Sobs were heard from a bench near the bus stop, coming from Marie’s mouth. Kris rubbed her head, trying his best to calm her down, “Just give her time. I’m sure she’ll forgive you soon.”

Marie shook her head, still sobbing on Kris’ shoulder, “S-she w-won’t. I-I lied to her… She h-hates m-me…”

“No, no ,no… she doesn’t hate you Marie-ah. She doesn’t.” Kris assured her. Marie kept shaking her head. Kris grabbed her shoulders and slightly shook her, “Cathy is just angry. She doesn’t hate you. Just give her some time. I’m sure that you’ll explain everything to her; just like I’m sure she will forgive you. Please, don’t cry Marie-ah. Just give it some time.” He pulled her in for a hug, letting her cry again on his shoulder.

 

After a few minutes, Kris spoke again, “Where are you going to stay?”

Marie lifted her head from his shoulder and met his eyes, “I don’t know.”

“Why don’t you just go back? I mean, is your home too.”

Marie shook her head and replied, “I don’t think that going back now is the right thing to do. I-I…”She took a moment to analyze her thoughts and sighed, “I think that, I might stay with Jason.”

Kris eyes widened, “What? Are you serious? Didn’t you just come out of a drama back at your house?”

“I-I know but Kris, I have no where else to go.”

“What about Junga-shi?”

“She has a family Kris. And it’s passed midnight already.”

Kris closed his eyes and sighed, “I’ll take you to him.”

“I’m sorry.” Marie responded in a whisper. Kris stood up and knowing how weak she was right now, he helped her stand up. “Come on.”

 

 

Walking out of the building, Kyuhyun noticed Kris and Marie entering the public bus. His eyes drifted at Marie’s pale face. Her eyes were red from all the crying and her gaze looked tired. *I’m so sorry Marie-ah.* Kyuhyun hated the fact that he wasn’t with her at this moment. But knowing what happened made him disappointed. He sighed and turned towards his car. He drove off and left the sight.

 

“Are you sure about this?” Kris asked Marie once stepping out of the elevator.

“No, but do I have a choice? I can’t go back home, and Kyuhyun is mad at me.” Marie replied softly.

Kris sighed, “I don’t know Marie-ah. I just don’t think that staying with Jason is the best choice.”

Marie turned to Kris with understanding eyes, “I know how you feel right now. I’m very sorry, Kris.”

They walked to the front of Jason’s room. Before Marie could knock, Kris warned, “I’ll try to control myself.” Marie slowly nodded and knocked on the door.

Noises were heard from the inside, until Jason opened the door with a weird expression. “Marie? What happened? Why are you red? And your cheek, what happened?”

Marie looked down and asked politely, “Do you think I could stay over here the night?”

Jason looked at Kris and back at her, “Of course. But who is this? Hi, I’m Jason.” He extends his hand for a shake. Kris looked at Jason’s extended hand and slightly shook it while answering with a forced smile, “I’m Kris.”

Jason’s smile faded into a straight line and sighed, “Oh, so you’re Kris.”

“Yes, I’m just here bringing Marie-ah. Just take care of her for the night. I’ll pick her up first thing in the morning.” Kris answered calmly; he turned to Marie and continued, “You should rest. It’s been a rough night. I’ll have a talk with Kyuhyun and- um, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Marie nodded and replied, “Thank you, Kris. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Nice meeting you, Kris.” Jason commented before Kris could leave. Kris looked at him with a nod, then turned to leave.

 

 

“What happened? Why is your cheek marked? And why was that ‘guy’ doing here?” Jason interrogated once Marie sat down on the couch. Marie took a deep breath, resting her hand on her forehead, “Jason, I have a terrible headache right now. I just want to rest.”

“Will you please just tell me what happened?” Jason pleaded.

Marie uncovered her eyes and looked straight at him, “I told her everything.” She confessed.

Jason’s eyes widened as Marie rolled hers. Before he could respond, she interrupted, “I don’t want to hear it, Jason. I’ve had enough for one day.” She lay down on the couch and closed her eyes, falling asleep. Jason kept staring at her, feeling guilty for what happened. He kneeled down to the floor, resting his back to the side of the wall. He took a deep breath while closing his eyes. *Why do I keep hurting the ones I love?*

 

 

Twenty minutes after her shift started, Cathy waited impatiently for Kris in the practice room. She eyed the clock a couple of times before she heard the door open. Entering, she saw Kris’ restless face. “Where were you? Haven’t I’ve warned you about punctuality?” Cathy frowned, making the rest of the members walk slowly towards them in silence.

