12

"Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, 
Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn. (Romeo, Act I, Scene 5)"

~*~

Dressed in a short mini black dress, Yoona joined the rest of EXO in the club. She was sitting with them on the lounge area where the guys had rented just for them. Lyorin was nowhere in sight. The guys came by groups and she assumed her friend was still making her way with the rest of the guys who weren’t present yet. Luhan came back with a tray of drinks; a mixture of alcoholic and soft drinks. Since all of them were already legal, it was rightfully okay for them to drink alcohol beverages. However, he placed a glass of normal coke in front of Yoona and insisted she drank only that for the night. Yoona gladly agreed because of her low tolerance level for alcohol.

The music turned louder making everyone got up on their feet and moving towards the dance floor. Baekhyun started doing his fancy dance moves, flapping his arms and shaking his head. It was funny because his face was serious when he did it. Then, Chen who proclaimed to be the dancing machine in the group began showing off dance moves. Despite his innocent face, he was actually a really good dancer. Yoona was impressed.

“Wow! Chen oppa, you’re good!” Yoona complimented.

“Of course, I am the dancing machine after all.” He smirked.

However, the guys pretended to puke hearing his self absorbed proclamation. Then, it was Lay’s turn to show off. The cheers he received were a lot different than Chen. The boys looked confident when Lay took the centre of the floor. He had always been reserved and shy person but that night Yoona was curious to see what he had up his sleeves. When the music played, his face immediately changed. He started popping, locking and grooving smoothly, which was so unlike him. He was shining so bright and the attention was all on to him. Yoona was agape. She was beyond impressed.

Lyorin stood outside the club with Sehun. She was waiting for Kai who apparently was the only who yet to reach the club. Sehun was becoming impatient. Hearing the loud music playing inside, he was already on fire. He wanted to go in but she pleaded for him to stay a while more.

“Lyorin ah, you can wait for Kai hyung inside the club.” He said, with an irritated voice.

“Give him 10 minutes more. If he’s not here, then we’ll go inside okay?” Lyorin made a deal with him.

However, 10 minutes had passed and Kai was still not there. Reluctantly, Lyorin went in the club with an excited Sehun. She still had her hopes up. If she could not confess to him outside, she could always do it inside. She stepped in the club and joined the rest who seemed to have gone back to seat after their first round of dancing.

“Ah ~ Lyorin, you’re finally here!” Yoona beamed.

“Hey, Yoona.” Lyorin muttered and took a seat beside her friend.

Everyone was there. Everyone except Kai was there. She was going to wait for him. He would come here for sure.

Luhan stood up, “I’m going to get more drinks.”

Soon, a nice song blasted the club and the guys got excited. “OMG I LOVE THIS SONG!” Chanyeol got up and dashed towards the dance floor together with the guys.

The girls didn’t join the guys. They sat comfortably on the couch and watched them. They were enjoying their night until both of them witnessed something that crushed their hearts.

~*~

Yoona saw Luhan with a girl at the drink counter. Her arm was around him but what got Yoona furious was, Luhan had his arm around her as well. He was laughing and smiling, and he even went so close to her ear to whisper. She tried to everything in but tried as she might, she was already in tears. Notwithstanding any longer, she grabbed the jar of beer on the table and gulped it straight from it. She watched them without blinking as she quickly gulped the beer. She coughed but continued to drink it all.

The guy whom she could rely on, the guy whom she thought was perfect; the guy whom she felt was the one for her just totally shattered her little heart into pieces. She thought she was the only girl for him but apparently, he didn’t see her the same way. It was an unrequited love all along. She was stupid to believe his words. She was absolutely stupid.

Lyorin watched in horror as Kai danced with that girl. The girl whom she met at the drink stall, the girl whom she saw during the soccer match cheering endlessly for Kai; she was none other than, Hyemi. Kai swayed his hips and moved closer to the girl. He held her waist and pulled her towards him. Their bodies touched each other and they continued dancing in the same position. Lyorin clenched her fists tightly. A tear slid across her face but she rubbed it away immediately. She stood up and walked towards them. Her body was shaking, her mind was in a mess and most imp0rtantly, her heart was crushed.

She pushed anyone who was in her way and stopped until she reached them. She could feel her cheeks burning and her hands were trembling. Kai saw her and so did the girl. Hyemi gave her a triumphant smirk. She was about to give her a tight slap across her face and wipe that annoying smirk off her face but she couldn’t. She was just numb. She watched as Kai buried his face on Hyemi’s shoulder and ignored her presence. He then moved towards her cheek and gave her a peck. His arms were still tightly wrapped around her body. He continued dancing, totally oblivious to the girl who was watching his every move.

Lyorin bravely walked up to him and grabbed his arm away from the girl. However, he jerked and pulled his hand from her grip. He glared at her and she could see the anger in his eyes. She watched as he turned away from her and continued dancing with that girl. At the moment, Lyorin felt like the most hopeless girl in the world.

I was late. I was too late. She mumbled softly before dashing out of the club with tearful face.

Both girls were obviously crushed. One ran away, the other was drowning her sorrows with all the alcohol she could find. They struggled trying to accept the person. The person who could make them happy was exactly the person who just trampled their hearts. If they knew love was this painful then they wouldn't have agreed to sign up for it in the first place.

Luhan came back to the seat after being away for quite a while. He caught up with an old friend who used to be in the same elementary as him. He was excited to see her there and continued talking until he forgotten the time. He wanted to introduce his old friend to Yoona but she seemed to be in rush to go. So, he came back to the table alone and was surprised to see Yoona all teary, in a mess and drunk.

