My wife asks, obviously finding this conversation somewhat uncomfortable and dragging out too long.

“As of yesterday, Byun Enterprise has replaced the Kim Corporation on the ladder of wealth. And my wife and I are bothered by something that is to occur in a few days…” He trails off, vaguely.

“And what would that be?”

“We used to have a daughter, who was our company’s single heir. She died in a car accident 4 years ago, but that’s not what I want to discuss today. My wife and I have always been against forcing our children into lives they have not chosen…”

“What are you getting at Geuk?” I snarl.

“My wife and I, when we last saw Hayley. Who we have always treated as a niece, we were shocked to see how unhappy she was. So I wanted to present a deal to you today”

We wait, expectantly.

“Cancel the wedding” He requests.

“What? Why would I do that? It’s in 3 days now” I snap.

“The Kim Corporation can’t harm you anymore if you pull out, I know that that’s the main reason why you wouldn’t have been able to cancel the marriage before. Everyone knows once you’ve fallen by as much as they have, there is no way to get back in power” He argues.

“So your deal, is really just you telling me to pull out of the deal?” I dryly retort.

“If Hayley isn’t forced to marry the Kim heir, we will merge with the Jung Corporation. No marriages, no promises, no transactions. We will simply merge for the benefits of expanding” He places his cards on the table.

This is the perfect escape for us, for Hayley.

“I’ll consider and get back to you on the matter, Geuk” I stand up, bowing.

My wife gives me a ‘what the hell?’ look, but I ignore it. She follows after me, as we exit through the office doors.

“We just want to see Hayley smile again! We know you must want to see that too!” He calls after us from his seat.

“What on earth are you thinking?! We should have accepted the offer straight away!” She screams, once we’re being driven back home.

“Calm down, I have a plan” I reassure my wife.

“What are you scheming at now? Even the contract that your grandfather made between him and the Kims is easy to get out of. What is there to plan?!”

“I want to see something first…I need to be sure before I let Hayley off the hook…” I purse my lips, plotting.

“Why did I marry a lunatic?” She sighs.

If you step up, then I’ll hand it over…

Only if you step up…

Writer's Notes:
Yeah...this update is kind of...meh...
~Sorry Sorry Sorry Sorry~
Well, don't worry. Donghae surely will do something...hopefully? If he suddenly isn't so thick-skinned.
Hwaiting TBH characters that we like!
Thanks for reading!

Lots of love,
xoxoxo,
HEARTACHES & MikaMikaChu <3