Sunhi POV

            Amber introduced me to her friend. She was a transfer student from Hong Kong. Apparently, they’d met in middle school, but she moved. She traveled a lot, from Japan, to Korea, to Hong Kong, and back to Korea.

            “Hey guys! This is Lee Mitsuki, she just transferred from Hong Kong.”

            Mitsuki was a small girl with a shy demeanor. She didn’t seem cold. Just shy and quiet.

            “Hi Mitsuki! I’m Sulli!” Sulli got up and immediately hugged Mitsuki, surprising her.

            “It’s nice to meet you. Sorry for Sulli. She’s pretty impulsive sometimes.” Victoria rolled her eyes and bowed, shaking Mitsuki’s hand. “I’m Victoria.”

            “It’s nice to meet you, too. And, it’s okay…” She bowed back.

            Luna and Krystal introduced themselves and we all sat back down for lunch.

            “I’m Sunhi.”

            She looked over at me and smiled. “It’s nice meeting you.”

            I nodded.

            “Sunhi’s very quiet. Don’t let that scare you away,” said Luna, teasing me. “Have you met EXO yet?”

            “EXO?”

            “They’re a huge group of twelve guys that are idiots.” Krystal laughed. “But we hang out with them anyways. They’re heading this way.” She pointed towards Luhan, Sehun, Kai, Kris, Suho, and Chanyeol.

            The six of them came over, smiling and joking with one another, but Kris looked over and made slight eye contact with Mitsuki. He unexpectedly tripped over nothing, quickly being caught by Chanyeol.

            Mitsuki flinched back slightly, surprised.

            “Hey, you alright?” asked Suho.

            “Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” he muttered, calmly sitting across from Mitsuki.

            “Looks like someone likes our new friend,” whispered Luna to me, laughing giddily.

            “So, guys, this is Mitsuki,” said Victoria, gesturing to the shy girl. “She’s from Hong Kong.”

            “Hey! I’m Chanyeol!” He smiled brightly, the creepiness slightly scaring Mitsuki. She laughed nervously and shook his hand.

            “I’m Suho. Welcome to our school.” His calming smile seemed to relieve Mitsuki a bit. At least she wouldn’t think everyone at our school was creepy.

            “I’m Luhan, and this is Sehun. Don’t worry about Chanyeol. His smile is always kinda scary,” said Luhan, shaking Mitsuki’s hand. Sehun did the same after and bowed slightly.

            Mitsuki laughed cheerfully. “Thanks for letting me know…” She turned to Kris, who’s eyes seemed to widen just the least bit with the eye contact.

            “Hey, I’m Kai.” He bowed and shook her hand and she returned the gesture quickly and politely.

            Kris spoke in a different language, but Mitsuki seemed to understand, despite the initial surprise. He reached his hand forward slowly.

            She spoke back to him in what seemed like the same language, smiling a bit and blushing when their hands touched. Kris smiled slightly.

            “Woah! Since when’d you speak... whatever that language is?!” asked Sehun.

            “Cantonese? I’m from Guangzhou, idiot,” muttered Kris, punching Sehun’s arm and rolling his eyes.

            Kai looked over to me and I averted my eyes, focusing on my rice. I could feel his stare burning its way through my head, but I couldn’t look up at him.

            I felt another pair of eyes on me and I looked up, my eyes meeting briefly with Mitsuki’s. There was something in her eyes. Something familiar in her eyes that I recognized, before she smiled and looked away.

            “Sunhi, are you okay? Why are you ignoring Kai?” asked Amber, whispering so the others wouldn’t hear.

            “Oh, sorry… just a little off today,” I muttered, trying to smile back slightly. I wasn’t able to stop thinking about what Kai told me. It was confusing me so much. I didn’t know what to do, how to react, what to say to him… My head was swimming with these thoughts, and no matter how much I wanted to act normally around him, I could barely meet his eyes without turning away. I was turning away the person I trusted so much.

            “Sunhi? Will you show me to my next class? Luna told me we have the next class together,” said Mitsuki, her voice quiet and shy.

            “Ah… alright.” I nodded, closing the lid on my lunch, having lost my appetite. “I need to go to my locker… so I can come back to get you.”

            “It’s fine. I’ll come. See you guys around.” Mitsuki got up, grabbing her lunch bag and following me.

