“Changmin-ah, the girls are back today. Are you going to head to see Seohyun later?” Yunho leaned on the bathroom door, looking at Changmin who was brushing his teeth.

Changmin nodded slowly. He really wanted to see how she’s doing, of course he wanted to. But he’s still a bit worried about the awkwardness in their relationship. But then again, he’s her brother…so it’s right if he meets her. No, he should… and he will.

Yunho nodded back. “Good. You better be a man, and sort things out with her. She’s just like a sister to me too…you know we don’t want to see her hurt again, right?” Changmin looked into the mirror and met eyes with Yunho. “Of course, hyung.”

On the other hand, the soshi girls finally arrived back in their dorm, after struggling to escape from the paparazzi. “Boy, that was scary.” Tiffany sighed.

Seohyun chuckled. “Sorry, unnie.”

“Nono, silly girl. Everyone just cares too much about you.” Tiffany patted Seohyun’s head and showed her eye smile.

At this moment, a rapid knocking came from the door. All nine girls turned to look.

“Is it manager oppa? Did we leave something in the car?” Taeyeon asked, whilst walking towards the door. The door opened, revealing a tall man with a cap and a face mask on. The man hushed Taeyeon, and closed the door behind them. He took of his cap and smiled.

“Welcome home, girls.”

Yoona chuckled. “Changmin oppa, you scared us. What brings you here?”

“Yah, of course he’s here to see Seohyun. We’ll leave you guys to talk.” Yuri smiled, and all girls returned to their respective rooms. Only awkward silence was left with Seohyun and Changmin.

“Well…I didn’t really expect them to do that.” Changmin chuckled softly, scratching his head.

“Have a seat, oppa.” Seohyun gestured the space next to her on the sofa.

Changmin walked over and sat down next to Seohyun, looking intensively into her eyes. “Are you better now? I was really worried you know…”

Seohyun smiled. “I’m alright, oppa. Don’t worry about me. How have you been?”

Changmin ruffled her hair, and softly gazed at her. “I’m good too.”

“Oppa…about your message…”

Changmin stared at her, trying to recall the content of the message. “Ah that. You read it?”

She chuckled softly. “Of course I did. It was the most recent message when I woke up." Seohyun bit her lip. ''Why didn’t you tell me you’re hurting too? Why do we have to go through all this…” she closed her eyes, trying to hold in her tears.

“Seohyun-ah…” Changmin hugged her close, kissing her head over and over. “I’m sorry…I’m really sorry.”

“Can we start over?”

Changmin was a little startled by her question. “Seohyun-ah…you know we’re..”

“I know. I perfectly understand our relationship right now. But we’re not exactly blood-related, right? Why can’t we just forget about this whole sibling thing, and start fresh?”

“It’s not as simple as you think…”

“Then how complicated can it be? I love you. And you love me. We never stopped loving each other; I know I never ever did. Not even for one second.” Seohyun started tearing up, not being able to control her emotions. “Don’t you want to be together with me? Wasn’t that why you sent the message?’’ She stared into his eyes and whispered, ‘’I love you oppa..”

Changmin felt his heart breaking; seeing Seohyun like this, right in front of him. Yes, he really wanted to just drag her out onto the streets and announce to the whole world that she’s the one. He loved her so much, but he realized how stupid it all seemed. “But we can’t.” 

Seohyun cried even more and more, unable to process any words. The two of them sat there, with Changmin tearing up whilst watching Seohyun, and Seohyun crying vigorously in his arms. After a good 10 minutes, Seohyun slowly stopped and was sniffing softly.

“Leave.”

Changmin looked down at her. “Seohyun-ah…I-“

“Just, leave. Didn’t you hear me? I can’t do this anymore.” He was startled, as he never saw this side of her before.

“I’m sorry….but you know I’m doing this for us! You know what status we are in, we can’t just-”

“I don’t want to see you. Please, just leave.”      

“Seohyun-ah, listen-“

“JUST LEAVE!” She used all her force to get out of Changmin’s arms and stood up, pointing at the door. She stared into his eyes, full of anger, unhappiness and disappointment. “I thought you would try for me…because we love each other!” She shouted. “LEAVE! LEAVE!”

The other girls heard Seohyun’s screams, and rushed out to see if anything was wrong. Sooyoung and Hyoyeon quickly ushered Changmin to leave, before the situation got worse. The other girls tried to calm Seohyun down, wiping her tears and hushing her. Changmin reluctantly stood up, wiping his tears away and putting his cap on.

“Take care of her…and tell her...” he hesitated and looked back at Seohyun. “Tell her I love her.” He nodded at Sooyoung and Hyoyeon, before closing the door.