You were surprised and relieved when Lay didn’t try to communicate with you. You thought that Lay would be persistent. Guess you thought wrong. Well, it wasn't like you were complaining.

You honestly felt as if a weight was lifted off your shoulder when you broke up with him that night. It felt right to break things off with him.

You wish him well, wish that he could find Miss Right; wish he could find the girl that would bring him so much love.

You might not have loved Lay, but during the time you’ve been together, you grew to care for him.

You were on your way home from university, and you were planning on how to spend your night.

It felt weird to have nothing to do; not to have someone to talk to; no one to ask you out; no one to check on you...

It seemed like you got used to Lay being around you. You mentally sighed.

‘The downsides of being single. Tch.”

As you were about to press the code to open the door to your apartment, you felt as if something was off. Your actions were halted for a while as you suspiciously scanned your front door, looking to your left and right at the hallway.

Nothing was out of the ordinary.

You blew out a sigh. Maybe your paranoia was getting exaggerated. Thinking of how you were looking downright weird right now, you laughed out loud.

Meanwhile, hiding on your blind side, were two little girls intently looking at you. 

“I told you that neighbor is creepy. See, she’s laughing to herself. Stay away from her or she might take your head off and hang it on her wall,” the older one whispered to her dongsaeng.

The younger one looked pretty scared, she was about to tear up. “Unnie, let’s run off now… I don’t want to die...”

You eventually opened your door and got inside.

Still, you couldn’t shake off that eerie feeling. You treaded towards your living room lightly and slowly.

Your dad was away on a business trip; your mom had passed away when you were an infant; and your oppa was attending University abroad. Therefore, no one from your family should be at the house.  

You were starting to get scared.

If something bad happened to you, no one would know about it soon. What if there was a killer in your house? Your body might be decomposing already before someone sees your dead body.

Well if you were still with Lay, at least someone would look for you. You hit yourself on the head.

‘You can’t think stupid thoughts now, ______.’ 

The living room looked the same as when you left it earlier.

You scanned the rest of the house and saw no one, to your relief. Now that you got your worry out of the way, you went to your room to change your clothes.

When you were done changing, you suddenly heard slight movements outside. Your eyes widened and you felt your heartbeat race.

'You can't be scared now. You have to be brave… You need to survive…'

By the time you approached your door, the movement on the other side stopped also.

‘Oh Crap! If I’m gonna die now, at least I should ask forgiveness from God! Lord, forgive me for not being a better person. Forgive me for my sins. Make my family happy… my friends… Lay…’ you prayed and swiftly opened the door.

“BOO!”

You were so scared that when he shocked you with his loud voice, your body jerked backward and you fell on your .

You looked at that person.

‘WHAT THE HELL?!’ you felt your jaw slacken.

You held a hand to your heart and looked at him in disbelief, and then you whimpered.

“You’re an you know?! I thought I was about to be murdered! Can’t you have the decency to show your irritating self normally?! Ugh. No… That smile won’t work... And don’t even try to act cute or I’ll punch you in the face!”

He ran over next to you on the floor and pouted.

That person put a fist on his face and puffed out his cheeks. “Bbuing, bbuing.”

‘Oh shoot… no! must… resist... Damn! Not the eyes! Anything but the eyes!’ He put on the puppy eyes and that was it… you died.

You closed your eyes, and pinched the bridge of your nose. “Tch. You’re a devil in an angel’s disguise you know?”

“I love you too,” he leaned in close to your cheek and kissed it. You swatted him away.

“What are you even doing here?! Shouldn’t you be in abroad?!”

“Aww…  And here I am rushing back to see my dongsaeng. Shouldn’t you be telling me that you missed me?” he pouted.

You were shocked at your brother’s audacity, you punched his arm multiple times. “You scare me to death, and then expect me to tell you I missed you?! Oi, Luhan. You have a death wish.”

He then blocked your punches and hugged you tight.

“Sorry, dongsaeng,” Luhan said cutely and then whined. “Why are you not calling me oppa? Say ‘Luhan oppa’,” he said his name in a sing-song voice, and you wearily sighed over his actions.