            “You didn’t even start your lunch though,” I said as we walked.

            “You didn’t finish yours. And I can always eat as we go.” She pulled a sandwich out of her bag, biting into it.

            When we got to my locker, I opened it and starting switching books in and out.

            “You’re depressed, aren’t you?”

            My eyes widened.

            She nodded understandingly. “You’re eyes are very dark… there’s a cloud over your emotions. It’s very… recognizable to me.”

            I closed my locker, swinging my bag over my shoulder. “How…?’

            “How did I know you were depressed? Like I said, it’s recognizable. I noticed it the moment I saw you. You radiate depression. You just don’t know it… because nobody else around you was able to sense it.” She took another bite out of her sandwich. “It’s hard to sense it if you’ve never been through it before.”

            I frowned as she smiled cheerfully at me. “It’s hard to believe you.”

            “Believe what about me?”

            “That you understand and see what I’m going through.”

            “Oh, dear, I understand perfectly what you’re thinking. You don’t trust me. Of course, anyone who’s gone through what you’re going through doesn’t trust others easily.” She spoke so casually. But her gaze hardened slightly. “You’re depressed. You cut, I assume… but you don’t seem too immersed in this depression thing. Perhaps you’ve already been helped a bit by someone?”

            In the few minutes she’s known me, she’s already read so much about me through my expressions and eyes. It was like she was a psychic. Of course, she wasn’t. But it felt like it. And it wasn’t something that felt comfortable.

            Her smile appeared again. “I’m sure that if you met someone else who used to be depressed, they’d be able to read you the way I am… But you’ll pull through. You’ll surface from the deep sea eventually.”

            “And how would you know?” I asked skeptically.

            “Couldn’t you tell by what I’ve said?” She put her hand on my shoulder softly. “I know exactly what you’re going through. I was just like you. And… aren’t I smiling now? It proves that you’ll get through this.”

            I didn’t trust her. But that was exactly how she said I would react to someone I didn’t know well.

            “I’m not gonna hurt you, Sunhi.” She was smiling, but the seriousness was obvious in her voice. “I know what it’s like… and if you don’t trust me now, I’m not gonna force you… but just know that I’m telling the complete truth. I went through what you’re going through. I know how it feels to be hurt and lose your trust in everything.”

            The frown disappeared from my face, but no smile was present either. I only nodded, walking towards my next class, despite there being about thirty minutes before class started.

            Mitsuki followed, walking next to me. “So…” She reached into her lunch bag and pulled out a cookie, handing it to me. I hesitantly took it from her hand. “Mind if we swing by my locker? I need to grab my bag.”

Kai’s POV

            She couldn’t even look at me for a second without turning away. But if I didn’t tell her earlier than I did… she would’ve lost her trust in me even more. Was this a blessing or a curse? So far, it was definitely a curse. And now Sehun’s got a bigger chance of getting close to Sunhi. Things just seemed to get worse the more time passed.

            She wouldn’t go to the dance studio anymore. She’d probably never sketch in front of me again. Hell, she’d probably never talk to me again. I was probably gonna be unofficially banned from her.

            Every second, she’d get further away from me. It was like I just built a wall between us that was getting thicker day by day.

            I walked to the dance studio, and she wasn’t there. It was obvious, but something I needed to see for myself. I walked in and just sat down in her spot, looking into the mirror.

            Why couldn’t I just dance like I always did? In the past, I’d just dance whether I was alone or not. I didn’t care about anything else but dancing. So why’d I have to care so much about Sunhi? Why was she becoming the center of my life? Since when did that change happen?

            I knew the answers to those questions. But it pained me to just think about it. Thinking about how Sunhi would probably never speak to me again, let alone look at me. Not to be cliché, but I couldn’t accept the fact that she would probably never see me the same way again.

            I should’ve expected it. Her ignoring me. I didn’t. I was too stupid to even realize that life doesn’t always go the way I want it to. I was being retarded and naïve. Since when’d I get this way for a girl? Since Sunhi appeared in my life. The one and only girl who can turn me into an idiot.

            The door opened, causing me to jump slightly. Sunhi walked in, surprised to see me sitting down.

            “Kai…”

            I stood up immediately, walking over to her. “Sunhi, what are you doing here?” . Bad reaction.

            She flinched back slightly. “Sorry… I’ll go.” She immediately turned to leave, but I grabbed her arm.

