19 > > >

             Baekhyun walked hurriedly as he calmed himself from the anger he was feeling. He was frustrated; he was upset; he was exasperated, but no, he had more complicated things he had to fix.

             Great. Just great.

             He honestly didn't know what the world had against him. Out of all the people, why did it have to be him? Why did it have to be him that witnesses everything? Why did it have to be him who assists silently in the sidelines each time? Why did it have to be him who is left lonely and rejected?

             And now he was making his way fantastically to the girl who was the culprit of this day's wonderful disaster, and how Baekhyun was just loving what he had to do. (note sarcasm on italicized words)

             Jung Krystal.

             Baekhyun knew there was something suspicious about her when he first met her. The moment of recognition that flashed in his head and the cloudiness that followed. Baekhyun should have known then what it meant, who she was.

             But he didn't. Just like the others, he fell for her stupid magic too.

             *I wonder if it was right that I said those words to Luhan-hyung. . . No, no, he deserved to get a scolding to get him out of his stupid state. Don't back down on your plan now, Byun Baekhyun.*

             Baekhyun continued his brisk walk to the old coffee shop and stopped only for the stop lights and such. It was at times like this that he wished he hadn't made that vow.

             *Too late, Byun Baekhyun, you already did.*

             He let out a huffed breath when he finally reached the cafe and stepped in the cafe casually once he was sure the temporary fatigue was gone.

             His eyes scanned through the cafe quickly until it stopped on a familiar girl with long black hair. Baekhyun smirked to himself and took quick strides to her table.

             He took a deep breath before opening his mouth to speak.

             “Krystal-noona, annyeong~”

< | >

             Soo Jung-noona isn't Yoona, hyung. Get that in your head.

             Luhan stared at his bleeding palms as the sun set behind him. Baekhyun's words still rang in his ears, taking up most of his thoughts. He stayed seated on the cold wooden bench and made no effort at all to keep himself warm despite the cold, harsh wind. He could hear the students come and go, their steps uneven and hurried.

             *Probably rushing to get home.* Luhan thought to himself. *Humans are always so impatient.*

             He sighed.

             It was supposed to be at times like this that Luhan felt at peace, with the soft rustling of the trees and the birds' melancholy songs. He was supposed to be relaxed. He was supposed to be calm, but he wasn't.

             Each time he closed his eyes, there would be images haunting him, images that he would much rather forget, images he thought he had buried and left behind. Her voice haunted him; he pale bloodless face haunted him. Everything about her suddenly seemed to come back to Luhan, and it haunted him and killed him so in the worse way possible.

             Her clear brown orbs stared at him innocently as Luhan took a tentative sip from his cup. He savored the bitterness of the brewed coffee and his lips in satisfaction. He took one more sip before raising his brows questioningly at the girl before him.

             He watched as she cleared awkwardly and opened to speak in which her soft chirpy voice squeaked nervously.

             “W-why did you invite me for coffee?”

             Luhan bit his lip in thought before smiling at her innocently.

             “Because you, Woman, are interesting.”

             He saw her frown for a moment before opening to speak again.

             “I have a name, you know.”

             Luhan leaned closer with a sly smile while the girl leaned back away from Luhan.

             “Pardon?”

             He almost chuckled as he saw her bite her cheeks in frustration.

             “Jung Soo Jung.”

             “Hm?” Luhan blinked at her several times before arching his brows in question again.

             “My name is Jung Soo Jung,” she stated with a tint of pink on her cheeks.

             Luhan finally let out his chuckle and ruffled her hair with a soft smile. He pouted for a moment when Soo Jung pushed his hand away but still puled back with the same soft smile.

             “It's a nice name.”

             Her cheeks turned into that pink shade of blush again.

             “Fitting for a cute girl like you.”

             Luhan watched her interestingly as she slowly lifted her head and met his watching eyes with a hard glare.

             “Are all boys like this?”

             Luhan leaned back on his seat and tilted his head in question.

             “What?”

             “Didn't your girlfriend just die?”

             “Yes.”

             “Aren't you sad?”

