[title song: bad romance - frank ocean cover]

chapter 22;

“What happened?” You ask immediately, stepping towards Mina's frail figure.

Mina half-smiles, rolling her eyes a little. “It’s a long story. Just don’t cry, okay?”

You wipe at the half formed tears gathering at the corner of your eyes and grimace at Mina. “I’m not going to cry. Jesus, Mina, we were so worried. You couldn’t have called at least?”

This time Yixing speaks, his voice soft, “We were kind of busy, Sooyong-ssi.”

Your eyes snap to his and you frown at him, “And what are you doing here? What happened?”

Yixing doesn’t answer; instead he glances at Mina, his eyebrows furrowed as Mina sighs. “I thought I was dead. After EXO’s warehouse.” Mina mutters as she slowly rubs her hands up and down her arms. “But I woke up in an unfamiliar place and…” You watch as Mina continues rubbing her arms, her eyes fixed on the ground. “I remember wishing I really did die at EXO’s warehouse.”

“Mina unnie…” Jessica murmurs from behind you, her voice soft. You stare at Mina and wonder what happened.

“Mina, I’m sorry.” You say, quickly, unconsciously stepping towards her.

Mina just shakes her head, her eyes snapping up to yours, and gives you a strained smile. You watch as Yixing places a gentle hand against the middle of Mina’s back and Mina closes her eyes, briefly. Your heart breaks for Mina. You’ve never seen her like this. You’ve known her all your life but you’ve never seen her look this weak (not even when you were kids and she was bullied) and it’s absolutely heartbreaking.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s okay. I’m going to be okay, now. I’m sorry for worrying you guys.” Mina replies, with a strained grin.

“Do you know where you woke up?” Minhee suddenly grits out before you can speak. You glance back at her, surprised, because Minhee’s never sounded this angry. She has her fists balled at her sides and she’s scowling.

Mina opens before grimacing, her eyebrows furrowing. You watch as she reaches behind her and touches Yixing’s wrist. There’s some kind of silent communication between the two of them with just their eyes and you’re reminded of the times Mina and you used to do that. But things have changed and your heart twists at that fact.

Yixing speaks, then, a sharp edge to his soft tone that wasn’t there before. “It was chaos after Mina lit our warehouse on fire.” Yixing begins with a sigh. “I passed out because of the smoke. And when I woke up I was in an unfamiliar place, too. I didn’t…I didn’t see Mina until much, much later. We never saw faces. They made sure to cover up their faces. But I…we remember their voices.” Yixing says, speaking as if he’s listing facts out of a textbook. “They wanted information on EXO and LILAC. Things like names and descriptions.”

“Did they…?” Sehun begins, reminding you of his presence. You glance at him and he’s staring intently at Yixing, a small frown on his face and fingers still curled around the back of Jessica’s jacket.

Yixing nods, expression tired. “We tried but…sorry.”

You shake your head. “It’s okay. You did the best you could.” You reply, directing your words Mina.

The silence after your words is almost deafening. Mina isn’t quite looking at you; she isn’t looking at anyone. Yixing’s eyes dart between Sehun and Mina and you don’t know what to say. What can you say?

“Unnie…” Jessica breaks the silence first. “Unnie, do you want to come home?” Her tone is soft; gentle.

Mina just nods, almost timidly, and it’s so different from what you’re used to. You watch as Mina slowly unlatches herself from Yixing, murmuring something you can’t quite make out, before stepping towards Jessica. At that moment, you vow to find the people responsible for this and kill them.

~.~.~.~.~

You’re sitting at the dining table, legs crossed beneath you. You don’t understand who could possibly want information on both EXO and LILAC, who would go to such lengths to get basic information like names and descriptions? Who? At any other time you would have jumped straight to EXO but obviously it’s not them. Does this mean you have to deal with EXO and some other syndicate?

The chair across from you is scraped back and you look up, smiling absently. “What’s Mina doing?” You ask Minhee, watching as she gets comfortable on the chair.

“Sleeping.” Minhee says. She blows her fringe out of her eyes and her easy smile seems a bit forced. “Jessica’s with her. You should see it, they’re all cuddled up. It’s adorable.”

You stare at Minhee for a moment, eyeing the way her fingers fidget nervously on the tabletop. “Is there something wrong?” You ask, your eyes glued on Minhee.

There’s silence before Minhee sighs loudly, slumping over the table until her cheek is pressed to the countertop. “This is my fault. I’m the one who suggested robbing that ing bank in the first place. I’m so stupid. If I kept my impulsive ideas to myself we wouldn’t be here right now.”

