I wonder what some of you will think of this chapter...

Haneul looked up at me, eyes full of curiosity, “Who?”

I wanted to cave into her right then. My heart was shouting for me to tell her that it was I who would choose her. My heart pushed me to tell her that I loved her. But my mind told me not to. My mind, being more rational, told me what the right thing to do was.

So, I decided to tell her what my mind said, “Woohyun.”

“What?” She asked, confused and slightly flustered.

Woohyun was meant for Haneul more than I would ever be. The attraction I felt towards her was nothing compared to the story between the two. She deserved someone who would give her everything. I lingered on my thoughts for too long; it was unfair to those around me.

“Woohyun would choose you over Ms. Choi and I’m sure of it. Haven’t you noticed the way he looks at you? I have.”

“Why are you saying this, Sehun?”

“You both deserve the best and the best I can possibly give you is each other. Go talk to him, I’m sure he’s willing to give you his heart right now. We all know about what happened between the two of you before, you know. So, give him a chance. It will do you good.”

“And how do you know Woohyun is perfectly fine with this?” She asked, playing with her apron.

“Haneul, Woohyun loves you. He always did and always will. I’m sure he would be ecstatic to hear that you’re finally giving him a chance,” I said, heart sinking at my every word.

“How do you know about Woohyun and I’s past?”

“That’s for me to know,” I said. “Go find Woohyun, I’ll serve alone today.”

After another couple minutes of persuasion, Haneul finally decided to open up and reveal that she always wanted to date Woohyun but was too afraid. She said she always waited for another guy to make her heart flutter which pained me inside to think that I could have been that guy. I finally pushed her enough that she skipped out of the cafeteria still wearing her apron just for Woohyun.

And then I was alone in the cafeteria, listening to nothing but the pounding of my heart. I chuckled bitterly at myself, letting the first girl I truly cared about go. It was a sad tale that was meant to happen. It wasn’t possible to happen any other way.

But I didn’t feel all that bad. I felt happy in a way. I gave Woohyun something after everything he gave me. After months of learning about him, I knew that Woohyun deserved good things more than anybody out there.

○●○●○

“Sehun!” Woohyun yelled as he frantically ran towards me. When he got up to me, he was a coughing mess. I patted his back for him.

“Yea?”

“Something’s wrong with Haneul!”

My eyes widened and heart stopped for a moment, “What happened?”

“She’s giving me a second chance!” He exclaimed, eyes practically bulging out.

“Oh,” I calmed down. ”That’s great.”

“It really is! She came up to me just a while ago and we talked. I was surprised but happy as well!”

I patted Woohyun’s shoulder, “That’s awesome, Woohyun. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks,” Woohyun grinned. “Well, I better go to the nurse’s office now. I have an appointment.”

“But you usually don’t go to the nurse’s office today,” I furrowed my eyebrows.

“I had a fever yesterday, remember? The nurses want to see me,” Woohyun pouted. “I wish I could spend some more time with Haneul.”

I chuckled, “You better hurry then.”

Woohyun nodded his head and walked away. I watched his retreating figure with a heavy heart. Even though I was happy I did a good thing, I couldn’t help but feel a bit upset. I knew it was wrong but my inner devil was coming out. Self-restraint is hard.

○●○●○

To clear out my head a bit, I went to the terrace that Myungsoo and I always drank milk on. Watching everything from up there always helped calm me down and it always reminded me of the good things in life. The children that played on the field below made me the happiest.

“Looks like someone is in deep thought,” I heard a voice behind me.

I turned around to see a person who I would have never expected to see. There he was, wearing the same infamous smirk with the same posture—hands in pockets.

“What’s our Sehun thinking about?” He said as he came and stood beside me.

“What are you doing here?”

“Ouch,” He held a hand to his heart. “Not even a hello?”

I chuckled, “Hi, Kai.”

“My Mom came for a checkup so I had to accompany her. I was walking around for fun when I saw you here,” He turned his attention to the children below. “So what were you thinking about?”

“Is your Mom okay?”

“Of course she is.”

“Good.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“I know,” I smiled. “I was thinking about a decision. I was wondering whether I made the right one or not. I think it was right but it feels wrong.”

