CHAPTER NINE

forgiveness does not always come from someone else.

Krystal was furious.

She was furious at Minho, at Kai, hell, even at Jonghyun, and she hadn’t even seen the boy since that one time she’d passed him in the hallway a few months back at the beginning of freshman year. But she was just angry at everything, at herself, because she was the one who constantly failed to protect those that she loved.

People always figured Krystal for some kind of , but the truth was that she was simply scared. She’d watched the strongest people around her crumble - she couldn’t bear for it to happen to her, too. So she guarded her heart carefully, locking people out so that they only saw the very shallow parts of her.

Krystal was someone who was proud, who played on the safe side of things. She was cold and she was ruthless, blunt because she could pick out the tiniest details and flaws that people preferred to hide. She used all of these things to protect herself, because if they focused on hiding their own flaws, then Krystal could just as easily hide her own.

When Jessica had found Jonghyun, Krystal was happy. She was grateful, even, to the boy whose beautiful voice could melt even Jessica Jung’s ice heart. Jessica had spent too much time in her life believing that it wasn’t worth being dragged down by things like temptations and love.

But it all turned out to be a joke. A cruel, sick, twisted joke.

Krystal used to think love was pure, beautiful, perfect. She used to dream of the guy who would sweep her off her feet the way Jonghyun did to Jessica. Oh, how amazing it would be, to stare into another person’s eyes and find that they loved her just as much as she loved him...

And then Jonghyun broke up with Jessica, and Krystal watched as Jessica returned to the cold, unfeeling ice princess she had been before.

Krystal was a person very much like her sister. Both the Jung sisters were proud, strong, defiant. Jessica was not one to cry over trivial things. But Jessica, who had never believed in love, cried over a boy who left her and never looked back.

Krystal had watched her sister come totally apart over a boy, and suddenly, she realized that love wasn’t all that she had once thought it had been. She saw the way Jessica had been hurt, saw the way Jessica slowly built herself back into someone who pushed everyone away, building towers and walls around her heart once more.

And seeing her sister like that, Krystal knew she never wanted to lose herself to someone else the way Jessica did. So she followed after Jessica, who taught her how to be strong and proud, depending only on herself.

And then Kai happened.

Sulli and Krystal had become friends somewhere in middle school, in the mess of everyone changing and trying to fit into what everyone else wanted them to be. It was before Jessica had met Jonghyun, it was before Krystal stopped believing in love. Sulli became her best friend, then, and whatever secrets Krystal had to share, she gave them to Sulli, because she trusted her.

Sulli always did the same for her. Except for one thing.

Befriending Kai wasn’t something Krystal approved of. Of course, in middle school, Kai had just been a sort of background thing, a person she used to hang out with in elementary school, a boy who lived a few blocks down that she could always depend on if she wanted to go out and enjoy a bike ride with someone, or play hopscotch with. He was the kind of shy boy who didn’t really care what Krystal wanted to do, as long as it was fun for him, too.

But people grow up. They change. And Kai changed into the same kind of person Jessica had learned Jonghyun was. Kai became the kind of person Krystal hated the very most.

What he did to Sulli, it was something she could never forgive. Because it was the same thing Jonghyun did to Jessica, it was the same damn thing Krystal promised herself would never happen again, to anyone she cared about.

She wouldn’t, she couldn’t forgive him, because she couldn’t forgive herself, either, for letting it happen in the first place.

“Boo.”

Krystal shrieked, jumping a foot in the air while Sehun cackled, pointing at her with his eyes turning into little crescents. She gasped, trying to catch her breath, one hand over her heart in an attempt to calm it.

“Oh Sehun! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She snapped at him, slapping his shoulder. He just laughed, ruffling her hair in a moment of affection as he slung his arm around her shoulders.

“You should’ve seen your face,” he grinned, and she elbowed his side, otherwise letting him keep his arm around her shoulder. “It was priceless.”

“You ,” she muttered, and he chuckled in response.

“It was pretty perfect,” he said thoughtfully. “I should scare you more often. Ah!” He mimicked her screech and jump, and she pushed him away, rolling her eyes.

“Stop it,” she said, and he smiled, coming to walk beside her again. He didn’t know where she was headed, but he followed her anyway, having caught sight of her after practicing basketball by himself. She’d looked angry, upset, even, and he thought maybe he’d take her mind off of whatever she was thinking about. She hadn’t looked angry enough to hit him too hard, so scaring Krystal was just a little bonus for himself.

