“Yin, I feel like ,” you morosely told your best friend, as the two of you were walking aimlessly along the hallway of your college building.

You had just been dismissed from your afternoon classes.  And now that you finally had the time to get together, you were now spilling everything that happened over the last few days; something that you owed to her.

“You know you deserve to feel like ,” she honestly told you. “You made us all worried when you were just happily banging your ex! Luhan rattled me with his paranoia! You should’ve at least told me, you know? And that Lay. How dare he?! He shouldn’t have lied to me!” she huffed as she looked at you in a pissed off manner.

You threw Yin a dejected look. Of course, Yin wouldn’t just provide you comfort in an instant. How foolish of you to hope that she would. You sighed as you looked at the ground and heaved out a sigh.

“Yin, I know that I deserve what I’m getting. But you can’t blame Lay. He just acted out of consideration for me,” you raised your head to look at her, “and I understand why you’re reacting like that. I’m honestly sorry for all the inconvenience I brought to you. So, are you going to treat me like a ghost now as what everyone seems to be doing lately?” you wearily asked, shoulders slumping in defeat. Luhan seemed to be intent on ignoring your presence nowadays, and Kris never bothered to contact you after that incident.

Yin made a face as she was looking at you.

“Of course not. You know that. I just wanted to give you a hard time. Come here,” she suddenly pulled you in for a side hug. “You know, you have no choice but to cheer up, ____. You already apologized. You just have to wait for them to come around. They will come around. Luhan’s your brother. As if he could ‘unfamily’ you,” Yin snorted at the idea.

“I know. But how can I be happy when everything’s like this?”  

She turned her head to give you a meaningful look, and then scanned the area for people who might be eavesdropping on your conversation. She then leaned her head close to yours.

“I’m not being a bad influence or anything. We’ve been best friends for years, and I’ve known your family for a long time now,” she paused to clear . “I finally realized what Luhan’s doing to you.”

Your brows knitted in confusion.

“He’s not treating you like a sister, ____. I don’t know if he’s aware of this, but he’s acting like you are his daughter! That’s a major pain in the !”

You thought about what Yin said. It was a thought that had crossed your mind before, but was never voiced out. You didn’t want to sound as if you were not appreciating Luhan.

“Having Luhan for a brother, I feel so lucky I’m not you,” she offhandedly said; a statement which eventually earned a glare from you.

“Thank you for making me feel good,” you drily said. She just stuck her tongue out to you.

“Enough of the dark and gloomy talk,” her facial expression suddenly changed, and she looked at you teasingly as if you were caught doing something naughty. “So tell me, ____. How was it?”

“How was what?”

“You know…” she made a weird hand gesture.

You raised your brow in question. After a few seconds of ignorance, Yin rolled her eyes.

“So how was Lay in bed? Was he good? Was he a beast?” Yin bombarded you with questions, not even waiting for your answer. “Is he big?” she widened her eyes and wiggled her brows suggestively.

You looked at her as if she was on crack, only the heat that was creeping up your cheeks showed how flustered you really were at her sudden inquisitiveness.   

She playfully nudged your side. “Oh come on. Share the details.”

“Yin, you don’t see me asking about the details of your life.”

“So?”

“And we’re in public place.”

She stopped side-hugging you and made a face.

“Ok. I’m letting this go for now. But you owe me the details. I’m concerned with my best friend’s life.”

You shook your head at her, and she just linked her arm with you.

A comfortable silence was shared between the two of you then, as both of you were lost in your own thoughts.

Your mind drifted to Luhan and Kris again.

The cold war that you triggered to happen was really eating you up. You knew that you needed to make a move and mend things with them … at least one of them. Maybe you should concentrate on Kris first. But how?

Sensing that you were overthinking again, Yin broke the silence.

“____, your brother needs to have a girlfriend. He pays too much attention to you. Maybe he should knock up some woman and have his own baby. What do you think?” she teasingly smiled at you. Yin was not normally like this. It was obvious how she was making a conscious effort to lift your mood.

You rolled your eyes and shook your head. “Luhan and a baby,” you scoffed. 

Then suddenly, as if struck by a lightning, you were immobilized by a thought that should’ve crossed your mind days ago.

Oh dear.

Yin was confused when you suddenly stopped walking and stiffened in place. “____?”

Your forehead creased in worry as you blankly looked at Yin who was currently mimicking your expression. She was looking at you weirdly when her head absently turned to the side. “Oh, isn’t that Lay?”

You were so caught up in your own world that you didn’t even register what Yin just asked.