A tiny, spiteful voice at the back of your head agrees and you immediately feel guilty at the fact. Logically, you know Minhee is wrong. You roll your eyes. “Okay, yeah, you’re kind of stupid. But this isn’t your fault. We could have said no. We could have stopped after the bank. But we didn’t. This is all of our faults, unnie, not just yours.”

Minhee locks eyes with you and you hold her gaze. Finally she speaks, her voice quiet, barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry about Baekhyun.”

You blink in surprise, not expecting her to mention him. Your chest constricts at the mention of his name and you frown, “Wh—what?”

Minhee manages a condescending eyebrow raise and a tiny smirk that makes you grimace. “I came by this morning and he was here.” Minhee’s eyes glint with an emotion you can’t quite figure out. You wonder what they talked about. “I figure it didn’t go well after I left.”

You can’t help but blush under her scrutinizing gaze. You just shake your head, however, and wait for her to say something, but she just watches you expectantly. “We…we broke it off. It was on good terms, I guess.” You relent, eventually, finding it hard to meet Minhee’s eyes.

Minhee raises a single brow. “But…?”

Something bubbles up in your chest at the look she gives you as she sits across from you, wide eyes filled with so much concern. You’ve held all your feelings in for so long that you’ve forgotten what it feels like to unload some of it. It’s like a heavy weight is being lifted off your chest and it feels good. But at the same time, it makes the pain and hurt you’ve been trying to conceal more obvious and apparent.

Your eyes begin to fill with tears, your nose stinging, and for once you don’t try to stop your tears. You sit with your legs crossed and your fingers clasped together, so tight your knuckles begin to turn white. Your chest hurts and you can’t breathe and it takes you a moment to realize that the pathetic whimpering is coming from you, that your whole body is shaking and hot tears are now spilling down your face and into your lap.

You’re engulfed in warm arms and Minhee sounds uncharacteristically sweet. “You shouldn’t have to keep this all in.”

You can tell from her tone that she doesn’t need an answer to her earlier question. She already knows how you feel. She’s one of your best friends. Her embrace is warm and you hate the fact that you wish Minhee was Baekhyun instead. Minhee brushes a hand through your hair and the warmth makes you feel at least a little bit more secure than usual, even if you can’t help but think of Baekhyun.

“Unnie’s going to figure all this out, okay? Somehow, we’ll go back to how things were before. I’ll fix this.” Minhee murmurs, gently, while you sob into her shirt. “I promise.”

You grimace a little at her words because promises are made to be broken and Minhee, of all people, should know that.

~.~.~.~.~

It’s nearly five in the morning, the next day, when the doorbell starts ringing. You exchange a tired look with Jessica before you stumble towards the door; hands wrapped around the Emergency Baseball Bat Minhee had insisted you and Mina keep in the hall a long time ago. You stare at the door for a moment before you reach for the knob and swing it open, raising your bat, ready to swing and bash a few heads in.

However, standing at your doorstep are three familiar boys: Yixing, Luhan, and Jongin.

“What the are you three doing here?” You hiss, immediately on guard. You don’t even bother lowering the bat in your hand.

Luhan smirks, eyes drifting to the bat in your hand. “You really think that’s going to protect you from anyone?”

“ off, Luhan-ssi.” You respond, mockingly, before you attempt to slam the door in his face. A foot catches the edge of the door and you frown when the door halts to a stop. You have half a mind to slam the door into the foot as many times as possible until you break it.

Yixing smacks the back of Luhan’s head before peeking through the crack of space between the door and the door frame, his expression serene. “I’m sorry about him. Can I come in please? I want to check on Mina…” Yixing asks, his tone soft and strangely calming.

“No.” You respond as you push your shoulder against the door and attempt to get it closed. Yixing may be nice enough but the others are definitely not.

Suddenly the door is shoved back and you squeal in surprise, stumbling backwards onto the floor. “Don’t be so nice, hyung.” Jongin mutters before he casually steps in to your apartment, hands stuffed in his pockets. He looks down at you and you swear you hear a snort coming from him.

“Why do people keep breaking into my apartment?” You groan as you lie on the floor, your eyes rolling up to the ceiling.

Yixing reaches out to you with his right hand and you accept his help, letting him pull you up off the floor. Before anyone can say anything more, you hear Jessica’s voice. “Unnie, what’s going—?”