             “Yes.”

             “Then why are you flirting with me?”

             Luhan let out another chuckle and flicked her on the forehead.

             “Who said I was flirting with you?”

             “I think its quite obvious, Mr. Lu.”

             Luhan faked a shudder and glared at her pointedly.

             “Don't call me that. It sounds so stiff.”

             Soo Jung ignored him and tapped her nail on the wooden table instead, all traces of her previous nervousness gone.

             “Well? Why are you flirting with me.”

             “Geez, you're so stiff.” Luhan rolled his eyes and took another sip from his coffee. “I just want to be able to let go, okay? People say that the best way to let go is to find someone new.”

             “It isn't. Who's stupid enough to say that?”

             Luhan shrugged in reply.

             “It's not like I have any other alternatives.”

             Soo jung gave him another pointed glare and sighed.

             “Listen up,” she started. “The problem with letting go is that you can't unless you learn to accept the reality before you.”

             Luhan stared at her blankly.

             “I think you're misunderstanding something.” Luhan shook his head bemusedly. “I have accepted her death. It's simple really. I have accepted a long time ago that nothing lasts in this world.”

             Soo Jung did nothing but probe Luhan with her eyes.

             “Have you really, Mr. Lu? Have you really?”

             Luhan quickly opened his eyes and scolded himself mentally for doing it again. He laughed bitterly to himself as he clutched his chest.

             “It's frustrating how just your name unlocks everything else.”

             The comfort he thought he felt before was different now. The comfort was gone and he was left with just the pain of being left behind, of being left alone.

             The problem with letting go is that you can't unless you learn to accept the reality that you are facing.

             “I have accepted reality, Soojung. I have.” Luhan stated out loud more to convince himself than to convince the daunting voice in his head.

             He took a deep breath and unclenched the fists he didn't know he was clenching. Her clear, daunting voice echoed in his head.

             Have you really, Mr. Lu? Have you really?

             Luhan closed his eyes tightly and buried his face in his hands.

             “Please-- please stop haunting me.”

< | >

             Baekhyun sat on the wooden chair with his elbows resting on the matching wooden coffee table. His eyes regarded Krystal coldly as she, in return, looked at him bemusedly.

             “To be honest, I never took you as the sharp type, Baekhyun,” she stated as she stirred her mug of black coffee slowly.

             Baekhyun barely gave a reaction to Krystal's statement and continued to study Krystal carefully. Her daunting brown eyes and long lashes were the same as ever. His eyes then landed on her black hair, and he smirked.

             “That's because I was too busy clouded with my love for you,” Baekhyun simply said. “How about you? I never saw you as the type to change your hair color either. I thought you liked brown.”

             “I do like brown, but you never did, didn't you? It was the only thing about me that you didn't like.”

             Baekhyun chuckled.

             “Well, it's different now.”

             Krystal chuckled in return and took a sip from her coffee.

             “How so?”

             Baekhyun's smile disappeared, and looked at her with all seriousness and bitterness.

             “Because I hate everything about you now.”

             Krystal just laughed it off and looked at Baekhyun bemusedly once again.

             “Oh, you're so scary, Baekkie.”

             “Don't mock me.”

             “Well, I'm sorry. Why don't we just go straight to the business you have to do with me?”

             Baekhyun watched as sparks of fire danced in her eyes and looked at her coldly.

             “I'm just here to say three things.”

             Krysal arched her brows.

             “One, stop what you're doing while it's just the start. Two, don't you dare try to hurt Yoona again. I won't let you kill her like how you killed those other innocent girls. And three, Luhan doesn't love you anymore so scram.”

             Baekhyun didn't wait for a reply and simply walked out leaving his coffee cold and untouched on the coffee table.

< | >

             The morning news played loudly on the television as Yoona sat silently in the dining room. She thought about her talk with Suho yesterday.

             Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out.

             His words echoed repeatedly in Yoona's ears. She thought about it all night. She couldn't help but just feel like there was some hidden meaning behind those words.

