Author's Note: 

I was gonna make this chapter a cliffhanger, but because the Growl MV was released on time, I'm in a really good mood and I decided to make it a long update!

Thank you guys for commenting, but you guys didn't answer my question about if I should combine Book #2 with Book #1 or separate it. Please comment what you'd rather prefer!

→ A U T H O R

"J-Jong-" you stuttered, clutching at your heart. You felt so much pain at the moment, but the excitement, nervousness, and all of the other emotions were replacing the pain, leaving you numb.

"Minhee.." Jongin mumbled, getting up immediately. The grip on his luggage loosened, and he dropped the bag. He ran up to you, squeezing the life out of you.

You built up all the courage you had left in your body and ripped his two arms off of you, glaring at him. "Why are you here?" you asked, not a sign of sympathy in your voice.

Jongin felt his heart clench, and he couldn't really say anything. He had gone through so much the whole entire day, and practically got lost in Beijing because he couldn't communicate with the taxi drivers. 

He had gone through all this horrible traffic, and a kid kicking his seat constantly on the whole plane ride. He barely got any sleep the past week, thinking about if he should go and see you or not.

He had finally built up enough courage to show up at your grandmother's house, but now, hearing those words come out of your mouth, it made him think that this whole thing was a mistake and it only broke down all of the courage that he had managed to build up.

"Leave," you said. You held back tears. You were definitely not going to cry, especially not in front of him. You weren't going to show him weakness, at all.

Jongin sighed, knowing that this was all a mistake. His heart had told him that all of this was a great idea, but his mind was telling him that he should've never stepped foot onto that airplane in the first place.

He grabbed his bag from the ground, his grip tightening. He knew how pathetic he looked at the moment. He had actually been sitting at your doorstep waiting for you to come out of the house for the past two hours. He was actually planning on sleeping at the doorstep until someone opened up the door and found him there.

He tried his best to knock on the door, to ring on the bell, but his body stopped him from doing so. His arms would deflate, feeling like noodles whenever he tried to knock on the door or ring the door bell. 

He had been sitting at the door step, debating on what he should do for the past two hours. And now that he saw you, he just didn't know what to do. Everything that he had practiced, everything that he had replayed over and over again in his head, just flew right out of his head. He had no words left in his brain, and nothing functioned correctly.

"Minhee," Kyungsoo called out your name. "You're not really going to-"

"I said leave." you stood there, staring back at Jongin. He could see the tears in your eyes, and he knew that it was going to be the best for the both of you if he left. 

Without another word, Jongin walked away from the doorstep and away from you and Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo hesitated at first, but he just couldn't let this happen. The both of you were here, face to face, how could he let Jongin leave like that? He couldn't let the opportunity slip away so easily.

"Jongin." Kyungsoo finally called. Jongin stopped and turned around, facing the older male.

"Don't go." Kyungsoo told him.

Jongin shook his head, showing a small smile. Although he smiled, there were crystal clear tears filling up his eyes.

It had been so long since the last time Kyungsoo had seen Jongin cry, and now, seeing him in this condition, it really broke his heart. His two best friends were just stubborn, oblivious, and deeply in love. They were stupid. All he wanted was for you two to get together.

"I'm okay, hyung." Jongin nodded. He sniffed.

Kyungsoo stared at his best friend, noticing the bags under his eyes, how puffy his eyes looked, the red nose, and his quivering lips. It all made Kyungsoo feel guilty, although he wasn't even the one at fault.

Jongin let out a dry laugh, "I should've known that this was going to happen." 

Not wanting to hear Jongin's voice anymore, you ran inside the house, slamming the door as you went in. 

"You have to admit your feelings to her, Jongin! Damn it!" Kyungsoo cursed. Jongin's tears fell, and Kyungsoo regretted cursing at the younger male. He couldn't be mad at Jongin, right now. He had to comfort him.

"She doesn't want to see me," Jongin shook his head. "It's too late."

Jongin turned around, walking away. Kyungsoo sighed to himself, knowing that he couldn't do anything. Your house wasn't his house, so he couldn't just let Jongin into the house without your permission. But if he didn't let Jongin in, what kind of best friend would he be?

After a lot of self-debating, Kyungsoo ran after Jongin. He ran as fast as his two legs could run, and he grabbed the younger by the wrist and turned him around. 

