Please Don't - K.Will

Present

“Aerin,” the male spoke. “I missed you.”

With a frantically beating heart, Aerin’s eyes widened as she watched the man take off his mask, confirming her assumption. “Luhan,” she said, her voice barely audible as she stared at the male with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. The male had agreed to meet up with her and Sehun at the fair. Aerin had expected to see him later that night, but the prospect of suddenly encountering him face-to-face was too much for her that it made her stagger.

It was more so since a part of Luhan’s appearance had changed since the last time they had met. His naturally brown hair was now dyed jet black, his face had slimmed, and his physique was fitter. His physical change also affected those around him--even Aerin wouldn’t be able to deny this fact. It was as if his presence attracted people around him like a magnet, luring them with his undeniable charm.

Aerin found herself attracted as well and she hated it. Seeing the new Luhan, her heart had gone berserk. Her mind had gone haywire. Her voice was barely audible and her body stiffened. Luhan's new look suited him a lot, and it definitely made him even more dashing. Aerin should have been complimenting him, but she could do nothing because of her mental breakdown.

“Aerin,” Luhan spoke, his soft and calm voice reaching the girl’s ears. “How do I look?”

Swallowing hard, Aerin’s face stiffened as she tried to pull off a smile—only to undoubtedly fail. “C-charming.”

His voice was like a spell that made her hear nothing but him. His smile felt so angelic that it made her soften. His eyes--they were deep and dark, ones that were able to mesmerize her for the second time. Breathing heavily, Aerin’s eyebrows creased as she internally began to loathe the situation. She was supposed to be waiting for Sehun as he was buying their snacks. She was supposed to be walking around with him. She was supposed to be only with him; yet there she was, entrapped by Luhan's presence.

Aerin thought that she had already disposed of everything about Luhan inside her heart, that during the course of his absence, she had already replaced the bitterness she felt with happiness. But having him right in front of her made her realize that it wasn’t enough.

Once is enough. Twice is too much.

For the second time, her heart stirred. For the second time, her resolve was ruined.

“Aerin! Finally, I found you—“ Sehun’s voice snapped Aerin out of her thoughts as she quickly turned to her side, seeing the male looking at their direction with narrowed eyes. “Hyung, is that you?” Sehun asked, approaching them cautiously as he eyed the older male inquisitively. Once Luhan grinned, Sehun’s eyes went wide in utter shock, causing him to almost drop the ddeokbokki. “No way…”

“So does black suit me?” Luhan wriggled his eyebrows, running a hand through his dark hair. His actions brought a mocking smile on Sehun’s face while he handed Aerin her food.

“You wish,” Sehun scoffed, stabbing a piece of ddeokbokki with his toothpick before looking back at his brother in disbelief. “I never thought the day would come when you’d go mad enough to dye your hair. I mean, you said you liked your natural hair color, right?” he reasoned, bringing a piece to his mouth.

“I still do, but there’s no harm in changing, right?” Luhan just shrugged. Just as Aerin was about to grab a bite of the food, Luhan suddenly grabbed ahold of her hand and brought the piece to his mouth, making the girl feed him. The action caused Aerin’s face to flush while Sehun’s eyes widened. Despite knowing that Luhan was always close to Aerin, the younger male was still startled. It wasn’t really a negative feeling, but he decided that it was just due to his possessive side. The emotion aggravated, however, once he heard the older male’s next words. “Aerin said I looked charming though. That means I successfully charmed her with this new look.”

Sehun choked on his food, gaining both Aerin and Luhan's undivided attention. Utterly worried, Aerin immediately shoved her ddeokbokki towards Luhan and took her bottled water from her satchel, letting Sehun drink from it while patting his back. “Sehun, are you okay? Can you breathe? You should eat more slowly or else you’ll really choke!”

Regaining his composure with a bit of difficulty, Sehun eventually sighed in relief. “Sorry about that.” He then took Aerin’s hand from his back and slyly smiled, making the girl puzzled. “But it was worth it since you were worried about me.”

Seriously, this guy. Aerin frowned and flicked Sehun’s forehead, causing the male to make the same expression. “Of course I was, you dummy. Didn’t you know that you could suffocate by just choking?” She then tightened her hold on Sehun’s hand and rubbed his chest worriedly, leaving the male smiling like an idiot. “Be careful next time, okay?”

Luhan felt uneasy at seeing everything unfold right before his eyes. He felt that something he feared all along had actually happened, and his feelings of regret of leaving Busan resurfaced. “Aerin…” he called, putting on a small smile to hide the discomfort he was feeling. “Why are you getting so worked up over something as small as that?”

Aerin was disconcerted by his voice, and she ended up letting go of Sehun’s hand. It was something she knew she shouldn’t have done, something she shouldn’t hide, but she still did it. She knew it was wrong of her to do so, but her body suddenly acted upon his voice, and she hated it, more so once she saw Sehun looking at her in confusion. “Uh… I… well,” Aerin stuttered, at a loss for words. With both boys staring at her expectantly, she got even more frustrated. Damn, don’t be stupid now, Aerin. “Choking on food is life threatening.” Swallowing hard, she ended up harshly stabbing a few pieces of ddeokbokki from Sehun’s tray and took them all in one bite.

“Seriously?” Sehun burst out laughing, completely disregarding the frown that was slowly appearing on Aerin’s face. “Aigoo, you’re so cute, Aerin.” He beamed, pinching the girl’s cheeks despite her protesting cries.

Obviously not liking the way things were going, Luhan decided to interfere. Placing Aerin’s barely touched tray on the nearby bench, he grabbed Sehun’s wrist and pulled him away from the girl. “Sehun, stop it—“ His initial actions stopped once he noticed Sehun’s right ear sparkling. Blinking his eyes in disbelief, he pulled his younger brother closer and examined his ear, only to see a silver star shining on it. “You had your ear pierced?”

“Ah, yeah. I got it last time when Aerin and I went to the Busan summer night festival.” Sehun grinned, proudly showing off his earring to Luhan. He pointed to his lower body as well and showed the anklet hanging on it. “Look, we even bought anklets.” He pointed to Aerin’s ankle this time and chuckled. “We got matching ones! Aren’t we adorable?”

Aerin felt a lump forming in at the silent atmosphere. A bigger part of her wanted to cover up Sehun’s mouth and just go home. She thought that announcing such things weren’t necessary and important. They bought it for the sake of experiencing it rather than showing it off, at least that's what she thought they bought them for.

She was afraid of Luhan finding out about her and Sehun; that was why she had let go of Sehun’s