"Yoona, what happened?" He came up to her and held her face to examine closely. She was crying and it got him worried.

She pushed him away and hissed. "Go away! I hate you! You're a liarrrr~" She was drunk and had a hard time controlling herself. She took another glass of beer but Luhan snatched it away. He was confused why she was acting that way.

"Yoona, let me bring you back." He held on to her shoulder but she pushed him away violently.

"I said go away! I don't need you!"

Puzzled, he asked. "Yoona, what's wrong? Why are you being like this?"

The rest of EXO came back and saw Yoona all tipsy. Suho tried to calm her but she ticked him off. "Don't come near me."

She stood up but swayed and almost stumbled to the floor. Luhan caught her but she glared at him. "Don't touch me!" She struggled to keep balance and walked slowly away from them.

"Luhan, bring her back to the hotel." Kris ordered.

Luhan understood and immediately went beside her. He was clueless and confused. He didn’t know what just happened. Despite the cold treatment he was receiving from her, he never once let go of her. He stayed beside and slowly directed her towards the car.  She was having a hard time walking and kept mumbling incoherently. While walking towards the car, she stopped and clutched her stomach as if in pain. She then closed her eyes and within an instant, she started vomitting. Her body seemed to have rejected all the liquid she just drank. She vomitted so much, that she eventually fell to the ground after a while. He was extremely worried for her. Without wasting any more time, he lifted her up in his arms and walked to the car. She was struggling, ordering him to put her down but he ignored her cries. Eventually, she succumbed because she was already too weak.

Placing her gently on the seat and buckling the seatbelt for her, he then rushed to the driver seat and started the engine. Within seconds, the car sped off. Her eyes were close but she kept mumbling something. Luhan tried to infiltrate her thoughts and in a matter of seconds, he realised his mistake. He knew why she acted that way, why she became hostile towards him and why she hurt herself. It was all because of him. If he had made it clear to her, she wouldn't have to end up all drunk and ill.

He ran his hand across her face and it gently. "Yoona, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry ~"

Upon reaching the hotel, He carried her up to the room and put her on the bed. He prepared a warm towel and dabbed her forehead. She was conscious despite feeling weak and sick. She started to cry when he was being such a nice guy to her.

"Please don't be nice to me. It hurts even more ~" Tears started to fall. Immediately, his fingers wipe it away.

"Yoona it was all a misunderstanding. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. The girl you saw, she's my close friend. Please believe me." Luhan held on to her hand. "Yoona, you're the only girl for me. I love you ~"

Yoona realised her mistake. It was all a misunderstanding. "Luhan oppa, I love you too." They hugged and cried. Finally, they declared their feelings for each other and made it clear that they both belonged together.

Lyorin sniffed and sobbed as she walked aimlessly. She crossed the road, walked the street and passed many closed shops. It had been almost three hours since she started walking continuously and she glanced at her watch, it was already midnight. The three hours made her think about all that had just happened. She could not blame Kai. He had every right to dance with another girl. He was not hers anyway. However, she felt utterly disappointed because the girl could have been her. If she had confessed earlier, then maybe she didn’t need to suffer. She continued walking alone. She didn’t feel like going back yet.

She needed the time to heal.

Lyorin stopped crying but she never stopped walking. She didn’t even know she was at and it was already late, yet she was not feeling scared at all. Her eyes were swollen, her cheeks were red and her legs were tired. Her phone had died; luckily she still had cash with her. She was alone and vulnerable and most imp0rtantly, she was in so much danger.

Kai walked out of the club with Hyemi clinging on to him like a leech. Ever since Lyorin dashed and left, he didn’t feel like dancing or enjoying any more. Yes, he called Hyemi out because he was angry. He wasn’t interested in her at all. He just wanted a girl to lighten up his mood since he thought the girl who supposed to be making him happy instead would be with another guy. But, he was absolutely wrong.

She came alone and she left alone.

“Handsome, I still don’t know your name.” Hyemi pinched his cheek but he gave her an annoyed look. They walked towards an empty bench near the beach and sat. She never let go of his hand and kept trying to pull him for a kiss. “Hey ~ you asked me out. Shouldn’t you be entertaining me?”

Suddenly, his phone rang. He reached for it and listened.

“Kai, where are you? Is Lyorin with you? She’s not back yet. Please tell me she’s with you.” It was Suho. Apparently, the guys had gone back to the hotel but they didn’t see Lyorin. They were hoping she was with Kai.

“I will find her.” That was all he said and ended the call.

Immediately, he stood up and was about to leave but Hyemi stopped him. “Where are you going?”

“I need to settle something.”

“You can’t just leave me here. You had your fun, now it’s my turn.” She said.

Kai took out his wallet and handed her some cash. “Here, take this. Use it and get yourself a cab back. I’m leaving.” He then walked away after passing it to her a stash of notes.

“Hey! Hey ~” She called for him but Kai continued walking and never turned back. Furiously, she took the cash and grumbled. “What an idiot!”

Thankfully for his black outfit, Kai could use his powers and teleport without feeling insecure. Furthermore, it was already late and there weren’t many people around. He searched for her at the beach, the park even the playground but there were no signs of her. He was on the verge of using the tracker but his phone rang again, suddenly.

(To be continued)

Aigoo..... /slaps forehead