Hanbyul's POV~

I stood there with my heart pounding against my chest. Luhan's eyes traveled down to his hand on my wrist and let me go. He then looked back into my eyes. 

"Hanbyul, I like you," he repeated; this time with more sincerity. "Ever since you transferred to our school, I've started to develop these feelings towards you. But seeing you smile and laugh only made me fall harder in love to the point that it was hard to breathe."

He softened his gaze and turned to face the setting sun. He must have been too embarrassed to face me. 

"I really wanted to confess to you sooner, but I was so absorbed into my own problems that I lost my chance," he said with a crooked smile. "But no matter what I still want to confess to you...scratch that, I have to confess to you. That way, the weight on my shoulders will feel lighter and I would leave you with no regrets."

I don't know why, but my eyes were burning with tears. Why does he only talk about leaving? As if he's going to vanish into thin air?

"That's why I asked Daehyun to let me go on this date with you today," he said looking at me with a gentle smile, so gentle that it broke my heart. "Because I wanted to properly get rejected by you."

"Oppa," I barely said. He turned his attention back to the sunset and deeply inhaled with ocean's scent. 

"You know, I was so in love with you that I even thought about giving up on Daehyun so I could focus on you," he faintly laughed. "I'm such a selfish person. Giving up on a friend for love...."

I hadn't noticed that a tear had finally slipped down my cheeks to my jawline. I immediately wiped my face dry and turned away to face the sunset too. 

"But then I started to realize," he continued. "That your heart had already been stolen by Daehyun, even when you didn't notice it by that time. The expressions you showed him, you never showed me...that expression of love."

I swallowed hard as another tear broke free from the flood piling in my eyes. 

"I envied Daehyun for getting that love," he faintly snickered. "But I'm still grateful for the love you gave me, even if it wasn't the love I had hoped for."

My tears wouldn't stop falling now. Hearing such a confession...it hurt me. I felt a warm hand wipe away the tears.

"Why are you crying, Hanbyul?" Luhan asked. His voice was so gentle. I looked at him and widened my eyes. He was silently crying this whole time. 

"Don't cry," he forced a smile while wiping my tears with his thumbs. 

"I'm sorry, oppa," I croaked. "I'm so sorry."

"Pabo," he softly whispered and pulled me into his embrace. Without any hesitation, I wrapped my arms around his waist, holding him tight. 

"I'm sorry, oppa," I sobbed. "I'm sorry."

He held me tighter and placed his chin on top of my head. 

"Don't be sorry, Hanbyul," he softly said as I felt a cool breeze caress us. "You did nothing wrong, so don't be sorry."

I dug my face deeper into his chest, gripping his shirt. 

"Daehyun will take good care of you," he said, rubbing my back. "He'll protect you. He'll comfort you. He'll love you, Hanbyul."

I sniffled and he held me until I calmed down. Once I did, I slowly pulled myself away from him. He cupped my face and wiped my tears with his thumbs again. 

"Sorry, I got your shirt dirty," I sniffled. He laughed. 

"Don't worry about it."

I looked up to face him as he smiled down at me. 

"I'm sorry I can't return the feelings," I said with my voice cracking. 

"That's exactly what I wanted to hear," he sighed as if he was relieved. "Thank you, Hanbyul."

I nodded and this time, I was the one who pulled him into my embrace. I wonder, what would have happened if he really did confess to me before I had started falling for Daehyun? Would I have accepted his confession? Would I have been crying tears of joy instead of sadness? I guess it's too late to find out now, but it's better to not try to figure out the answer. 

Daehyun's POV~

I sat in the outdoor hot tub with Youngjae with my eyes closed. 

"Are you curious about what they're doing?" Youngjae asked. 

"Just a bit," I replied with my eyes still closed. "But not to the point where I would call them and ask what they're doing."

I heard him chuckle. I sighed and sunk deeper into the water when my phone started vibrating on the table besides the hot tub. I glanced at it and gestured Youngjae to pick it up. 