Kris looked at her with a serious face and turned to the boys, “I’m sorry I’m late. I had to do something.”

Chen, noticing the atmosphere between them, asked “What’s going on? Are you two okay?”

Instead of answering, Kris walked away towards the center of the room, while Cathy took a deep breath out of anger. She turned to Kris and warned, “Don’t let it happen again.”

“Why? You’re going to throw me out again?” Kris blurted.

Surprised by Kris’ comment, Cathy glared at him and answered, “Just don’t do it again.”

“You are not my boss, you are my assistant. You don’t tell me what to do, the manager does.” Kris replied in anger.

Cathy raised her eyebrow and frowned, “Just your assistant?”

EXO’s eyes widened at the sudden anger between them. Kris glared at Cathy, “Don’t you have paperwork to do?”

Cathy scoffed, “Wow, so this is how it goes?”

“Well you’re not leaving me much of a choice right now.”

“Didn’t you hear what she said last night?!” Cathy shouted.

“I did! And I know she did wrong. But so did you. You didn’t need to throw her out. You both did wrong!” Kris answered. Cathy stood in silence, unable to speak. Kris eyed her nervousness and softened, “Cathy. I get how angry you are. Believe me, I am too. But hearing those words coming out of your mouth last night, made me angrier. She doesn’t have anywhere else to go and still you told her to leave.”

Guilt grew inside of Cathy, but her stubbornness won over her mind. “She brought it on herself.”

“You’re lucky Jason was here. Or she wouldn’t have anywhere else to stay.” Kris murmured.

Cathy glared at Kris and spoke, “What did you just say?”

Before Kris could explain, Cathy stated, “She stayed with Jason.”

Kris looked away and nodded. Cathy clenched her hands into a fist. She turned to look at the forgotten EXO members, “Let’s get back to practice guys.” She faked a smile and left the room.

EXO turned towards Kris and noticed a distant look on his face. “Kris, are you okay?” Xiumin asked worriedly.

*Not at all.* Kris thought internally. He turned to Xiumin and responded, “I’m alright…”

“Kris, what happened? Is there anything we could help?” Lay asked.

“You know we’re here for you. We want to help.” D.O said in a comforting tone.

“Hyung?” Sehun pleaded.

Kris stared at all of them, one by one. He forced a weak smile, “Thank you. But right now, I’m not so sure much can be done.” He softly confirmed.

Chanyeol stepped closer to Kris and grabbed his shoulder. “Hyung, don’t close on us. We really want to help. Knowing how you and Cathy usually are makes us happy for you. We don’t want to see you two fighting. Well… at least not like this.”

Kris formed a small smile and replied, “Thank you.”

“Kris, please let us help.” Luhan pleaded. Kris looked at them and nodded, “Alright… But first, let me speak with Kyuhyun. To give you guys a small explanation, Cathy and Marie-ah are fighting.”

“Well let’s get them to make up.” Beakhyun eagerly suggested.

“I got it! I have a plan!” Lay exclaimed.

“Wait… Let me speak with Kyuhyun first.” Kris interrupted the suggestions EXO had. “Depending how things go on this day, we’ll plan.”

“Then let us know, Kris. We’ll have everything prepared.” Suho assured.

 

 

Kyuhyun rested his head on the wall, closing his eyes. *How can a peaceful friendship turn into a war?* Thinking about the previous fight, he could barely sleep. He felt a tug on his shoulder, making him quickly open his closed eyes.

“Did you talk with her?” Sungmin asked while sitting beside Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun sighed, “Not yet.”

“Kyu, you can’t just avoid her. You’re her boyfriend. And I can tell that right now she needs you. I’m not saying that you don’t have to be mad at her. But do talk to her. Make her see that she did wrong and she needs to fix it.” Sungmin suggested with a soft voice.

Kyuhyun nodded in understanding, “I know. I should go talk with her.” He took a deep breath and whispered, “Why do things need to get complicated?”

Sungmin looked at him and softened, “Nothing is ever easy.”