            “No! I mean… I didn’t mean that! I was just surprised you even came here.” Nothing was going right.

            Sunhi turned back towards me. “I just wanted to say… that I won’t be coming here anymore.”

            “Why?” It was a stupid question. But she was about to break one of the bonds we had to each other. I couldn’t let her do that. Everything was falling apart in front of my eyes.

            “It doesn’t feel right. To be coming back and watching your dancing after… what you’ve told me,” she muttered. “I just need some time to think… Maybe I’ll come back and watch your dancing eventually.” Her eyes met mine for a second before quickly looking away. “I’m sorry, Kai…” Sunhi pulled away from me gently, walking out of the room.

            I ran my fingers through my hair before slamming a fist to the wall. I wasn’t angry with her. I was frustrated. At myself.

            There was a constricting feeling in my throat, kind of like the feeling you get when you’re about to cry. But no tears surfaced. So I yelled. I yelled into the dark, empty dance studio. This wasn’t something to cry about. But yelling released some frustration. I knew I couldn’t dance like this. I’d most definitely break something in this room, including myself.

Sunhi’s POV

            Mitsuki was different. She didn’t treat me like Kai did.

            Kai always spoke to me softly. And he never really stated things bluntly. But he was there for me, which was more than I could ask for. It only made me feel more guilty for how I was treating him.

            But Mitsuki, when she wasn’t in a large crowd, seemed a lot more blunt and not harsh, but not soft in speaking to me. She was confident. She didn’t seem like someone who’d been through depression. It was hard to believe that she’d ever been through depression.

            At the end of our class, she handed me a sheet of paper with her number on it, saying, “Call or text me when you’re going through anything depressing, or if you just wanna talk!” It reminded me of Kai. It reminded me of him too much.

            I only nodded, confused as to why she was acting so kindly to me when it was obvious that I didn’t trust her, or even like her that much for that matter.

            Her happiness seemed so surreal. I couldn’t bring myself to like her very much, at least not at the moment. But I didn’t hate her.

            “Sunhi, wanna hang at my house?” asked Amber as we walked to the front of the school.

            I nodded. “Sure… I’ll just text my mom.”

            “Cool. Mitsuki, Victoria, Tao, and Kris are coming, too,” said Amber, smiling. I could see Mitsuki walk over with Victoria and Victoria waved. Mitsuki smiled, greeting with a nod.

            “Hey! We’re just waiting for Tao and Kris now,” said Amber.

            “Kris is coming?” asked Mitsuki. There was an underlying sense of nervousness to her voice.

            “Yeah, that okay?” asked Amber.

            “It’s fine. Your house after all.” Mitsuki bit her lip, her cheeks tinted pink.

            “Oh, there they are! And, Kris is amazing at math, by the way. He could help you,” said Victoria to Mitsuki. “You were saying how you couldn’t understand some of it, right?”

            “Uh… yeah.” Mitsuki lowered her head a bit, embarrassed.

            When Kris was walking over, I could see him duck his head slightly as well, his eyes darting to Mitsuki every few seconds while he gave us a quick wave and “Hi.”

            Amber led the way to her house with Tao and Victoria. Mitsuki walked behind them with Kris by her side. The two seemed very shy next to each other, and their heads were turned away just a bit, but I could see the two glance at each other during the walk. It was slightly amusing, and caused a small smile to appear on my face.

            I walked behind them, keeping to myself. The walk was quiet for me… I wasn’t quite used to it, considering how if I walked home… it was usually with Kai… and he talked with me as we walked. The thought was weird… I used to prefer the quiet to listening to talking. But now, I preferred Kai’s voice to the silence.

            The thought of him made me ache slightly, and I wasn’t able to shake it off. I felt guilty, having ignored him and then coldly turned from him during the majority of the day. But it was almost impossible to look him in the eyes. It was nearly impossible to even utter a few words to him.

            Even when we got to Amber’s house and started homework, I was thinking about Kai. Why was I so upset over this? Why couldn’t I just shrug this away and go back to the way things were before? Why couldn’t I trust him like I used to?

            Maybe because it was so unsettling to learn about this. He was two different, important people to me. The sudden information that they were the same person scared me. Perhaps it was the weird feeling of betrayal. But where’d the betrayal come from? From the fact that it was like he was lying to me the entire time?