He moved across the hot tub and picked up my phone. 

"Hello?" he answered. I wasn't able to hear who it was on the other line. "Ah, right now we're at the spa near our resort."

Silence. 

"Okay," he smiled. "We'll see you and hyung in a bit, Hanbyul~!"

Just hearing her name made my heart race, but I didn't dare show any reaction. 

He hung up and set my phone back on the table. He turned to me and flicked some water at me. 

"Yah-"

"Hanbyul and hyung are on their way here," he grinned. "Aren't you excited to see her again?"

"What's there to be excited about," I muttered into the water. I couldn't tell if it was just the heat or if I was actually blushing, but for sure my heart wouldn't stop beating at a faster pace. 

15 minutes later...

"So how did it go?" Krystal asked Hanbyul as we had a private room in the spa, drinking cold lemonade and 4 servings of hard-boiled eggs. 

"It was fun!" she exclaimed. "Oppa and I went to the aquarium! It was the coolest thing ever and the little penguins were so adorable~!"

"Awwh~ we should've gone there instead," Sulli pouted, jealous. 

Seeing how the girls were being girls, squealing and laughing loudly, made me gag. 

"Oppa bought me a penguin from the gift shop, but we stopped at the resort to drop off our things before coming," Hanbyul bragged. 

"I would've bought you the whole store," I muttered with crossed arms. Luhan snickered at my statement. 

"Jealous much?" Youngjae nudged me with a teasing tone. I rolled my eyes and let out a groan. 

They knew I was jealous, so they laughed. I glared at them to stop, but they didn't. 

"Aish, I'm going to the restroom," I said and left the room. Of course I didn't go to the restroom though, I had no business there. Instead, I went out to the patio in the back to get some fresh air. 

I stuffed my hands into my cotton blue shorts and breathed in the night air. I closed my eyes and let the breeze cool me down when I heard some soft steps behind me. My first guess was Luhan, but as the person got closer their scent became more clear. 

"This is quite an open restroom," I heard Hanbyul's sarcastic voice. I scoffed a smirk and glanced over my shoulder to see her smiling face. Oh how much I missed seeing that face even when I saw it yesterday before bed. 

"You should see the toilet, it's quite luxurious," I played along. She laughed and approached me with light steps. "Why'd you follow me?"

"Cause I haven't seen you all day," she continued to smile. I felt my face heat up. 

"I missed you too," I snickered. 

"I didn't say I missed you," she giggled. 

"I know, but that's how I interpreted it," I smiled and looked down at her as she was blushing. "Guess I'm right."

She playfully shoved me and turned her attention to the stars. I looked up too. 

"You never see stars in the cities," she stated. I didn't say anything. "They're pretty."

"Really? I think they look like bright dots; nothing pretty about that," I said, half-sarcastically. 

"Geez, always ruining the mood," she muttered and sighed. Silence took over, but it was a good silence. 

"Are you going to ask about the date?" she cautiously asked. I shook my head. "You're not curious at all?"

"What I'm more curious about are your eyes," I said not looking at her. 

"My eyes?" she asked. I nodded and turned to look at her. I cupped her face and pulled hers close to mine. 

"Why did you cry?" I asked. Her eyes slightly widened and under the moonlight, her cheeks turned to a rosy pink. 

"I-I didn't c-"

"Everyone noticed, Hanbyul," I cut her off. "But no one dared to bring it up."

She blinked and pulled my hands away from her face. 

"Have you ever been touched by a confession to the point that it hurts?" she asked with her head hung low.

"No."

"Then you wouldn't understand," she quietly said. I didn't want to argue cause I knew if I told her I'd understand, she would say I didn't and it'd go on. 

I sighed and looked back up to the stars. "Either way it's been settled, right? Hyung's feelings towards you?"

I slightly glanced to see a nod. "That's a relief then."

Silence once again. 

"Have you made your decision yet?" she suddenly asked. I knew exactly what she had meant. I looked directly to her and smiled. 

"Yeah, I've made my decision."