"Listen to me," Kyungsoo said. "You can't give up like that. She loves you." 

"She doesn't." Jongin said, weakly. "I'm nothing to her." 

"Leave me alone." he yanked his wrist out of Kyungsoo's grasp and continued to walk away.

"Honestly, Jongin. If you're nothing to her, then why did she cry? Huh? Just think about that. Why would she shed tears for you, if you're nothing?" Kyungsoo asked. He groaned to himself, giving up. He was no longer going to be your Cupid. The both of you were either going to solve it yourselves, or not at all. 

As selfish as it sounded, Kyungsoo couldn't let himself be your Cupid forever. He had been playing this role for too long. Fate will play the role of Cupid, now. If you guys were actually meant to be, something would happen. 

Kyungsoo walked back to your house, not even once looking back to check up on Jongin. He was upset with Jongin, and he was also upset with you. He was annoyed with how stubborn you were, and he was annoyed with how long it had taken Jongin to realize his feelings for you.

He walked into your room, seeing that you were balled up in the corner, crying to yourself. You had a blanket wrapped around you, and you were on the floor, hugging your knees and crying. 

"Minhee," Kyungsoo cried. "Not again." he shook his head.

You only continued to sob harder than before.

"I don't ever want to see him, again." you weeped.

"You won't survive if you do that." Kyungsoo sighed. "Don't do this to yourself."

You ignored everything that he said, and you just continued to cry to yourself as you felt all of the pain numb you.

Yes, you were stubborn. Yes, you were ungrateful at times. Yes, you made mistakes. But you were only human. Humans do things like that. They aren't perfect. Maybe you were being too stubborn, but it was because he was your first love.

Maybe you assumed something that wasn't true, but it was just because your fear and insecurities took over.

Maybe you were too ungrateful, but pain is pain. No matter what, pain will cause you to cry, no matter if it's a good reason to or a bad reason to.

"Minhee, you're just going to torture yourself if you keep sitting here and crying. You and Jongin both need to accept your feelings for each other." Kyungsoo said. He didn't know how else to put it without giving away the fact that Jongin liked you back. 

"Just leave me alone." you said, your words sounding weak. 

"Okay," Kyungsoo sighed. "I'll be sleeping on the bed. You can come on the bed whenever your back hurts." Kyungsoo mumbled to himself as he climbed onto the bed. He didn't even bother to change his clothes or shower, because he was just so drained from everything that had happened today.

*

Jongin groaned to himself, wiping his tears away as he walked around the neighborhood. He was completely lost.

Although the neighborhood was small, he found that he was lost. He had no idea where your house was, because he had just been focused on the ground rather than focusing on where he was going. 

He looked around, and felt himself trembling. He'd hate to admit it to anyone, but he was terrified. He was in China, all alone, not knowing where he was. It was probably the worst thing that could happen to him at the moment, aside from the situation that had happened with you earlier.

Jongin heard some footsteps in a distance and it only added onto his fear even more. He could be kidnapped right now, or even worse, murdered right at the spot. What was he even doing with his life?

Jongin's body jolted up as he was getting ready to defend himself for whatever was about to happen. He grabbed the handle of his luggage tightly, ready to swing at whomever was about to attack him. 

He may have just been paranoid at the moment, but it was rather that than dead. 

"Jongin?" the figure called out. Jongin shrieked, jumping up five feet back and flailing his luggage around. 

"How do you know me?! Who are you?!" Jongin shouted, continuing to flail the luggage around.

"Luhan! It's Luhan! Is that you?" 

Jongin dropped his bag on the ground and put a hand over his chest, trying to calm himself down. It took awhile for him to calm down, but eventually, his heart rate returned back to normal.

"I knew it was you." Luhan sighed. "Are you looking for someone?"

Luhan remembered how you had told him about you liking Jongin. He still didn't believe that the Jongin that he knew was the Jongin that you knew, but apparently, he was wrong. Here Jongin was, in the flesh.

"I'm looking for a girl." Jongin mumbled quietly. 

Luhan chuckled and nodded his head, knowingly. "Minhee?" he asked.

Jongin's eyes immediately rounded at the name, and his heart sped up. "You know Minhee?"

"Of course I know Minhee. We've been best friends and neighbors since pre-school." Luhan told the younger male.

Jongin nodded his head, remembering how you had told him that you used to hang out with