You turn on your heels and Jessica is standing in the hall, eyes fixed on Luhan, who looks incredibly exasperated. Before you can yell at Luhan or possibly throw something at him, Yixing steps into your line of sight, blocking Luhan from view. “I wanted to check on Mina but they didn’t let me to come alone.” Yixing has his hands up in surrender and after a long moment of silence and locked eyes, your eyes searching his for any sort of malicious intent, you nod, stiffly.

“Fine.” You mutter, “She’s in the second room to the left.” Then you point to Jongin and Luhan, “But they need to leave.”

“Kris told them to stay.” Yixing mutters.

“Kris can go himself.” You bite back. Luhan rolls his eyes and Jongin clenches his fist, eyebrows furrowed.

“I swear they won’t do anything. And Luhan will be quiet, won’t you Luhan?” Yixing says, his tone taking on a dangerous edge that sounds extremely out of place coming from someone like Yixing. Luhan makes a face that makes him look about thirty years older before nodding.

“Sure, yeah, whatever.”

You watch as Jongin and Luhan plop down on your couch and make themselves comfortable. You sigh, glancing back at Yixing, who seems to be waiting for your permission. You nod and watch as he smiles before he heads down the hall and knocks on Mina’s door, letting himself in a moment later. Your eyes drift back to Jongin and Luhan and they seem preoccupied with the TV. You really don’t understand what kind of situation you’ve gotten into and it gives you a headache. So you decide to ignore them.

~.~.~.~.~

You’re making yourself a cup of coffee when you feel an unfamiliar presence in the kitchen. You spin on your heels and frown at Kim Jongin. He’s leaning against the doorframe with the strangest expression on his face.

“What do you want?” You ask, eyeing him as you lean back on the countertop behind you and take a sip of your coffee.

“Why are you so angry all the time?” Jongin questions before he straightens up and steps towards you. With each step, you grow more and more nervous because the look on his face is so perceptive. You have a vague hunch that he knows entirely too much about you and how you’re feeling at the moment. It seems like he knows exactly what’s going through your head and it’s unsettling.

You glare at him. “I am not angry all the time.”

Jongin tilts his head to side and raises an eyebrow before pointing at your face, his index finger centimeters from your nose. He twirls his index finger in your face. “You’re glaring. You haven’t stopped glaring.” He says, matter-of-factly.

You swat Jongin’s hand away from your face. “That’s because you decided to barge into my ing apartment uninvited!”

Jongin smirks then and reaches out to lean on the counter, stance lazy and eyes devious. “But you’re okay with it if Baekhyun hyung barges in uninvited, right?”

“Excuse me.” You snap, frowning at him and the twinkle in his eyes.

Jongin laughs in your face, the sound of it childish and sweet and completely contradictory with his frankly calculating expression. “I know what Yongguk wants you to do to hyung.” You blink, eyes going wide at his blunt statement and he just leans forward, his eyes narrowed. “I heard everything, sweetheart. And I want you to remember that I know all of your weaknesses. Play with hyung and you’ll regret it. I’ll destroy you.”

Then he leans back and plucks the coffee cup out of your frozen hands before prancing out of the kitchen, a sweet smile adorning his tan features.

You slump against the countertop and wonder how the Jongin heard that conversation with Yongguk.

You wonder if Baekhyun knows about that conversation. And if he did, does that mean he wasn’t being genuine with you yesterday? Does he plan on playing with you, too, or are you reading too much into this?

You rub your temples and groan loudly, stomping your foot in frustration, and for a moment, you swear you hear Jongin snicker from the living room.

~.~.~.~.~

It takes three days for Bang Yongguk to finally answer you back. All you receive is a short text message telling you to meet him in the empty classroom on the third floor, in the Math and Science building.

You slam the door shut behind you the minute you walk in and whirl on your heels, eyeing Yongguk seriously. “Took you long enough to respond.” You snap, glaring at him.

He looks up from where he’s sitting on the professor’s desk, at the front of the classroom. You see a flicker of something in his eyes that makes you nervous. You can’t quite figure out if it’s regret or sadness or something else entirely. “I was busy.” Yongguk says, simply, as he leans back on his hands, against the desk. He raises his brows at you, a little challengingly, eyes searching yours. “I hope you were busy, too?” His tone has so many implications and you bite the inside of your cheek to keep from revealing too many emotions.

“Jongin knows.” You say. You survey Yongguk carefully as you step towards him, until your shins graze the tips of his dangling feet. “He somehow heard one of our private conversations.”