“Where are you going all alone, pretty lady?” he asked, his voice going mockingly low as he imitated a typical flirty gentleman. He tipped his nonexistent hat towards her, earning a small smile from the girl.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “I was supposed to go catch a movie, but that’s not...really happening anymore.” Sehun could sense her hesitation, and he shoved his hands in his pockets, lazily matching her pace as they walked.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I don’t think--”

“We can go watch one now,” he interrupted, before letting her explain. “It’s not too late yet. Or you can come to my dorm, and we can watch some stupid Disney movie or something. Kyungsoo said he has singing practice, and that he wouldn’t be coming back to the dorm because he’ll probably just end up crashing at his friend’s place.”

Krystal glanced at Sehun, and she could see how sincere he was when he looked back at her, his expression gentle. He raised an eyebrow and held out a hand, and she eyed it before slowly placing her hand in his. Sehun smiled, curling his fingers around her hand and tugging her down the street.

“Disney or the theater?” he asked, trying to hide his smile when she slowly gripped his hand as well.

“...Disney,” she said, and this time, he couldn’t help the wide grin spreading across his face.

“Stop it.”

“Stop it.”

“Oh Sehun.”

“Oh Sehun.”

“Don’t copy me!”

“Don’t copy me!”

“Yah!” Krystal threw popcorn at Sehun, who grinned, pressing himself against the bed frame in order to avoid the popcorn being flung at his head. He mimicked her “yah!” as well, going mockingly high to match Krystal’s feminine voice and she kicked her feet a little, trying to push him off the bed.  

“Stop it,” she said, whining a little, and Sehun bit his lip, chuckling. Krystal always tried so hard to look cold, tried to be cruel to Kai and mature in front of MInho, but Sehun liked her much better like this, with her guard down and her true childish personality being shown in front of him.

“You’re such a kid,” he grinned, and she snorted, tossing another piece of popcorn at him. He caught it in his mouth, beaming, and she rolled her eyes.

“Coming from you,” she muttered. “Weren’t you copying everything I said just a few seconds ago?”

Sehun shrugged, shifting his position so that he sat closer to her, and he lay down a bit, putting his head in her lap and looking up at her. She didn’t protest, instead settling for chucking popcorn at his face, and he laughed.

“I never said I wasn’t one,” he chuckled. “I just said you’re a kid, too.”

She shrugged, grabbing the candy bar off the table and narrowly avoiding letting Sehun slip off her lap and onto the floor. He flailed a little, struggling to keep balance when she moved, and she giggled, taking a bite out of the bar.

He didn’t say anything, only letting out a huff of complaint. The movie kept playing, but neither of them were really paying attention. He didn’t even know why they’d chosen it, since they didn’t even like the movie that much anyway.

Sehun didn’t really suppose he cared, though. He was comfortable like this, just sitting and fooling around with Krystal. To him, it was better than any movie. After the few months that they had met each other, Krystal, who was known for being hard to read and harder to get to open up, had ended becoming one of his best friends. Maybe she told herself that she didn’t trust him, that he was just a casual friend, but Sehun knew better.

Krystal had opened up to him, had shown him a side that she rarely showed to anyone else. The childish side that she tucked so firmly away, because she hated being viewed as weak or insecure, he loved that side. It was the Krystal he knew best, the one who could relax around him rather than remaining stiff and angry. He was grateful, even, that he could be her support, even if his kind of support only meant letting her laugh freely, without any burdening secrets.

Someday, he told himself. He’d get there someday, to seeing Krystal’s locked mind, and all the little things she never told anyone else. He’d be able to give her the comfort and advice that she refused from everybody. But for now, he was satisfied with just being able to take her mind off of things that troubled her.

That’s what friends are for, right?

AUTHOR’S NOTES;

sehun is precious okay

sestal is cute too idk they’re both lovable brats

also yeah threw in some broken!jongsica, we’ll see more of that later ^^ i’ll probably also put in some jung sister moments c:

also sorry for the lack of updates/short updates… i’ll try my best OTL please be patient ; A ;

and, do you guys have any soshi/exo or soshi/suju pairings? i already have plans for f(exo) and f(shinee), but i don’t know, if you guys have any particular pairings that i don’t already have planned, i may as well throw it in as well for a little fluff or whatever xD let me know! :D