A/n: please all take your time to read the long authors note at the end and let me know what your thoughts are regarding the situation.

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In another dorm not too far from the 'exo' dorm, sat another, awake in the night. They had not woken from a nightmare and they certainly didn't have anyone to wake up to, concerned about them. No one was there to comfort them and they sat alone in the darkness with nothing but their thoughts to themself. Lonely. And dangerous. The individual was Ahn Taejoon who had lain awake for hours. As it neared closer and closer to sunrise, he grabbed his phone and began checking the notifications that had accumulated since heading to bed the night before. There was an email from his mother back home.

'Son, are you well? Have you been eating healthily? You're not sick, are you? Lessons aren't too hard, right? You've been practising well too, haven't you? Eomma misses you.'

He replied back, solemn faced.

'I'm fine so don't worry too much. I've been eating well, learning well and living well but I miss you, mom. Say hi to dad from me too. I love you.'

He scrolled through the next few emails. There were newsletters from the societies and clubs at the university, 99% of which Aaron no longer attended. There was an email from the family tree website a great aunt of his somewhere had set up alerting him that a third cousin twice removed was now turning 32. He scrolled through again, dumping the junk and spam mail until he came across another email from his mother. It was sent not even a few hours after the first.

'Taejoon-ah, I just remembered! Is there anything you or Hana would like from home? I'll be sure to send it over to the both of you. Be happy together! Lots of love!'

Strangely, Aaron didn't feel much heartache towards the email. He didn't cry. He didn't sob. He didn't clutch his phone to his chest and scream his heart out because he knew he wasn't getting back together with you and the thought of telling his mother that made him feel sick. She'd be so disappointed but what more could he do? Deep down, he knew your heart was placed elsewhere. He probably knew it better than anyone else. He definitely knew it better than yourself.

He thought it best to reply to the email later when his mother would ask why he hadn't responded. He figured that would be the ideal time to break the news down to her. As a rather emotional and extremely picky woman, Aaron knew his mother wouldn't be happy with him. However she knew about your stubborn streak so once the news was told to her, she knew better than to press on for a lost cause. The next email was a collection of vouchers and daily deals Aaron was signed up to. Usually he used the deals for restaurants and eating out. As expected, there was a 30% off voucher for the local chicken shop which he clicked on in an instant.

 

20% off golf clubs!

Buy one adult ticket and get a child ticket free at Lotte World!

2 for 1 on tickets to the Arts & Music Live Festival!

 

Aaron stopped scrolling and clicked on that deal too. He wondered whether or not to treat someone to a meal with the chicken voucher. Sehun was a contender for a free meal. He had always been a help to Aaron and called him hyung. Sehun was the 'exo boy' Aaron liked best and he felt a little guilty about bashing the dorm as a whole. He quickly shook it off however when he remembered Jinri. Your words had been going round and round in his head since he came to the morning after the barbeque.

He woke up in Jaemin's room on the floor to a splitting headache, blocked nose and swollen eyes. It was then that he was told about how he cried the entire night to Jinri, saying that he hated you and the boys and how they had turned you against him. He carried on yelling, shouting and screaming about you until Jinri eventually managed to get him settled enough to fall asleep and Jaemin carried him from Jinri's room to his. The rest of the story, Aaron never heard. Jinri cried to herself as soon as her brother took him out of her room and she fell asleep on a bed of pillows stained with her tears.

Thinking about the entire affair now made Aaron feel sick, more so than the thought of telling his mother you and him weren't going to be a thing ever again. He felt guilt spreading through his body. He felt like his stomach was hollow and his heart might as well have been too. He remembered all the times he had leant and relied on Jinri for support, asking to meet her only to pour out his heart and his pains. He had never once thought that him releasing his pains were only increasing hers.

He sat up and pondered over whether or not to buy the tickets for the music festival. It took him about 2 seconds to think before he reached over the edge of his bed and plucked his wallet out of his bag. Although he didn't want Jinri to misunderstand his intentions, he decided it was worth at least treating her out. He could always say it was to make up for all those nights in crying to her. It took no more than a minute and Aaron had bought the tickets. They'd be available for collection later and he was going to ask Jinri to join him- as friends and classmates.