 

 

“Marie-ah? Earth to Marie-ah!” Taemin waved his hands in front of a spaced out Marie. “Marie-ah?” He called once more when he realized that she didn’t respond to any of his gestures.

“It’s official! She’s completely gone.” Key confirmed.

“Marie-ah, are you okay?” Minho asked.

“She’s not answering. It’s like her body is here, but her mind isn’t.” Jonghyun stated.

Marie was sitting on a corner of SHINee’s practice room, completely spaced out. Her mind was stuck at the fight scene she had the previous night with Cathy. Even though Kris told her to keep her mind on just work, she couldn’t. “Marie-ah!” Taemin shook her shoulders. Marie finally blinked and looked at him, “Oh?”

“Finally you have returned! Did you have fun with E.T.?” Onew joked.

“What?” Marie responded with a confused expression, making the SHINee members chuckle.

“You were spaced out.” Minho mentioned.

Marie sighed “Oh, really?”

“Marie-ah, is there something bothering you?” Taemin asked worriedly.

*You have no idea.* Marie replied, “I’ll be okay. Um… Tomorrow, you guys have an interview at two in the afternoon. The next da-“

“Marie.” Junga called while entering the room. Marie turned towards her and found Kyuhyun entering behind Junga. “Marie, why don’t you go and take a break? I’ll take it from here with SHINee.” Junga suggested.

Kyuhyun looked nervously at Marie, waiting for her answer. “Yeah, that’ll be a good idea.”

 

 

“You stayed with Jason?” Kyuhyun asked once inside the music room. Marie turned to him, a little surprised for his sudden question.

“Cathy told me.” Kyuhyun confessed, “You know, I don’t know what I should be angry about. Should it be the fact that you lied for four years to Cathy or the fact that you went to Jason after the fight with Cathy?”

“If you came looking for me just to fight, let’s leave it for another time. I don’t have the strength to argue about this.”

“I’m not here to fight, Marie-ah. I want to talk to you. I want to-“

“Kyuhyun, I get it. Okay, I know I did wrong. I know!”

They stood silent for a minute, measuring their next words. Kyuhyun turned to Marie and cupped her cheek. “I miss you. I’m not saying that I’m not upset, because I am. But I want to help. You and Cathy shouldn’t be like this. You both need to talk. You need to explain.”

“I tried! But she kicked me out.” Marie responded. She turned to Kyuhyun and shrugged off the hand that was cupping her cheek. “And now you come to me? I thought I was a disappointment to you.”

Kyuhyun’s eyes widened. “Marie-ah.”

“Out of all the people in the world, I thought that you would stick by my side. But no, you didn’t. Kris did, and he didn’t even have to since his girl is involved in this. But he still did. And last night I went to bed, crying, and in pain, knowing that my own boyfriend wasn’t there for me. It’s bad enough that my best friend hates me and now my boyfriend thinks I’m a disappointment.”

“Marie-ah, you’re not-“

“That’s not what you said last night.”

“Are you listening to yourself right now?”

“Kyuhyun…” Marie sighed, “I’m sorry. If I have to say it a million times, I will. And I don’t blame you for being mad at me. But it hurts. It hurts that the person I needed the most wasn’t there.” Another headache rose up inside of her. She stood up and turned to leave, but before reaching the door, she mentioned to Kyuhyun, “I don’t need someone to feel disappointed in me. I need someone to help me. Like I said, I know I did wrong. I recognize my mistake.” She left back to SHINee, leaving Kyuhyun speechless.

 

 

“Kris.” Kyuhyun called while walking towards him.

“Why is Marie-ah like that? Did you two fight?” Kris interrogated.

“H-How d-di-“

“I just talked with her. She told me she was with you.”

Kyuhyun sighed and rested his back on the wall. Kris stood beside him, also resting his back .

“What are we going to do?” Kyuhyun asked in a whisper.

“We need to get them to make up. It’s not healthy for them to be this way.” Kris answered.

“I know, bu-“

A male figure appeared in front of Kris. Kris straightened up and looked at the figure with serious eyes. “Hello, Kris.” The man greeted without any emotion.

Kyuhyun’s eyes widened once he heared Kris answer back, “Good afternoon, Jason.”

 

 

Hey! Just wanted to say thank you for reading and thank you for subscribing and commenting. Hope you like this update. :D