Sehun felt weird tingles under his skin today and it wasn't a good sign. it always occurred whenever something bad happened so the boy was extra jumpy. Or maybe it's the intense stare Tao gave him from time to time made him overly conscious about everything. His hyungs couldn't understand why the maknae kept messing up the choreography today and he received quite a bit of scolding from the dance instructor. 

"Sehun. Put your mind to it. You're not concentrating." Mr. Lee sighed, pinching his nose bridge. It was rare for one of the dancers of the group to mess up so many times. Especially Sehun, he hadn't messed up so much before. 

Embarrassed. the maknae lowered his head and bit his lip. "I'm sorry, seonsaengnim." 

"Do you want to rest for the day? Get your mind together." Mr. Lee softly asked, though it sounded more like a command. 

The boy reluctantly nodded. He slowly shuffled out of the practice room, bringing his backpack with him. Walking aimlessly along the corridor, Sehun couldn't shake off the discomfort bubbling inside his stomach. He really didn't feel good. He might really need to rest and get out his mind together. The dreadful thought of getting cut made the boy shuddered. He definitely didn't want that. Feeling determined, he would make use of this 'day-off' and work his off tomorrow. 

Lost in his thoughts, Sehun didn't realize how one of the door opened and he bumped right into it, or more correctly it bumped into him. 

"Ow! !" The boy cursed loudly as he clutched his nose, doubled over in pain. 

"OH MY GOD!! I'm so so so sorry." A female voice exclaimed. She ran over to the teary-eyed boy crouching down on the floor. "Are you hurt?" She asked worriedly. 

Sehun whimpered. It hurt so much, his eyes welled up in tears. Looking up at the culprit, he recognized her as no one else but his secret crush. 

"OH MY GOD!! SEHUN! Your nose is bleeding!!! Oh gosh." Jamie cried, taking some tissues out from her bag. She gently removed his hands from his bloody nose, raising his head up by his chin. Sehun blushed as Jamie lightly damped the blood, stopping it from flowing down his nose. 

"Hold this." Jamie instructed while Sehun quickly obeyed, holding the tissue under his nose. "Keep your head up." 

She took another piece of tissue, wiping his previous tears streaks. Smiling apologetically, Jamie replaced the dirty tissue with a new one. "Let's get you to the nurse." 

Sehun nodded as he stiffly stood up, with his head slightly titled up. Jamie chuckled quietly at his awkward pose which Sehun pouted a little childishly, he whined. 

"It hurts and I can't really see." 

"Here." Jamie extended her hand for Sehun to take which the boy hesitantly did, blushing furiously in the process. Entwining their palms, Jamie led Sehun to the infirmary slowly, taking extra caution of their surroundings, afraid that the boy might acquire more injuries. 

"You're such a klutz." Jamie snorted. "How can you actually bump into the damn door? I have no idea." 

"Excuse me. Is that how you treat a patient? I have a bleeding nose here." Sehun grunted. 

"Well what should I say? I'm so sorry for giving you a bloody nose because you just happen to be right by the door when I opened it? That it was my fault I opened the door in your face without knowing you're right next to it?" Jamie turned back, giving the boy a don't-you-dare-argue expression. 

Sehun resulted to a whole series of pouting, puffing his cheeks cutely in hope the girl would give him some slack. 

And of course it didn't work. 

"A black eye will magically appear on your face if you don't stop acting cute." Jamie deadpanned. 

Sehun glared at the apathetic girl but said nothing in fear of really getting a black eye. They walked silently to the infirmary. Sehun couldn't help thinking this might be just be the bad feeling he got the whole morning. He smiled in relief because that meant there would be no more surprise for the rest of the day. 

Jamie opened the door to the infirmary, sighing because it was the first time the nurse was there upon their arrival. 

"Hello. We have a bloody nose." Jamie announced, tugging Sehun into the room with his head still titled upwards awkwardly. 

"Oh dear, sit down." The nurse exclaimed worriedly, gestured Sehun to take a seat. The boy blindly strode forward with one arm extended, made Jamie snickered at his silly antics. She grabbed his wrist and guided him towards the chair. Sehun stiffly sat down after Jamie placed the stool right under his bum. 

