After that day at the Prom, Chanyeol starts to skip on his classes and no one in his circle of friends heard news about him. When they're trying to reach him on his phone, their attempt calls would always go on his voice mailbox. When they're trying to go see and talk with him in personal, it's either he is asleep or he is out with his 'friends'.

"I actually don't know what's happening to him..." Chanyeol's mother said, heaving a deep sigh. "Ever since that night, Chanyeol changed..."

"Changed?" Ri Na asked, her voice obviously worried for her best friend, for the man that she loved. She was the first one among the group who noticed it. It was really uncharacteristic of Chanyeol to skip his classes just like that. He was never the student who absents without sending the teachers his excuse letters.

Chanyeol's mother nodded her head as she placed the tray filled with snacks on the table in the living room. "He went home with his grandpa, all drunk and a real mess. I tried asking him the next day but he hurried up saying he's running late for school."

"Chanyeol skips school these past two weeks, Auntie." Lu Han informed and it didn't shocked their friend's mother.

"I know." She admitted. "We tried talking to him but he still didn't returned to the Chanyeol he used to be. He said everything's fine but as a mother, as his mother, I know everything's not."

Ri Na wondered why the sudden change of Chanyeol and she couldn't do anything but sigh, breathing out all the worries she feels.

"Yah." Ri Na's thoughts were distracted by Kris, he was handing her a bubble tea, intentionally stealing her attention. Ri Na flashed him a small smile, accepting the bubble tea to her hands. "Guess what?"

"What?" Ri Na asks out of the blue, sipping on the drink.

"Eun-Ji and I are now exclusive." Kris informed her and Ri Na turned to him with big, round eyes. He nodded to confirm what he just said. "I asked her last night if she could be my girlfriend and she said yes."

"Well I'm very happy for you two!" Ri Na beamed. "Don't ever dare to break her heart, arrasso?"

Kris bit back the urge to roll his eyes. "Tell that to her. She keeps on making me jealous---"

"Making you jealous or you really are misunderstanding things?" Ri Na cut him off, raising an eyebrow. Kris on the other hand breathes out in defeat, making Ri Na smile in victory. "Eun-Ji will never hurt you. She loves you. A lot." She sips on her drink before speaking again. "And you have to trust me on this."

"Alright, kid." Kris replied back and when Ri Na was about to cheer him up more, she heard Minseok mentioning a name she never heard news about for the past three weeks. Ah. She misses him. She misses his smile, that freaky smile that everyone laughs about but for her, it is a smile that makes her smile back, a smile that completes her day. She misses his voice, that deep manly voice she wouldn't get tired of hearing. She misses him.

"What's with his get-up, though." Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, judging their friend who just arrived. Ri Na slowly turned to see it for herself. At first she couldn't find him in the crowd near the entrance of the auditorium, she even struggled, looking for the simple Park Chanyeol but a minute passed and she couldn't still find him.

"He's there." Finally, Jong In pointed at him. At a tall guy wearing black jeans, plain white shirt underneath a black signature jacket as the rest of his company is wearing it too.

"Chanyeol." Ri Na says his name in a whisper. Speaking of different, the Park Chanyeol she's seeing right now is way opposite to the Chanyeol that she knows. Aside from what he's wearing right now, he had his arm wrapped around a girl she thinks about her age. It hurt her, starting to flood her mind with questions if that girl is his girlfriend or not.

"Let's go and talk to him." Joonmyun said and walked to Chanyeol's way, the rest of them following behind. "Chanyeol." He called, a soft smile was up on his lips. Chanyeol spared them a glance, his eyes meeting Ri Na's but what hurt her the most is that he looked away, looking back at Joonmyun with a blank expression on his face.

"Sup?" Chanyeol asks nonchalantly.

"Sup your face, you've been skipping your classes for weeks." Baekhyun sent him a semi-glare but the taller guy just smirked in reply.

"What happened to you, Chanyeol---"

"Yo man. I'm hungry. Let's go grab something to eat." One of the guys standing behind Chanyeol's back whined, cutting off Ri Na's question.

"I'm hungry too, Babe." The only girl from Chanyeol's group said and Ri Na looked down, pained from what kind of endearment the girl used in calling him.

Chanyeol took a quick glance at her, before nodding his head. "I'm rest assured that I'm going to pass even if I skip school for months." He breathes out and his heels. "It's nice seeing you guys again." That was his last words before walking away. Chanyeol left them just like that. And some didn't liked the way he talked.

"That jerk. What's gotten into him?" Baekhyun asked, making the rest of them think.

"Maybe he grew up." Ri Na knows it is a lame explanation but obviously couldn't think of anything right now.

"Grows up into a complete a-hole?" Tao commented, earning a stern look from Kris. "What? Is it just me or you guys didn't noticed how he ignored Ri Na."

"But still, Chanyeol is older than you so you shouldn't talk about him that way." Kris explains. He glanced at Ri Na with sympathy. "Are you okay?" He asked and the ten guys turned their eyes on her as well.

Ri Na looked at them with an obvious forced smile on her lips. "Of course I'm okay. At least we know now that Chanyeol's safe and fine, right?"

The guys know that she isn't okay but they didn't want her to sulk too so they just go with it. "Let's just go back to our seats. The Graduation practice is still on-going." Joonmyun suggested and they followed what he said.

"Thank you for bringing me home again." Ri Na thanked Kris as they neared her house that late afternoon. Ever since the Prom, Kris was the one who officially takes Ri Na to their house.

"No worries." Kris replied, parking the car in front of her house.

"You know what? Why don't you join us for dinner? I can tell Eun-Ji to come over too." Ri Na beamed and Kris didn't think twice. They stepped out of the car, Ri Na dialling Eun-Ji's number on her phone. She stopped when she bumped into Kris, looking up and sees Chanyeol looking glaring at them. Her eyes wondered why he was looking at them like that. "Chanyeol..." Chanyeol's lips formed an annoyed smirk, shaking his head as he kept his hands inside his pockets. He walked past the two, Ri Na following him with hopeful gaze. "Yah." She called but Chanyeol kept on walking ahead. "Park Chanyeol!" She yelled and finally it made Chanyeol stopped from walking. She stared at his back, breathing out before saying, "What is wrong with you?"

Chanyeol replied without looking back at her. "I don't want to see you again."

Ri Na stared unbelievably at him. Lips half-parted, totally confused on why he's acting this way.  "...What?" She said in a hurt voice, tears slowly forming on the corner of her eyes. "Why?"

"Because I don't want you to be part of my life anymore---"

"What are saying?!" Ri Na pushed him on his back, Chanyeol turned to look at her, showing his eyes that filled with tears too. It didn't stop her from confronting him because she was so done of Chanyeol ignoring and making her feel that she never existed in his life. "Why are you doing this?"

But Chanyeol wore a sad, bitter smile on his face. He glanced at Kris before looking back in Ri Na's eyes. "You looked good together. And I wish you well." He wiped his tears as he took a step backwards. "Take good care of her, Kris." He told him, turning his back on them and walked away.

053014.

Author's Note:

• Enabling the Comments Section again.
• Leave comments at your heart's will!