 

***

 

You woke up on the sofa, your legs tucked up close to your chest and your whole body leaning on Lay. As you stirred and gently tried to move, Lay woke up. He hadn't been sleeping deeply due to the uncomfortable position but he smiled and yawned as you gingerly unfolded your legs so they were no longer positioned dangerously close to his crotch. 

'You alright?' he asked as you shifted away slightly to give him room to breathe.

You noted the cup on the table nearby and nodded, 'thanks' 

Lay shrugged. 'Don't mention it.' 

'Was I really embarassing?' you asked, 'you know... being so scared?' 

'Why would that be embarassing? It's normal to feel scared sometimes, Haneul.' 

You smiled, satisfied with his answer. Lay chuckled quietly by your side too.

'Haneul?' 

'Mmm?' 

'Do you mind me asking you something? About the nightmare?' 

'What is it?' 

'You said you saw the others die too.'

'Yeah: Taejoonie, D.O-oppa and Kai-oppa' 

'So why didn't you scream then? Why did you only scream when you saw me?'

There was the slightest hint of hopefullness in Lay's tone which you both failed to pick up and respond to.

'You were shouting for me and asking me to help you,' you said, 'and... I was most scared for you.'

'Why?' 

'There weren't any distinguishable features about the figures that killed the others.' 

'And there were with mine?' 

You nodded and whispered into Lay's ear. 'It was Huiling.'

Lay's eyes widened but he did his best to quickly hide his expression.

'Lay... You trust Huiling, don't you?' 

'She isn't going to hurt anyone, I promise.'

'You can promise me that? You know her that well?'

Lay shook his head, 'no, I don't know her that well. But I know her better than D.O knew Shinyeong and I know her enough to be able to tell you she won't hurt you.'

'Will she hurt you?' 

'I think it's going to be the other way round. But don't worry Haneul. Whatever happens, I'll always have you with me, okay?'

'Okay.'

 

Later that day, you met Jinri and Seohee for coffee. She was glowing in all senses of the word. She looked healthier. She looked more vibrant. Her skin was dewy and pink and she had never looked better.

'Haneul! Haneul! I love you!'

'Why are you in such a good mood all of a sudden?' 

'Taejoon's invited me to a festival!'

'A festival? Wow...' 

'I know! I mean, I didn't think he'd get over you so quickly since he kind of came to my house and cried for ages but we're going to a festival together! He bought me a ticket without me knowing!'

'Is it a date?' 

'Well... He said it was a friend thing but whatever- he basically asked me out!'

'Jinri-ah...' said Seohee, 'don't jump to conclusions because the only one that will get hurt is you. Remember that he didn't say it was a date specifically.'

Jinri flipped her hair and scoffed, 'Unnie, you and I both know this is the perfect opportunity for me.' There was a glint in her eye as she smiled devilishly, pointing her finger and wagging it. 'I'll make sure I look so gorgeous he'll start to see me differently. Not a friend anymore.'

Seohee rolled her eyes. 'Good luck.'

 

The rest of the day was a blur. There were long periods of time spent listening to Jinri excitedly discuss what she should wear and how she should do her make up. It even came down to whether she should wear an orange bra or a blue one to go with her black dress. She eventually settled for a black bra however after much arguing with Jenny and poring through piles of fashion magazines. Lunch time came quickly and you wouldn't have manage to eat anything had Chanyeol not stopped round the library and found you fast asleep in your textbook. He laughed and left the rest of his baguette and a can of soda by your work along with a post it note telling you it was from him and that he would have turned the horror film off faster if he had known you'd be catching up your sleep the day after.

Kris too found you in the library, happily digging into lunch as he sat opposite you and typed away furiously on a university loaned laptop. With summer approaching faster than ever, students were turning in work left right and center. Tests were over but last minute reports and assignments needed to be handed in for marking. The sun leaked in through the curtains and the blinds, gently warming the room, and the air-conditioning blasted the back of your neck to oblivion. Soon enough, the day was over and you headed back to the dorm with Kris to have dinner.

'Hyung!' You had walked in to find Kai yelling at D.O from his desk, 'Tomorrow, you don't need to cook!'

'What?!'

'You don't need to cook tomorrow!'

'What?! I can't hear you!'