"You're such a baby." Jamie teased. 

"Say the one who opened the door into my face." Sehun retorted as Jamie ignored his childish argument.

The nurse came back shortly with some gauze and a pair of scissors which had Sehun's eyes widen in fright. Noticing the little fear in said boy's expression, the nurse lightly laughed. "It's okay. I'm just cleaning up the dried blood." 

Sehun visibly relaxed at the comforting words, still holding the tissue under his nose obediently. Jamie chuckled and pressed a hand onto the boy's nape, messaged the area softly. "You could just drop the tissue now Sehun. I'm pretty sure it's not bleeding anymore." 

Sehun flinched as Jamie's hand came in contact with his neck. He was sure he's as red as a tomato while the girl messaged his stiff neck gently. He tried his best to hold back a small satisfied moan as the muscle relaxed themselves under her ministrations. 

"Ummm..." He unconsciously hummed when Jamie's thumb applied pressure and dragged itself along his neck spine. It feels good.

"Did you say something?" Jamie asked, peering over Sehun's shoulder as she thought she missed what he just said. 

Sehun immediately flushed, realizing he just moaned. Oh my god, it was so embarrassing he couldn't even handle. 

"N-nothing." 

The girl pursed her lips in confusion but soon shrug and went back to messaging Sehun's neck (which he immensely enjoyed). 

The nurse smiled at the cute sight as she applied some saline onto the gauze. She slowly wiped away the dried blood tracks while Sehun grimaced at the sight of the disgusting stains on the previously white gauze. 

"Except for the bruising on your nose, everything else is fine." The nurse said slowly as Jamie nodded along her diagnosis. "But that nose would take quite a while to recover. Refrain yourself from any form of exercise for a week."   

Unknowingly to both females, Sehun rejoiced mentally at the thought. Now he had a perfect excuse for not going to dance practice. An excuse to excuse himself from group practice. He frowned, pretty proud of his acting skills when Jamie raised his eyebrows in concern. 

"But I have dance practice." He pouted, adding the 'believable factor'.

The nurse smiled warmly. "I could write you a form. Don't worry." 

"Thank you." He said in a sad voice, lowered his head disappointedly while smirking inside. Perfect.

"Here." The nurse handed him a small box, usually carried a tube which Sehun gratefully took. "Just apply the cream twice a day. It helps to relieve the bruise." She explained. 

As the nurse wrote the form, Jamie snatched the box out of Sehun's grasp. She opened it and took out the instructions. 

"Cautions: Not for idiots with tendency to space out." She read. 

"Hey!" Sehun exclaimed, snatching back his medication. 

"No seriously. You need to pay attention to your surroundings next time idiot. You can't afford to damage your face, Mr. Handsome." Jamie crossed her arms over her chest. 

Sehun's heart went on rampage as Jamie called him "handsome". So she did think I'm handsome afterall.

"Don't worry. Even with a bruised nose, I'm sure I'm still handsome." Sehun puffed his chest out arrogantly. 

Jamie rolled her eyes, slapping his head. "Shut up ." 

"Thanks Ms. Lovely. I'll keep that in mind." Sehun smiled charming as he nudged her hips with his elbow.

Jamie scoffed, turning towards the nurse to see her smiling at them teasingly. She flushed slightly. 

"Get that slip you idiot and let's go." She urged him, grabbing her duffle bag after bowing to the nurse.

Sehun shot up from the stool. He thanked the nurse and bowed to her furiously before running after the little girl, grinning and calling her name. 

"How cute." The nurse chuckled. 

Sehun caught up to Jamie while she kept her gaze straight ahead. "Where are you going?" He asked. 

"Lunch obviously." She said, voice dripping with sarcasm. Her stomach growled at the moment of the word 'lunch'. 

Jamie froze at the weird sound. For a second there, Sehun expected her face to pink from embarrassment but instead she just placed her hand on her stomach, rubbing it with her head tilted to the side. "I must be really hungry." She mumbled. 

Sehun gawked at the girl's shamelessness but Jamie paid no mind to the male as she fastened her steps, in a hurry to get some food. His stunned expression soon turned into an awed one. 