Yongguk frowns, his eyes flashing in the dark. “And how did he do that?”

You shrug. “I don’t know. You tell me. You’re the one who picked our meeting place that day.”

There’s a long stretch of silence after your comment and you shuffle on your feet, a little uncomfortable at the fact that he won’t stop staring at you. Then he slips off the desk and steps closer to you, crouching down until the two of you are eye to eye; nose to nose. “Maybe I should kill him then? He’s a liability.” Yongguk murmurs. His tone sends shivers down your spine.

You dig your nails in to your palms and keep your expression as neutral as possible. You should be okay with that idea, with letting Yongguk kill Jongin, no, all of EXO. But you’re not. You don’t want to kill them. You can’t kill them.

You can’t murder them and you hate yourself a little for that. You know they wouldn’t be so forgiving with you.

You stare into Yongguk’s dark, searching eyes, and can’t help but remember your conversation with Minhee from the other day. Without thinking you blurt out your thoughts, “Who’s Jung Daehyun?”

Yongguk looks taken aback for just a moment, his eyes hardening instantly at the name. “How do you know that name?”

“Who is he?” You repeat, straightening up a little when you realize that he’s stepped away.

“It’s none of your business.” Yongguk says, shortly, and you feel a little bad when you catch the obvious sadness in his eyes.

“Was he a friend?” You ask, quietly, as you stare at Yongguk, his dark fringe casting shadows over his eyes.

“I said it’s none of your business.” Yongguk snaps, his tone low and dangerous. But there’s something inherently sad hidden beneath the anger and you sympathize with it. You feel bad. You realize that he keeps things bottled up and although he may not be your friend, although you barely trust him, you feel bad for him. You empathize with him. Maybe you see yourself in him, somehow.

“He’s dead, Yongguk-ssi. You obviously cared about him a lot.” You say, watching as he refuses to look at you, his back facing you. “I’m sorry he died.” You murmur, biting your lip when you see his shoulders tense and shake just a little bit.

That’s when he turns on his heels and the look in his eyes makes you anxious. It’s dark and brewing, like the sky minutes before the storm hits. “Do you really want to know who Jung Daehyun is?” Yongguk asks, loudly; suddenly.

You nod, unable to form words, because he looks so utterly dangerous at the moment.

Bang Yongguk smirks, lips stretching over his teeth and gums into a terrifyingly haunting smile. The sadness in his eyes morphs into bitterness and resentment and your heart is lodged in your throat at the sight. “Jung Daehyun was my best friend…I loved him. So much. I love him so much.”

You open your mouth to say something, but he cuts you off, tone cold. “But he loved your Baekhyun. He trusted Byun Baekhyun so ing much. Too much. And…and I ing did, too. I trusted all of EXO. I’m sure you understand how that feels, right?” Your eyes widen and you can’t believe what he just said.

Yongguk chuckles, humorlessly, before his tone takes on a soft, almost gentle quality, his eyes boring into yours. “You know what your little boyfriend did to Dae? He killed him. That little slit Jung Daehyun’s throat and left him to die. Did your little boyfriend ever tell you that story or did you two not get to the ex-lovers discussion yet?”

You stare at him, eyes wide, and it takes a moment to find your voice. “You’re lying.” You whisper, feeling distraught.

Yongguk steps closer to you, until his chest is brushing against yours and his nose is barely a centimeter from yours. He looks you right in the eyes and speaks matter-of-factly, unblinking. “The only way one joins EXO is by doing something horrible. They’ve all done ed up things to get where they are now. The only way to climb your way to the top is to tear apart the people in your way.”

You’re shaking your head, a little franticly, and Yongguk laughs, his voice rumbling in your ear. “Baekhyun is not an exception. You and I both know he’ll kill you without hesitation if anyone asked him to. He’d do it without a moment of regret. Then he’ll find another person to love. He’s done it once before. What makes you think he won’t do it again and again and again?”

“I don’t believe you.” You stutter, and it’s obvious from the look in Bang Yongguk’s eyes that he knows you’re trying to convince yourself. You believe Yongguk even if you don’t want to. He’s planted a seed of doubt in your mind and it won’t stop growing. You don’t know what to believe anymore.

“Ask him yourself. He’ll lie to you, of course, but there’ll be a slight hesitation. There’ll be a moment where he looks away and then he’ll look back at you, ing smiling like he always does, and then you’ll know.”

You don’t realize you’re crying until you feel rough hands brush away the tears. You find it hard to clear your mind. Your thoughts are racing, full of questions, doubts, and so many contradictions. Do you believe Bang Yongguk? Or do you believe what you’ve always believed about Baekhyun?