Kai was battling against the noise from the television and Luhan leaned over Xiumin, grabbed the remote and put the box on mute. Feeling relieved, Kai rubbed his throat once more.

'You don't need to cook tomorrow!'

'Why?!'

'Because we're going out?'

'We are?! Where to?!'

Tao looked up, 'yeah, where to?'

'It's a Friday tomorrow though' Xiumin frowned, 'Chanyeol and I have to work the night shift.'

'We'll go to your restaurant then.'

'What? Why?!' Chanyeol whined, 'Why ours?'

'Because I'm paying so I say where we go'

'You're paying?' Suho asked, 'Kai, are you sure? Usually it's Jiyoung-noona who pays but she's a lot more well off compared to us.'

'Where the heck did you find the money for that?' Sehun asked

Kris nudged you and winked, 'probably robbed a bank'

'What's the special occasion?' Chen asked, 'because there must be a reason for this, Kai.'

Kai shook his head and smirked when he caught D.O's curious eye. 

'No reason... Just because.'

 

 

 

---

yes, I know I've been MIA for a while but there's only so many times I can be shot down before I get back up. First bullet was EXO DRAMA VERSION. Second bullet was B.A.P HURRICANE! Third bullet was F(X) COMEBACK/ ART FILM/ TEASER VIDEO. Come on! Tell me you aren't dead too!

Also, that's not all I've been doing! I've been researching for a project I'm trying to get my head round and it's basically called:

 

OPERATION HARD COPY

 

and yes, that means that I'm currently looking into making hard copies of my stories (That Girl, That Boy & Histories, That Girl, Which Boy?, Inebriation and another angst fic that I'm still writing). A lot of people mentioned when my first fic was featured that I should get it published (which is illegal by the way as it uses EXO's names etc). However, as Jindeul (author of Baby's Breath) has proved, it's not illegal to sell fangoods (which fanfiction is in a way as it's like... my own creativity and ideas?) 

So really all I want to say is this: I am trying hard to make OPERATION HARD COPY work. I'm looking into how much it'll cost to ship books around the world, I'm looking into how much it'll cost to print the pages and I'm looking into how I'll bind the books myself at home. At the moment, I have to say: it does not look cheap. My calculations tell me that 'That Girl, That Boy' is easily 350+ pages. That is more than double Baby's Breath (which is being sold for 25USD + $5 for shipping) and is only 137 pages long. I can tell you that the stories will be heavy!!! So therefore shipping will be pricey too.

I know it and I'm taking a trip down to the post office to get a real estimate on shipping costs to the US, Europe and Asia in general in a few days so I'll be able to have a more round idea of how much this would cost you as I REALLY don't want you guys to have to pay a lot of money. So for now I have 2 major questions:

 

Who is genuinely interested in buying copies of my stories? (please bear in mind I'll be putting in extra bonus things too and the story printed will be a revised and edited version of 'That Girl, That Boy'.)

and would you be willing to pay something like $30USD+ per story? (I'll probably figure out deals and whatnot later, don't worry)

 

I know this may come across as completely taboo to some of you guys and I completely understand this but there are two main reasons as to why I've decided to try and make this happen. 

1. Readers have asked for it in the past (and some still do) and I'd like to do everything in my power to make you guys happy. You make me happy with your comments about publishing the story (I'm not going to even try, by the way) so I want to let you guys have the opportunity t have and hold a book handmade by yours truly <3 (I'm also planning on doing some sort of a giveaway for those that maybe cannot afford the book as easily etc if I do get these copies made)
2. University life where I live is expensive. My school fees will cost me £9000 per year and with added living costs etc, I really want to start saving some money so that I don't have to burden myself with a huge debt. Writing takes up a lot of my time. I know it doesn't seem like it since I don't update everyday but I'm constantly thinking and noting down ideas and sentences and phrases that I like and want to use. It's become something like my job, in the same way Youtube becomes a job and I know this isn't for charity but it is for a good cause. I'm not going to be using this money to go on holiday or buy clothes or a car (I don't have my license yet, in case you're wondering). I'll be using the money as my savings to live on when I go to university next year.

I love you guys so so much and literally, support has always been amazing from you all. My readers are truly the best!!!!