"Wow." He exclaimed dumbfoundedly. "You never fail to surprise me." He chuckled at Jamie who nearly jogged at this point towards the building's entrance. 

"Wait for me, Grumpy!" He shouted, running after her.

Faintly, after they existed the building, a squeak could be heard along with Jamie's threatening voice. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING GRUMPY, POOP HEAD!"

Lunch with Jamie was like usual. Starting with their endless bickering about which bubble tea flavor was best and ended with Jamie's conclusion with coffee beat them all in which Sehun disagreed, resulting in Jamie giving him a couple more bruises. The boy was currently lounging in his favorite bubble tea shop, the one that he and Jamie met for the first time. The owner welcomed his regular customer with a biggest smile but he frowned upon noticing his bruised nose. Sehun had explained what happened and the older couldn't help but laugh despite feeling pretty bad for the young male. 

"So she opened the door in your face?" The older man asked as his laughing died down. 

"Rather than open, she slammed it right into my face." Sehun emphasized.

He pouted as ajusshi laughed loudly once again, probably imagining the actual happenings. "Stop laughing ajusshi. It hurts a lot." 

"I'm sorry. But I can't help it." He said between breaths. "Oh gosh." 

Sehun pouted some more, gulping down his bubble tea irritatedly.

"So what did she do?" Ajusshi asked after calming down. 

Sehun blushed a rosy pink which didn't go unnoticed by the older man, unknowingly to the boy, the older man smirked. "She apologized and took me to the infirmary then we went out for lunch together. She bought me a cup of hot chocolate too." He smiled shyly. 

"Well I guessed it went well between you two." The older man smiled, leaning forward from behind the counter. "Despite the fact, you slashed out at each other like dogs and cats upon first meeting." 

Sehun snickered, remembering how intimidating the girl was unlike her small stature and seemingly cherubic features. 

"Honestly, I hoped to never meet her again. She scared the heck out of me." Sehun confessed, scratching his neck with a sheepish smile. 

"She might come off as arrogant and snobbish but she's good girl." The owner said, with a sudden seriousness. 

"I know." Sehun smiled knowingly. "I made a mistake and judged her too quickly." He admitted. 

The older man smiled warmly at his confession. He must like little Jamie a lot. The older man thought.

"Do you -" Ajusshi began but then the entrance bell chimed, signaling a customer. He immediately switched back to his friendly business smile. "Welcome to Chat Time." 

Walking towards the counter, the newcomer flashed a small smile towards the older man before, instead of ordering, lightly tapped Sehun on the shoulder. Said boy turned around with a mildly surprised expression as he broke into a grin. "Hyung!" 

The older boy grinned back, giving his dongsaeng a bro hug. 

"What are you doing here?" Sehun asked.

Noticing the purple blotch on Sehun's nose, Tao gasped. "What happened to your nose?!" 

"Oh." Sehun sheepishly smile, blushing. "Jamie opened the door into my face. And yea.." 

Tao's face contorted. "Ouch. Did it hurt a lot?"

"It was even bleeding!" The boy exclaimed in a too-cheery-voice-for-his-condition. "That grumpy cat is sure too strong for her own good." The boy shook his head and let out a chuckle at the small flashback. 

Tao furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. How could he sound so happy with a heavily bruised nose when he's the face of the group? Oh my, he must be so head over heels for her.

"How long will it take to recover?" Tao asked, concerned. 

"The nurse said it depends but for one week I should be careful." Sehun replied. 

"How about dance practice?" 

"Well that..." Sehun scratched his neck. "need to be postponed then. I will came to watch you guys but I don't think I could take part. I don't want to risk worsen the bruise." 

"Okay good enough. But then you have tons to catch up with. Will you be alright?" Tao asked worriedly. 

"I'll be fine hyung. You know how much of a fast learner I am." Sehun smiled reassurringly, patting Tao's on the shoulder. "Oh! What are you doing here anyways? I thought you don't like bubble tea?"

"Well... not that I don't like it. I just prefer coffee." Tao shrugged. 

"Mmmm... you guys sure suit each other." Sehun mumbled, turning back to sip on his forgotten glass of bubble tea. 