Luhan had always adored you. Ever since you were kids, he had been showering you with love and attention. You were probably the only person to whom he was acting like this. He has a sister complex, and that was the reason why he was overprotective of you. It’s cute. But sometimes, you wanna beat the living daylights out of him.

“Ok, ok. It’s fine now,” you got out of his embrace. “But seriously, why are you here?”

“I miss my little_____ so much…” he sweetly said before getting serious. “I worry about you. Dad is always away and no one is around to take care of you. I know you’re more than capable. But I still worry… What if I wasn’t that person trying to scare you? What if it had really been a murderer? What would you do? Who would protect you?” he sighed. “Dad and I will feel better knowing I’m around… so I’m going to continue my studies here,” he then gave you an angelic smile.

You softened at his words. The truth is, you really missed your family so much. Both of them were always away. It was good to know that you wouldn’t feel lonely anymore. Especially now that you broke up with Lay…

“Hey, I’m starving!” He got up to walk out. “I don’t feel like eating your poisonous food… I’m taking you out.”

You threw a pillow at his head. ‘What an !’

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

“What the heck is wrong with him?” a fair-skinned, petite girl, with long straight hair asked her band mate; pointing to the direction of Lay.

Lay could be seen sitting on the corner, holding on to his guitar, and was blankly staring at the music sheet in front of him. He wasn’t moving from that position … not acknowledging anyone or anything.

“I don’t know. But he’s been like that since he came… Poor guy must still not be over his break up.” He shook his head.

“What?!” she whispered harshly. “They broke up?! What kind of girl would break up with him?! Seriously?! He’s like… perfect…” disbelief evident in her tone.

Armed with that knowledge, she then sat down next to Lay and gave him a light shove.

Lay was pushed out of his reverie and turned to see his best friend, Mei Hua.

“So, what did the poor unmarried lady ghost tell you?” she asked.

“What?” Lay’s eyebrows knitted in confusion.

“You know, sitting still and quiet… the blank stares… You’re like communicating with the dead!” she sarcastically said and gave him the evil eye. “Why didn’t you tell me you broke up with your girlfriend? Tch. You haven’t introduced us yet and you guys broke up already…” she said, a bit pissed off.

Lay just ignored her and started strumming his guitar, making Mei Hua sigh at his stubbornness.

Lay had always been like this. She was his best friend, and yet she was always the last one to know about whatever was going on in his life. He was the kind of guy who gets silent whenever he was troubled with something. He didn’t want to appear weak, and yet he looked so pitiful right now.

As his best friend, Mei Hua was responsible to get the information out of him. She needed to make Lay feel better.

She stood up and turned to Lay. “Get up.”

Lay just looked at her.

“Aish. I’m hungry. Let’s go grab dinner…” Lay just shifted his gaze back to the music sheet. Seeing that he was disinterested, she added, “C’mon. It’s my treat.”

She grabbed his arm and tried to pull him up. Seeing that she wasn't going to leave him be, he decided to humor her.

On the way to the restaurant, Mei Hua kept poking Lay on his side and would just stare at him whenever he would turn to her.

After some time of incessant poking, Lay gave up. He finally decided to break his silence and opened up to Mei Hua as they walked.

“Well we broke up… It’s my fault. I couldn’t be the guy she wants. She said I couldn’t make her happy,” he said, avoiding Mei Hua’s eyes. “I can’t get over what happened. I kept thinking about where I lacked as a boyfriend.  You know how I harbored feelings for her for so long? It’s just that whenever I am with her, I can’t act normal… I get speechless. I can’t believe that I finally have her with me. Whenever she'll act silly and joke around, I just want to kiss her and tell her how much I love her. The more we spend time with each other, the harder I fall… But I know she’s not ready for that. I can feel it… I want her to fall in love with me first. Maybe… I might have acted distant to her. I tried to act cool so she won’t suspect. Maybe I got her confused… But still, I tried to show her I love her in different ways. Maybe she didn’t see through it,”  he said his last sentence softly, shoving his hands inside his jean pockets.

Mei Hua felt bad for him. She was getting upset over Lay’s downcast attitude.

