The room grew quiet as we all looked at Hongki standing in the doorway leading into the living room. I quickly broke free from the others and stood up.

“Hongki oppa, you’re here…” I said as I dusted of my clothes.

“Yeah, you invited me, remember…” Hongki lifted an eyebrow.

“Of course I do…” Truth is, I had temporarily suppressed that… Jonghyun pushed Onew off of him and hurried to my side.

“How did you get in?” he asked bluntly.

“One of your neighbors opened the door for me downstairs, since no one else did it, and the front door was open so I just walked in,” Hongki answered with a small glare at Jonghyun. Open? Everyone turned to look at Minho.

“Didn’t I tell you to close the door?” Jonghyun asked annoyed.

“Oh, right…” Minho said. Was that even an answer?

“Then, what did you do out there?”

“I noticed I hadn’t taken my shoes of, and then I forgot about the door.” Jonghyun facepalmed himself at Minho’s answer.

“Anyway…” I said and turned back to Hongki. “Come on in, I’ll introduce you.”

“You sound like you live here,” he muttered as he followed me into the room while everyone else sat down in the sofa.

“Onew, Minho. You are the only ones here who haven’t met Hongki. He’s my best friends and we have known each other since we were kids,” I quickly introduced Hongki. He bowed slightly. Onew smiled and bowed.

“Yo,” Minho said and waved. Weirdo…

After Hongki joined our little party everything got a bit awkward. No matter how much Onew and Minho tried to lighten the mood, there was still a sort of cold atmosphere in the room. At last I couldn’t take it anymore, I had to get out of there.

“I think I’ll go out… get some air,” I mumbled as I walked out in the hallway and put my shoes on.

“We have a balcony…” Jonghyun said.

“I’ll just be downstairs.” I walked out of the apartment and closed the door.

HONGKI’S POV

I glared at Jonghyun. Did I get invited here just so he could brag about being with _____? When the others, _____’s friends and Jonghyun’s weird friends, snuck out to the kitchen, obviously just to leave us alone, I took my chance.

“Yah, what do you want with her, really?” I asked. Jonghyun turned to look at me.

“Excuse me?” He lifted an eyebrow. I got annoyed, he knew very well what I meant. I squinted at him.

“Are you really dating?” I asked angrily. Jonghyun stared me in the eyes.

“No. not yet,” he said. Not yet? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

“So in the park…”

“No, it wasn’t really a date, but it could as well have been one,” Jonghyun said.

“What the… Why did you lie!? _____ would never have lied to me, if it wasn’t for you!” I snapped. “You have…”

“Shut up!”

JONGHYUN’S POV

“Shut up!”

Hongki stared at me.

“Don’t you see? She lied because of you. Do you have any idea what she has been through? She really liked you. Do you know how she felt when you and Yuri always were together? I guess not. But I know, she felt lie crap. And that’s why I have been taking care of her. Because you haven’t!” I was almost shouting at him. Finally I was getting this of my chest. “Now you have lost your chance, Hongki. I can’t believe that you were too blind to see her.” Hongki stared hard in the ground for a while before answering.

“Neither can I.” He looked at me. “And I can’t believe that I’m losing her. But I’m not giving up. I need to hear her say it, that it’s over.”

“How can it be over when there was nothing to begin with?” I asked in a low voice.

“There was always something, I just couldn’t see what it was. Now it’s time for me to make up for all the time I have wasted.” Hongki put on a determined face.

“Don’t believe that she has just been waiting for you. She has been fighting to let you go,” I hissed with my fists clenched. What the hell was he thinking? “You can’t keep taking her for granted. Maybe she won’t always be there for you.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see. It’s up to her now.”

“It has always been up to her. All I hope is for her to make the right choice…” I stared at Hongki. He stared back at me.

There was a sound from the kitchen and four pairs of eyes were curiously peeking out from the room.

“Excuse me.” Hongki bowed to everyone and then stormed out of the room and we heard him leave the apartment.

“Are you okay?” Minho asked.

“Yeah… I’m fine…”