You take deep breaths and your eyes are closed, but you can’t stop thinking.

He kisses you then.

It’s a little rough but it’s strangely comforting and before you know it, you’re returning Yongguk’s kiss. His hold on you is reassuring. It’s firm. It’s not Baekhyun. You don’t love Bang Yongguk and that’s why it’s somehow easier. Your thoughts seem to slow down, the world comes to a halt all around you, and you find that you can think again. You can breathe again.

He pulls away and you open your eyes, your chest rising and falling at a normal pace. Yongguk’s eyes are hidden by the shadows of his fringe but his smile is soft. He brushes your hair away from your face. “Do you trust me?” Yongguk asks you, his voice husky and soft.

Your first thought is yes and that’s what throws you off the most. There’s something solid and consistent about Bang Yongguk and you know you shouldn’t trust him. You don’t trust him. But, at the same time, you do. You don’t know why or how, but you do.

He doesn’t wait for an answer. He just grins and his lips curl up in an unsettling yet amused way. “Ask him about Daehyun.” Yongguk states, commands almost. “Maybe then you’ll finally be able to trust me.”

He leaves then and only later do you realize that you never quite caught a glimpse of his eyes, always hidden beneath dark shadows.

~.~.~.~.~

The next day, you can see Baekhyun just down the hall, his smile wide as he talks to Jongdae. You tap your foot, nervously, and wonder if you should interrupt. Baekhyun really wasn’t kidding when he said he wouldn’t bother you anymore. He doesn’t even sit at the same table as you at lunch anymore. He speaks to you in short, formal, and incredibly polite sentences in Communications and you return the gesture. You don’t know why you feel so nervous and a sense of déjà vu washes over you. This was exactly how you felt before you started dating him.

“You’re blocking the halls.” A familiar voice mutters from right beside you. You jump and glance back. It’s Yongguk. Of course, it’s Bang Yongguk. His eyes flicker from yours to, undoubtedly, Baekhyun. Then he snickers and you know he’s laughing at you. “Since when did you get nervous?”

“That’s what I’m wondering.” You mutter, scathingly, eyeing Yongguk. He just rolls his eyes before gently pushing you forward, in Baekhyun’s direction.

“Go. Do it.” Yongguk urges you on, his hand on your back.

You shake his hand off of you and he laughs. Just as you’re walking towards Baekhyun, the two of you lock eyes. It happens so slowly. He’s laughing at something Jongdae says and then he turns his head. His eyes lock with yours and his laughter dies down to a tiny smile and your heart flaps and somersaults in your chest in a way you’re positive is life-threatening and dangerous. Then his teeny tiny smile drops into a frown and you swear your heart drops to the pit of your stomach at the exact moment.

Before you know it, you’re standing in front of Baekhyun and you realize you can’t run away now. Jongdae is there and it’s probably considered social unacceptable to run away now anyways.

“Hey.” You say, a little too breathlessly for your taste. You frown. “I need to talk to you.”

Baekhyun stares at you and his eyes are hard. “You can say whatever you want right here.”

You make a face at him and he rolls his eyes. Jongdae suddenly interrupts, his tone amused. “I guess I don’t deserve a hey too, do I?” Jongdae asks, imitating your voice at the word ‘hey’ with an incredibly exaggerated love-struck tone.

You turn to him and glare because Jongdae is currently batting his eyelashes at Baekhyun mockingly. “I don’t sound like that!” You exclaim. “And I don’t look like that either.” You add, swiping at his face.

Jongdae just cackles, clapping his hands, before he sighs, dramatically. “I guess I should leave you two lovebirds alone, huh?” Jongdae asks.

“Jongdae, shut up.” Baekhyun mutters, scowling.

Smirking, Jongdae reaches out and caresses Baekhyun’s cheek, ignoring the murderous glare and the swatting hands coming from Baekhyun. “See you later, Baekhyun-ah.” Jongdae says in a high pitched tone, still batting his eyelashes. Then he turns to you and winks suggestively, “Have fun.”

Then he prances off down the halls and you can’t stop from blushing at his words.

You turn back to Baekhyun and he’s mumbling something under his breath, his cheeks a little red. You find it cute. When his eyes meet yours he looks incredibly professional. “What do you want to talk about?”

You look him right in the eyes and he doesn’t look away. “Jung Daehyun.” You state, watching him carefully.