             She stared at her cup of coffee glumly while she waited for her “escorts” to come fetch her, albeit they were already very much late. The sun had long since risen, and the sky was bright and sunny. Outside, you could hear the buzz of the morning crowd and the honking of rushing cars.

             Yoona grunted and buried her face in her arms. Despite having so much sleep the day before, Yoona was anything but energetic. She spent most of her night thinking of different things, of the events that happened that week, of Suho's tragic story about the boy and the girl, of those twelve beckoning words that Suho had uttered, of Kris and his weird persona the night before, of different other things really.

             She closed her eyes and pictured the events of the day before. The quick swish of wavy black hair before the falling pot, Luhan's warm arms around her, Baekhyun revealing himself from behind the walls, Luhan's sudden unusual awkwardness, the awful feeling she felt, the headache, the cold clinic, Kris's warm hands, the small argument, Suho's story, walking home with Kris–

             “Yoona, you shouldn't hang around those guys too much, okay?”

             Yoona's smile was replaced with an innocent stare as she looked at Kris with much confusion. She blinked her eyes innocently at Kris and raised her brow.

             “What do you mean? Don't hang out with who?”

             Kris let out a disgruntled grunt and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked at Yoona in the eye and let out a soft relenting sigh.

             “You know what? Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything.”

             Yoona pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

             “But you did say something~”

             “Yah! Since when were you this bubbly and nosy? What happened to the Im Yoona who didn't care at all and simply lived her life in ignorance?”

             Yoona huffed and stopped walking.

             “Who did you say lived her life in ignorance?” She glared at Kris and beckoned him to repeat what he had said.

             Kris didnt stop walking but instead continued walking further in front of Yoona.

             “You heard me. I said you used to live your life in ignorance.”

             “Don't you mean yourself.” Yoona mumbled under her breath and sped up to catch up to Kris. Her lips remained pouted as she walked silently beside Kris.

             She didn't know what was wrong with him. Yes, she was ignorant. There was even a time when a boy was already confessing to her, but she had just walked away from him nonchalantly, not realizing the atmosphere of the situation at hand. But, Kris should have known better. He should have known how Yoona hated being reminded of how dense she was in the past. It was just plain mean of him.

             Their walk continued on silently until Kris, finally seeming to realize what he has done, spoke up to apologize.

             “I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm just– I'm not myself right now. Please understand.”

             Yoona had simply nodded that time and left the topic alone, but she was still genuinely worried.

             It might be selfish for her to say that she didn't like how Kris was acting and wanted him to be the usual Kris who was joking and gentlemanly to her again, but Yoona couldn't help it. She wasn't used to Kris talking to her harshly or talking about things that he knew Yoona wouldn't want.

             Kris had always been a really sweet but sometimes overprotective brother to her, and she'd be lying if she said that she didn't miss his over-protectiveness or even hated his over-protectiveness. Sure, it got annoying most of the time ––at times, but it was still endearing in a way that's simply unique to Kris.

             Kris was, well, a friend of Yoona during her last year of high school. Kris was a great guy, and they immediately got along in just a short amount of time. Their time together was just short, but Yoona still enjoyed it nonetheless. Though there are still times when Yoona wonders about Kris's sudden disappearance.

             Yoona's thoughts were disrupted when there was a sudden knock at the door.

             *Hmm? Is it Kris and the others? That's weird. They usually just bust in.*

             Yoona rose up from her seat and switched the television off. She made her way warily to the door and took a deep breath before opening the door slowly.

             “Hey.”

< | >

Annyeong~ I have updated! Did you miss me? ;) I personally enjoyed typing this chapter so I hope you enjoyed reading it too~ Please do comment your thoughts and we can talk about it there~ (comments are inspiration lol) if you have any questions don't be afraid to ask me :3 This is unbetad so I apologize for any mistakes. I'll try my best to update tomorrow as I already have the chapter planned in my head :) I'm sorry for the weeks delay but I promise to make up for it. . . well, I have to sleep now cuz I still have school tomorrow. . . 
though before I leave, any thoughts on who came to fetch Yoona? ;)

See you on my next update~
Saranghaeyo~ <3 <3