Lay had not heard much from you after you hurriedly left his home. A quick phone call telling him that you were still in one piece was all he got.

He clutched the strap of his bag as he shoved his hand in his pocket, retrieving the currently ringing said device. Seeing that it was Suho, Lay accepted the call and raised the phone to his ear.

“What’s up?”

“Lay, be sure to show up tonight, alright? I’m bringing the rest of the gang with me. They haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Are they all going to be there?” Lay asked as he resumed walking. He just exited the library and was heading towards your college building now. He knew your schedule. Checking his watch, he realized that he was pressed for time. He better move faster if he wanted to catch you.

“Only Kyungsoo, Tao, and Taemin. Kibum has prior commitments.”

Though worried about missing you, Lay relaxed for a while as he chuckled knowingly at Suho’s tone. “I’ll be there, don’t worry.”

Suho made a sound of approval.

“By the way, is Mei Hua avoiding me?” Lay caught the hint of worry in Suho’s tone.

“Not that I know of. Why? She’s not answering your calls?”

“Not just calls. She’s not even responding to me on her social networking sites,” Suho sighed on the other line.

“Don’t take it to heart, Suho. Mei Hua may just be in her hermit mode. You know how she is when pressured with term papers and exams. I haven’t even seen her in a while.”

Lay was now in the vicinity and was scanning the area for any sign of you.

“Ok. Just make sure you invite her too. Who knows when I’ll get the chance to meet up with you both again. You’re dead if she doesn’t go.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Alright, I’m hanging up now. See you two later.”

With that, he made a move to return his phone in his pocket, but not before glancing at the wallpaper of his phone. He still had yet to change it.

It was the first photo he took with you as a couple. He had his arm around your shoulders, donning a small smile on his face as he looked at you; while you were smiling brightly next to him, nose crinkling in delight as you looked at him in return.  

He tucked away his phone and resumed searching for you.

Lay could just give up and call you. But then, he was refraining from doing it since he wanted you to appreciate his spontaneity better.

Fortunately, it didn’t take him too long to find you.

Once he rounded the corner, he saw you with Yin in an instant. You were looking as beautiful as ever, standing next to Yin who seemed to have already spotted him. 

“Oh, isn’t that Lay?”

He was already in a close range to have heard that. Lay controlled his expression, a habit of his, as he continued approaching you.

“Lay,” Yin acknowledged him once he reached the two of you.

“Yin,” he politely greeted her with a nod before turning his attention to you, who seemed to be frozen in spot.

He was waiting for you to acknowledge his presence, but you were taking your time. Lay looked at Yin in a non-verbal communication, but she just shrugged at him.

Finally, you seemed to be out of your own world and looked at him nervously.

“Lay, you’re here,” you awkwardly greeted him, tucking stray strands of your hair behind your ear in the process. You couldn’t even lift your head to look at his face.

He examined you. It wouldn’t take a genius to know that something was wrong based on your body language. He passed a look at Yin, who in turn glanced at you and raised her two hands.

“Okay. I know when I’m not wanted,” she said and turned her attention back to Lay, dropping her hands to her side. “I don’t appreciate you lying to me, especially when it comes to this girl. Take care of her, alright?”

With that, she approached you and gave you a kiss on the cheek, leaving the two of you alone afterwards.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked once Yin was out of earshot.

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong,” you gave him a fake smile as you started walking. To where, you didn’t know. But you had to move to calm yourself. It was just a bit unnerving when you suddenly remembered what you failed to do, and he suddenly showed up. What an awful timing!

Lay took his position beside you as he studied your expression.

Sensing what he was doing, you gave him tight smile and suddenly slapped him on the arm which caught him by surprise.

“I’m really fine, Lay,” you chuckled awkwardly. “So what brings you here? Missed me?”

If you thought trying to act all jolly and cute would work on him, you were dead wrong. He didn’t respond to your teasing and just looked at you in exasperation, his eyes twitching a bit in annoyance.

“What? W-why are you looking at me like that?”

“Are we really going to do this?!” he asked in both weariness and frustration. He was asking you the same old question. It was just like before. It was still hard for you to just open up to him.

“What?”

“It’s obvious that something’s bothering you, ____.”  

You were about to refute when he interrupted you, “And if you keep on insisting that there’s nothing wrong----…” he trailed off and took a huge intake of breath.

He placed his hands on your shoulders and turned your body to face him.

Seeing you bite your lip nervously made him pay attention to your lips. He suddenly felt the urge to taste those cherry red lips.