            “Sunhi!”

            My head shot up. “Hmm?”

            Victoria laughed. “What did you get for this question?”

            “Um…” I looked down at my paper to see that I didn’t answer the second half of questions. “I haven’t gotten to it yet.”

            She looked over and seemed surprised. “You usually finish before me… Is there something on your mind?”

            “N-No… I’m just kind of tired.”

            Victoria nodded. “Maybe you should go home and take a nap or something.”

            “It’s fine. I’ll just quickly finish this.”

            “Victoria~! Help me with science,” whined Tao, pulling playfully on Victoria’s sleeve. Victoria laughed and nodded.

            I looked over to Mitsuki and Kris, the two of them working on math. When Kris leaned over to look at her paper, the two seemed to blush simultaneously, Kris backing up a bit. Even with the slightest brush of their hands together, the two would flush pink. It was interesting to see Kris react this way. It was the first time I’ve seen him act this shy to something. He’s quiet, but not shy usually.

            When their heads accidentally bumped each other gently when Mitsuki looked at Kris’ math work, their faces turned bright red and they basically shot apart at record speed.

            Amber nudged my arm and smiled. “Seems like those four are too busy with each other, huh?”

            I smiled just a bit, nodding.

            “You sure you’re okay today? There’s something going on.”

            “Yeah, I’m fine… Don’t worry about it.” I looked back down to my paper, trying to quickly catch up on the problems. No matter how troubled I am by Kai, the world continues to revolve. I have to stop thinking so much about it… Things will fix themselves in the course of time. Isn’t that how fate works?

. . .

            Mitsuki walked with me back to my house, her own being a fifteen-minute walk from mine. Everyone lived so close by, it was shocking.

            “You know, Sunhi,” started Mitsuki. “you don’t have to suffer by yourself. Depression… is one of the heaviest burdens someone can have, especially at our age. I remember that I had nobody when I was in your position…”

            “Then why are you trying to help me?” I said quietly, avoiding her eyes.

            “Because I had nobody, like I said. That’s why… I want to be there for someone.”

            “I had someone...” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I was shocked that I even said them. I didn’t think I’d really talk to her. But I did. Maybe it was because I wanted so desperately to have someone who could relate to me. Kai was able to listen to me and help me through. But he didn’t understand me. Now someone comes along who can, and it’s like my mind leaps at the chance to have a friend who can help me swim to the surface of the deep ocean I’ve sunk into.

            Her eyebrows lifted. “Really? What happened?”

            I met her eyes for a second, and there seemed to be a welcoming feeling to her. “It’s complicated… but I guess I sort of pushed him away,” I muttered.

            “You can tell me… not now, but when you want to,” she said. “I know I barely know you, but I’ve been where you are. People like us… we have to help each other, you know?”

            “If I wasn’t like how I am now… would you have even considered talking to me as you are now?” I asked.

            “I’m a blunt person. So my answer is no. But… that’s how things are. That’s how fate works. It doesn’t matter about if you were depressed. You are. And therefore, things turn out the way they’re turning out.”

            What she said was incredibly true. I was surprised she could say something so… deep. Mitsuki was definitely a unique person. A unique person who’d be able to help me. Kai jumpstarted my ascent from depression and improvement of ability to trust. Perhaps Mitsuki could continue it.

            It brought my thoughts back to Kai. And the sadness of pushing him away returned. That took my expression down a whole level. Mitsuki could tell, but she didn’t question it as we continued to walk in silence.

            I should be over this by now. But I’m not. Why was Kai so important to me? I can move on from this. Yet I can’t. It’s like… Kai’s always on my mind, whether it be from something good or bad… in this case, I guess it would be bad. And why do I so desperately want to forgive him and be close to him again?

            More questions keep surfacing, and no answers seem to be popping up anywhere. When I moved here, things seemed to become better. But at the same time, things got so much more complicated. Like they say, life is like a track field. There will be hurdles that you have to jump over. Right now, those hurdles are coming almost too fast for me to even see.

How do you guys like Mitsuki?

She's based off of my best friend, who's been with me through so much :)

(@krispy_exo on Instagram, the biggest Kris biased account :P)

I hope you guys liked this chapter ^^

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Thanks for reading~

~DespisedSecret

P.S. This story was trending today >< THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE <3 4-1-13