---xxxi;;

That was a bit harsh, wasn’t it?

Shiyeon trudged lazily through the hall, tossing her bag carelessly to the side. She quickly slipped into a large shirt and shorts, collapsing onto her bed.

Why do I care? It was a stupid bet anyway.

The brunette clenched her teeth, rolling to her side before curling into a ball. She gulped down a scream, shutting her eyes tightly and digging her nails into her palms. After her outburst, Kai had stared at her in hurt and shock but quickly slipped on a poker face and left her to regret her own words. Shiyeon had simply walked the other way, seemingly unfazed but her mind was still hazy on the argument.

Biting the inside of her cheek, the distraught girl let out a muffled groaned and covered her face with her hands, “Why the hell did I do that?! Yoon Shiyeon, are you ing retarded?!”

I don’t care. I don’t care. That’s right. You don’t even care. You never liked him, and he never truly liked you. What are you getting worked up about? There’s nothing between us, so that fight shouldn’t have mattered. Yeah. Shiyeon bit her lips. Yeah…no. No, that hurt. It wasn’t supposed to hurt.

The girl clasped a hand over as she choked back a sob.

You weren’t supposed to fall again.

“YOU HAVE A CALL! ANSWER THE CALL! PICK UP THE CALL!”

, Shiyeon pulled the pillow over her head and attempted to drown out her obnoxiously loud ringtone. It rang multiple times before the woman hissed irately and unwillingly grabbed her phone.

“Yah! I’m sleeping!”

“And I’m worried, so shut your ing face!”

She blinked as a familiar, defiantly snarky voice shot back. She glanced at the caller ID, wincing when she realized it was the haphazard blonde kick-boxer she called her best friend. Chuckling nervously, she raised the phone to her ear again cautiously, “Yeah, uh, sorry for leaving early.”

“My ! It took the four giants to pull me back from beating up the tan motherer. What the hell happened? Are you okay?”

Saebyul phased from an aggressive attacker to a worried mother in a matter of seconds. She immediately began fussing over the younger girl, bringing a small smile to Shiyeon’s face. Said female nodded, though the blonde couldn’t possibly have seen it, “Mhm. Don’t worry about it.”

There was a scoff from the opposite end of the line, “A little too late now. How are you two going to work this out?”

“I…” Shiyeon froze, running dry. Saebyul waited patiently for her to finish. A throbbing pounded at her temples and she inhaled deeply, finally gathering the limitless thoughts inside her head, “I’m not going to. Exo’s safety is more important than some silly bet right now.”

The frown was evident in her voice, “Baby girl, what are you saying?”

Shiyeon rubbed her eyes tiredly, massaging her temple, “I’m saying that just because we ‘dated’ doesn’t mean he had feelings for me, or that I had feelings for him. It doesn’t really change anything.”

“Yeon…”

“Trust me, Byul.”

“No, I can’t. You haven’t been yourself, and the stress is obviously eating you away. I can see in your actions that you care more for Kai than you think you do. And I can hear the pain in your tone. That Kim Jongin shows his affections for you every second of the day, so don’t you dare say he doesn’t like you.”

Is what Saebyul intended to say.

Instead, she sighed heavily, “I’ll be there in ten minutes. Do you want chocolate, coffee, or oreo flavored?” she paused, “What am I saying? I’ll get just every flavor there is. It’s not like we can’t finish it.”

Tears sprang to the brunette’s eyes again, but she blinked them back and smiled weakly, “Yeah…that sounds nice,” her voice cracked, hearing every unspoken word the blonde couldn’t bring herself to say. She couldn’t lie to Saebyul. They knew each other way too well.

True to her words, Saebyul barged into the apartment in 10 minutes on the dot and dumped a heavy bag full of ice cream and snacks on the coffee table. She charged straight for Shiyeon, wrapped loosely in a thick blanket with her emotions falling apart at its seams, and enveloped the younger girl in a bear hug.

“I don’t hug often. Embrace it,” the blonde grumbled.

Shiyeon laughed softly, bringing her arms around her friend, “Nice pun.”

“I try.”

Once the two had settled on the couch with an abundance of pillows, blankets, and food with the cheesiest movie possible playing, Saebyul nonchalantly began her self-proclaimed “counseling”, “Yeon, what’s really holding you back from telling him? Other than this pride bull you have.”

The aforementioned girl snorted, “If pride is BS, then you’re just as bad as I am,” she shoved a chip in , chewing slowly, “I just…I don’t know. I don’t want him to worry as much as I am, and I hardly think he’s going to deal with me forever. Someone like me, grumpy to the very core. This bet was a mistake, Byul, and mistake made based on my pride. And this bet will end based on my pride.”

Saebyul gazed at Shiyeon for several seconds before sighing, turning her attention back to the chick flick. She shoved a spoonful of her second tub of ice cream then attempted to speak with a full mouth, “Whatever you say. I just hope you realize, you’re inside the picture. I’m outside. You can only see from your point of view, but from outside I can see everything. What you think is different from what is actually there, just what like I think is not as accurate as I make it out to be.” The girl paused, gulping down the ice cream, “Kim Jongin, that boy. He might not love you yet, and I wouldn’t know since I have zero expertise in this field, but he definitely cares for you more than a friend would. More than just a crush or puppy love. Just let go of whatever is holding you back, and give him a chance. He deserves that much. You deserve to experience a cheesy, fluffy romance.”

As her speech ended, the apartment was so silent that Saebyul immediately regretted wasting her energy only an emotional pep talk when the listener was asleep. But Shiyeon was listening to every word, and could only mouth her amazement at the lazy girl’s unexpectedly deep thinking.

“You know…maybe I’ll try that.” She finally replied after a moment of thinking, “Maybe I’ll give this whole love thing another try. That’s all he was asking for, right?”

Shiyeon blinked when there was no response.

“…right?”

Snore.

Face-palming mentally, she chuckled and snuggled deeper into the couch. Of all the times she could have chosen to fall asleep on me, it was right after she made such an inspiring speech. So much for being admirable.