And so, despite wanting to blow your ear off for being closed off, he slid his hands to your neck and pulled you in for a kiss.

The kiss was gentle and slow. Sweet even, if you wouldn’t think about how he was doing this with you in public. His tongue was gently massaging yours, and you sighed into the kiss as you slowly started to relax.

When he felt the tension leaving your body, he gently pulled away.

“So what’s wrong?” he asked, placing one last kiss on your lips.

You sighed and moved closer to him, wrapping your arms on his waist.

You then buried your face on his chest as you felt his arm wrapping itself around you; his other hand soothingly rubbing the back of your head.

You smelled the fabric of his shirt and found that he was still using the same perfume you picked for him before.

He still smelled like home.

“It’s just that I’ve been having a hard time lately… that’s all I can say. I don’t want to talk about it right now, Lay. Please? There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

Nothing since I’m planning to set things right as soon as possible.  

--------------------------------

The smell of sweat, smoke, and alcohol … Kris had long been used to those.

Just like another typical boys’ night out, he was hanging out with Kai, Sehun, and Chanyeol in a bar that they frequent in.

“I’m getting laid tonight,” Sehun said with a smug smile on his face as he took his seat beside Kris.

Kai just passed him a look as he took a gulp of his drink.

Chanyeol didn’t even pay attention to Sehun as he encouraged Kris to carry on with their conversation, “So what do you plan on doing now?”

Kris shrugged his shoulders in answer to Chanyeol’s question. “I don’t know. I just have too much running in my mind right now. I just want to lie low until I figure out what I want to do.”

“Karma’s a , right?” Sehun commented as he grabbed Chanyeol’s bottle, taking a sip of his beer. “That’s why you shouldn’t invest in emotions, Kris. They bring you down. Look at me, I get to enjoy life. No dramas pinning me down.”

Chanyeol looked at him in a mock-awe as he raised his fist, inviting Sehun to pound it with his, “Spoken like a true .”

He just shrugged arrogantly, raising his fist as he bumped it to Chanyeol’s, “I learned from the best, Master.”

Kai scoffed as he looked at the two. “More like you’re scared. You know you’re due for some serious Karma -biting.” Kai said as he shook his head at Sehun.

Sehun just ignored Kai as he slouched comfortably on his seat.

“Does she know already?” Kai threw his question at a solemn Kris.

“About what?”

“That little trivia you’ve been keeping from her?”

Kris raised his glass to his lips, shaking his head before drinking.

“I don’t plan on telling her any time soon. It’s irrelevant,”

Chanyeol snorted at Kris’ words. “Yes, it’s irrelevant to the point that overprotective Luhan just easily let you date his sister because of that,” he sarcastically said.

“What amuses me the most was that being his sister, the girl didn’t even question his brother’s sudden change of heart,” Sehun’s forehead creased at the thought of your naivety.

Suddenly, a familiar person came into Sehun’s sight and he narrowed his eyes just to make sure. He absently leaned his body forward as he tried to get a better look.

“That’s Luhan’s ex, right?” he said as he eyed one of the most delightful sights tonight. “Damn that Luhan! I almost had that.”

Everybody’s attention snapped towards where Sehun was looking. And just as he said, Mei Hua was laughing wildly along with some boys, just a couple of tables away from them.

Seeing Mei Hua there, Kris darted his eyes in search for that person he suddenly wanted to see. And when he saw him sitting across Mei Hua, seeming to have the time of his life, everything fell into place. Kris suddenly knew what he wanted.

The sound of the chair scraping under his weight brought the men’s attention back to him. They looked at him curiously as he pushed his body off the chair, standing tall and confident.

Seeing the look on Kris’ face, a realization suddenly dawned on Sehun. The guy was Mei Hua’s best friend. And if Kris was being like that…

Sehun copied Kris’ movements and stood up as well, willing to back him up.

“Haven’t had a work-out in a while,” Sehun said in answer to Kai and Chanyeol’s questioning looks.

Teaser for the next chapter:

“I wasn’t amused with how you declared war the way you did.”

........................................

“It’s either you are an idiot or a git, then. So tell me, which one are you?”

A/N:  This chapter may be confusing to a lot, but this is intended. I'm hinting at something here. I want you to think and guess. :p

To those who knew about me wanting to write a spin-off for this story, I finally had it up. I actually posted it weeks ago. It’s entitled “Perks” Of Being The Only Flower. The story is obviously still in its early stages, you probably wouldn’t even think of it as a spin-off if I didn’t tell you. You can check it out if you want. :)

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