His eyes flash with recognition. He smiles at you and it’s so, so sad. “So you’ve been talking to the upgrade, haven’t you?”

“Yes.” You say, nodding.

He nods, too, and smiles affectionately. But his eyes are guarded; careful.

“How did Jung Daehyun-ssi die?” You ask, softly. “Did you kill him?”

The world seems to stop for a moment, the sound of bustling of students around you becoming obsolete. The world stands still and all you focus on is Baekhyun.

And for just a fleeting moment, so fleeting you wonder if you imagined it, his smile falters.

His eyes dart up and to the left, over your shoulder, and they narrow in accusation.

For just a fleeting moment he isn’t smiling; he isn’t looking at you.

And then his eyes are back on yours and his smile is back.

“No. I didn’t kill Jung Daehyun. I barely even knew him.” Baekhyun says, his voice reassuring, but so distant to you.

The world comes to life again, the sounds of bustling students loud against your ears. You stare at Baekhyun and all you can think of is how Yongguk was right.

Yongguk is right.

Baekhyun is lying.

Baekhyun reaches out and cups your cheek, patting it gently. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, Sooyong.” His voice sounds like a warning but you don’t take his words to heart. You don’t know what to believe anymore.

Then, Baekhyun’s hand falls away from your face and he disappears into the crowd of people around you. You turn on your heels, eyes searching, and Yongguk is there, a single eyebrow raised and a sympathetic frown falling from his lips.

He sighs and beckons you to him. Your feet move on their own accord.

~.~.~.~.~

“Phase Three is nearly complete. In exactly twelve days, Phase Four will commence. I need you to be ready the moment I call you, okay?” Yongguk says, his voice crackly but loud, because of the speaker phone.

You nod before realizing he definitely can’t see you nodding. “Yeah, yeah. How many times are you going to ask? The three of us will be there.” You glance at Minhee and Jessica for confirmation and they nod, expressions terse. You haven’t bothered telling him about Mina because something, you’re not quite sure what, tells you Yongguk doesn’t need to know. Besides Mina is in no condition to participate in anything dangerous. You don’t want to risk losing her again.

Yongguk laughs and you can imagine him rolling his eyes and rubbing the back of his neck. “We’re going to get the whole town involved. We’re finally going to take down EXO.” He sounds elated. “I need to go. I’ll text you with any new information. See you soon.”

The three of you murmur a garbled sort of goodbye, but he’s already hung up. Minhee looks at you funny but she doesn’t say anything.

You can feel Jessica’s eyes on you, however. There’s something in her tone you can’t quite place. “Why did you seem so comfortable with—?”

“Who was that?” Mina cuts Jessica off and you jump at her voice, surprised by her presence. She’s leaning against the living room door and her eyes are wide with panic.

You stand up, “Mina, what’s wrong?”

She shakes her head and her bottom lip is trembling. You’ve never seen her so upset before. “Who. Was. That?” She bites out, her fingers clenched so tight her knuckles turn stark white.

“Bang Yongguk.” Minhee says, her voice soothing. She steps around you and wraps an arm around Mina. “We’re working with B.A.P to take down EXO. Do you know him?”

She nods her head erratically, her breathing loud. You turn to Jessica, “Call Yixing.” Jessica opens once, before closing it and digging for her phone. “Breathe, Mina.” You murmur, stepping towards her. “Please breathe.”

It feels like an eternity before Mina manages to catch her breath and her eyes are watery. She looks so, so tired, the scar on her face standing out magnificently against her pale face. She clutches Minhee as she stares at you, eyes seemingly a thousand miles away.

“It’s him.”

You can hear Jessica speaking franticly with Yixing from behind you. You blink at Mina. “What?” You ask.

Mina sounds frail and tired. “That was him.”

---

a/n: I am SO sorry for being so incredibly late with this update! I experienced some writers block so I feel like this chapter was a little bit choppy and mehhh and too sad . And it was really hard to write because it's in 2nd person and there's so many little details i needed to put in here. And then EXO went through some major messes in the last 2 months, especially regarding Baekhyun. And I was very busy. So please tell me your thoughts on this chapter!!! I'd appreciate it sooo much!!

Here's a spoiler/hint for next chapter: Baekhyun in a dress...somehow....someway...

Anways, there's 3 more chapters to go, I'm tearing up a little I feel like this story is my baby and it's going off to college soon. oh my goodness, thank you to everyone for sticking with this story and reading it and showing interest in it omg

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i love you all so much I hope you're having a nice day!

xox