Tao thought the younger said something but the boy just swatted his hand saying 'nothing important'. Figured the boy suddenly upset about something, probably his performance in the dance practice today, Tao wanted to distract the younger off the matter. 

"How is Jamie by the way?" He found himself asking. "You guys seems terribly close these days." 

Just like a little puppy, Tao could see Sehun's imaginary ears perked up at the sound of his not-so-secret-crush. "We're getting along well these days actually. She still hit me plenty but I don't think she dislike me anymore." Sehun grinned, sipping happily on his bubble tea. 

The fact that Jamie's affections weren't directed to him seemed to slip out of his mind for a moment because Sehun couldn't stop smiling. 

"Do you like her Sehun?" Tao asked out-of-the-blue. 

The boy visibly stiffened, eyes bulging out of its sockets. "What?" He squeaked. 

"Do you like Jamie, Sehun?" Tao repeated, looking him dead in the eyes. 

Pupils dilated, Sehun almost answered Tao's question on auto-pilot because who was he kidding, he wasn't even denying his feelings for the girl. In split of a second, Sehun's brain seemed to reboot itself, he re-weighted the options. He could tell Tao 'yes' right away and admit his affections or fire back.

"How about you hyung, do you like her?" 

Tao was taken aback by the younger's retort. He had expected the boy to deny or admit his feelings not firing back a question. Collecting back his composure, he pressed once more. 

"You haven't answered me Sehun." Tao sighed. He could sense this going to be another childish fight with no solutions whatsoever.

"I will as long as you answer mine." Sehun bargained.

"I asked you first Sehun. It's only right that you answer hyung first." 

"How about no?" 

"No to you don't like Jamie or no to not answering my question?" Tao quirked an eyebrow in amusment.

. Sehun cursed when he realized he had set the trap for himself. No other choice, ey?

"It's no to answer your questions hyung. But if you answer mine, I'll answer your first one." 

"Oh~ smart move." Tao smirked. "Fine. I'll answer yours. Yes. I like Jamie. Now it's your turn." 

Sehun's eyes widened upon hearing Tao's reply. It's too fast, too straight forward, too sudden. It's official. His first crush would end in vain and a broken-heart. 

"Sehun? Are you ignoring me?" Tao waved a hand in front of a space out boy, too lost in his thoughts to remember his end of the bargain. Tao resulted in pinching Sehun's cheeks to wake him up.

"Huh?" 

"You just spaced out for a moment there. It's your turn. Answer my first question." Tao urged. 

"Oh." Sehun shakily mumbled, still couldn't get over the fact how his hope was crushed right then and there. 

"Yes. I like her. But she doesn't feel the same. I know." He dejectedly muttered under his breath, turning his attention back to his poor neglected bubble tea. 

The two didn't say anything for a while and let silence swallowed up the atmosphere. As Sehun sipping on his favorite drink which didn't taste that nice anymore slowly, Tao stared at the empty space in front of him. Many things crossed his mind and he didn't know what to do. He told the boy he liked Jamie. But what he missed was that it wasn't the same. With the way the younger felt for the young girl. It also seemed like the boy knew Jamie liked him as well. What he also missed was that he knew that too. 

Liar. He suddenly heard. Somewhere in the back of his mind. You're a pathetic liar.

He could see too. Himself. Cowering in a dark corner. Wallowing in self-pity and guilt. Coward. Pathetic. And a disgusting Liar.  

He could see the younger him. In the same position. But now surrounded by incoherent yells that got clearer clearer by the minute. He made them out to be insults of the same things on loops. Liar. Coward. Pathetic. Die.

Hands tightened on his knees. Eyes tightly shut. Tao found it difficult to breath. Difficult to get away from those things. Creeping at the back of his mind. Telling him he's worthless son of a . 

Tao tried so hard to will them away. He had been able to for half a year. Now they're coming back. And he found it difficult to stay away from the dark thoughts. Threatening to eat him up. 

So he fell forward with  thump. The yelling got louder. And louder. Before he could recognized them being Sehun's worried one, he passed out.

I'm really sorry. He didn't know he said before darkness engulfed him.