“I made a bad decision in the past. A bad decision towards you,” He turned to look at me. “I wasn’t very smart in breaking off our friendship. I’m sorry for acting like such a jerk.”

I stared at him in disbelief, “Are you actually apologizing to me right now? Wow.”

“You only get one apology, okay? So accept it!” Kai grumbled.

I smiled, “Apology accepted, Kai.”

“So what was your decision that you feel bad about?”

I sighed, “I let a girl go for a friend.”

“Wow, Oh Sehun is interested in girls? Things sure have changed. Why did you let her go?”

“His name is Woohyun. Woohyun is a really nice guy who has helped me out a lot. Did you know I’ve been scouted by the national team to play soccer? Well, that happened a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, it was Woohyun who called the guy to watch me play. Woohyun is always helping other people out but nobody helps him. So, I helped him get his first love back. But I feel sort of upset!” I huffed at the end of my story.

“What if you took the girl for yourself? I mean you’re a good looking guy, Sehun. If you’re going to play on the national team, that just adds another bonus! What girl wouldn’t fall for you? So, what if you took the girl for yourself?” He asked.

“I’d feel bad of course.”

“Precisely,” Kai nodded. “You would feel so bad if you had her that you wouldn’t even want this girl in the end. It’s clearly not meant to be right now. Let her go, man.”

I thought about what Kai said and he was right. I would have never been happy if Haneul were mine. I would have always felt bad towards Woohyun and that guilt was something I could never live with.

“You’re right, Kai,” I smiled lightly. “I should move forward.”

I had promised to start doing that to myself.

○●○●○

“Go to sleep, Haneul, you look tired,” Woohyun urged that evening, pushing Haneul to her bed.

“But I’m not. Seriously!” She exclaimed before plopping down on the mattress.

“But I have a whole day planned for us tomorrow. You, miss Haneul, are going to spend the entire day with me!” Woohyun smiled. “So you need to get some rest.”

Haneul laughed, “What can we possibly do in a hospital?”

“Oh, but there’s a lot of things.”

“Oh my goodness, you guys are making me cringe,” Sunggyu said as he shivered. “Just go to sleep, Haneul! I can’t believe you two are a couple. Will this happen every night?”

I raised an eyebrow at the two before returning back to my phone. I sat on Woohyun’s bed since he wanted a bed closer to Haneul.

“Okay, I’ll go to sleep. You go to sleep as well, Woohyun.”

“I will,” he smiled before leaning down to plant a small peck on Haneul’s forehead. Afterwards, Woohyun walked up to me and asked me to meet him outside. I followed him out and soon, we were in the play room. Like last time, we lay down on the mats watching the fake stars.

“I’m so happy,” Woohyun sighed in content.

My heart felt at ease with his words, “I’m happy you’re happy.”

“The doctors told me I need to take care of my health more. Apparently it’s not good for me to get a fever,” Woohyun said.

I sighed, “I told you to eat healthier! I’ll be in charge of what you do from now on.”

“But you won’t even be around much anymore.”

I thought back to my soccer schedule. The new schedule required me to give up four days of a week solely for soccer practise. That meant that I couldn’t come to the hospital as frequently. But that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to come at all.

“You’re right but I’ll ask Haneul to maintain your health.”

Haneul let out a small laugh, “Haneul.”

“Hey, Woohyun,” I called out.

“Yea?”

“I’ve lied to you before. Remember when I first came to the hospital and I told you guys that my Mother was making me do volunteer work?”

“Yea, I remember.”

I let out a breath, “I lied. I actually got caught for stealing and was forced to do community service.”

“Ah, so you finally admit it.”

“You knew?” I asked, bewildered.

“Nope,” Woohyun smirked. “But I knew there was another reason as to why you were in the hospital. Who does volunteer work because their Mom asks them to?”

“Are you upset?”

“Nah, you’re a good guy. I’m sure you won’t steal anymore.”

“I won’t,” I confirmed. “I’ll try to be as much of a good guy as possible. Kind of like you.”

And then we lay there under our favourite stars in the sky. And then I realized that I was living in pure bliss. And then I realized that I would never want to destroy the friendship between Woohyun and I. And that was enough for me.