Soojung heaved a long sigh before stuffing with the pancakes that had just been served them. It was another school day and the two girls met up for breakfast before their first class.

“Ya, ya, YA!” Dasom scolded “… Eat slowly! You’ll choke!”

“I don’t know what to do! It’s so frustrating!” Soojung whined before sipping some pineapple juice. “What is? … Baekhyun problems again?” Dasom asked, almost already sure that she was right.

Soojung pouted “… it’s not just him. It’s more because of me” she admitted.

“Well, spill! … tell me!” the bestfriend urged, ready to listen to the story.

To get things off her chest, Soojung told Dasom everything that was troubling her; the ‘Statusless’ problem with Baekhyun, how he’s been kinda gloomy lately because of it and how she feels bad about continuously upsetting him like that.

“… I know Baek’s gonna get over it soon … he always does! … but … t-this just can’t keep happening, right?” the EXO president frowned; truly feeling guilty now.

Dasom pursed her lips “… so finally … FINALLY … after years and years of doing it, you’ve finally grown a heart and felt guilty for the guy. Can I say ‘I told you so’?”

Frowning deeper, Soojung just poked the remaining pancakes on her plate, suddenly losing her appetite “It’s ok … you can gloat, I deserve it.”

…

“Can I ask why?” Dasom added, making Soojung look at her “What?”

“Can I ask why you’re doing this …?”

“O-oh …”

That evening, when all their classes were over, Suho and Chanyeol headed over to a popular bar in town upon receiving a call that Baekhyun was there, drunk … again.

“What the heck do you think you’re doing?!” Chanyeol fumed upon seeing his friend almost kissing the table top with about a dozen bottles of liquor scattered over the rest of the surface.

“Oooo?” Baekhyun raised his head and looked at his two members with drowsy eyes “It’s Chanyeol and Suho hyung!!! Hi Guysssss~!!!” he waved wobbly then slumped back down on the table. Suho sighed deeply “Seriously, Baekhyun … are you gonna keep doing this?”

“It’s not working, hyung …” Baekhyun mumbled. “What?” huffed the irritated Chayeol.

“It’s not working!!” Baekhyun whined and buried his head in his arms. A few moments later, his body started shaking. EXO-K’s best agent was crying.

“W-why can’t I shake it off? … It just gets harder every time! What if someday, I’ll be unable to let it go anymore?” he said in between his sobs.

Suho and Chanyeol looked at each other with worried faces. They know why Baekhyun was acting this way and they couldn’t blame their friend either. He was suffering, continuously suffering. Knowing how sensitive Baekhyun was to things like this, they knew that until Soojung would give him the answer he wants, he would suffer more and more.

Do they want that? Heck no!

Could they do anything about it? … Sadly, no.

Sometimes they, too, wished that Soojung wouldn’t be so stubborn. Why was she so cryptic about it anyway? It’s killing the guy, couldn’t she see?

Suho and Chanyeol could only sigh.

Feeling his irritation draining away, the tall EXO-K member sat down beside Baekhyun and gave his best friend a comforting pat on the back “Come on, Baekhyun … Let’s get you home. You can’t do this all the time, man. We have dongsaengs that look up to you and with EXO-M here, there are even more” he helped him up, Suho supported them, pretending not to have been tensed by the mention of EXO-M

Soojung slumped on the couch the moment she arrived at their house. She felt nervous but at the same time, relieved.

To have relayed her best kept secret to someone was nerve-wracking but at the same time, relieving. She was on edge for the whole day; that was how big the secret was.

When she was finally able to calm down, she looked around and noticed that the house was empty. “Hmmm? Baek isn’t home yet? His classes were supposed to end earlier than mine today” she wondered aloud.

Shrugging her curiosity away for a moment, Soojung went up to the room to wash up and ch