“What am I going to do with you, Lay? Well… at least it’s good you know where you went wrong. I can’t be a fair judge to what happened since I don’t know that girl. So, I don’t know if she’s just crazy for breaking up with you, and you’re a fool to beat yourself up over it; or if you’re just really the one at fault. But if what you’re saying is really true, and not just the way you see it, I can say I understand where you’re coming from. But as a girl, that’s a pathetic excuse. How can you make her fall in love with you when you aren’t expressing your affections well?!  You can’t keep girls guessing! It is our job as ladies to do that, and not you guys. Aish. This person.”

Lay turned to Mei Hua and suddenly got annoyed. “I knew I was wrong. I just admitted it to you, didn’t I? Do you have to rub it in?! I thought I’ll feel better… but you’re making it worse.”

“Look at this person! You’re supposed to respond to it dejectedly and not like an irritated ogre. News flash. I’m your best friend. It’s my responsibility to annoy you.” She gave him a big smile. “So, she won’t take you back?”

He blew out a breath and shook his head, “Sadly… no.”

She then linked her arms with his. “Maybe now she won’t. But let her cool down. She might change her mind. Who knows? I know you’re sad and all but please stop looking so ridiculously down ... It’s such an eyesore. You look so ugly my eyes would bleed.”

“Yes, and it would really bleed if you don’t stop talking now,” Lay sarcastically said and rolled his eyes. Mei Hua just laughed.

Suddenly, she pulled on Lay to stop. “I wanna eat here.”

Lay looked at the restaurant and was a bit surprised. It was a restaurant that specializes on western cuisine. It wasn't that he didn’t like it here, in fact he did. He used to bring you here, and you absolutely loved the food.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like it here?”

“No. C’mon let’s get inside already. It’s getting cold.”

Lay then ushered her inside.

The two was led to their table and took their orders.

As they waited for the food to arrive, the two best friends carried on a conversation. Mei Hua was trying hard to make Lay laugh since she wanted him to feel better.

She was blabbing now about how her day went about, when she noticed that Lay wasn’t paying attention to her anymore. Instead she saw him looking shocked, and then suddenly looked angry as he glared near the door of the restaurant.

She followed his line of vision to see a beautiful girl with a guy whose back was facing them. They were holding hands.

“Hey, Lay. What did that girl do to you that got your boxers in a twist?”

“She’s my ex-girlfriend,” he coldly said.

Mei Hua was shocked. “Ooh. I didn’t know she’s so pretty. What a loss… When did you break up, again?”

“Five days ago.”

She got even more shocked. “Wow! And she’s dating already!” Mei Hua knew how rotten her best friend must be feeling now, and yet she couldn’t stop herself from stating the obvious.

The guy with you turned, giving Mei Hua and Lay the chance to see his side profile.

“Tsk. She must be so charismatic to be dating handsome guys... I hate to say this Lay, that guy’s hot and we’re only seeing his side.”

Lay turned to glare at Mei Hua, and she put her arms up in surrender. “Just saying, Lay. Just saying.”

She sighed, feeling thoroughly bad for her friend.

“She’s moving on Lay, I don’t think she’s really coming back to you now. I think it’s time you------“ she trailed off when the guy with you turned, making them see his face. “THAT !” Mei Hua suddenly exclaimed while looking extremely angry at the two of you. The customers near them swiftly turned to them when she shouted.

Lay turned to his best friend, suddenly surprised at the instant shift in Mei Hua’s reaction.

“Shut up. People are looking. Why do you seem more pissed off than me?!” he whispered fiercely.

“The , Lay. Your ex-girlfriend is currently dating my ex-boyfriend. this . That girl’s going down!”

Because Luhan is so cute and irresistible..

Teasers for the next chapter:

‘You saw the woman smile widely and pulled the guy closer to her. As your eyes shifted from Mei Hua to her apparent boyfriend, you felt your jaw drop and the blood drain from your face.’

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

‘He clenched his fist and forced himself to calm before he could hit the girly face of Luhan. Seriously… what guy does that?! Seeing him act cute around you was making him sick.’