Sehun froze as the name escaped the small girl, only then realized it was more serious then he thought. For some reasons, his brain went on automatic without his consent. He lifted the Peach off his lap despite knowing the kitten indeed fell asleep. The kitten stirred awake as his little body landed on his owner's lap. But it didn't fazed him much since he fell deep into slumber seconds later, snuggled to the warmth of Jamie's tummy. 

The girl, on the other hand, peered up at Sehun curiously, wondering what's up with him as the boy refused to look at her. "Sehun?"

"I know it's hard but what else did you hear?" Sehun croaked, head hung low as his fringe covered his eyes. 

Unable to decipher Sehun's sudden change, Jamie had no choice but to answer the boy earnestly. "Everything?" She breathed with uncertainty in her voice. 

"Everything as in?" Sehun asked again with the same uncertainty in his voice. 

"As in from the beginning to the end." She sighed, feeling the dread bubbling in her stomach. 

She flinched when Sehun grunted at the confirmation.

God! She knew but she acted like she didn't. What's with people and pretend that's everything alright? 

"What's with you guys and pretense!?" He groaned in annoyance and frustration. "If it's not alright, just say it's not. Why pretend it is and beat yourself up? You're not happy. I'm not happy. No one's happy! So what's the point of covering up when in the end, you're still miserable all the same?!" 

Jamie stared at the exasperated boy who had turned to look her straight in the eye. His eyes flickered anger, concern, longing and all those things he rarely showed anyone as it made Jamie wondered if it was really true, all the things she had heard. Her heart pounded heavily within its confinement while her eyes roamed across the boy's cherubic face, searching for the benefit of doubts but found nothing. So she continued to look at him but not actually doing so as her mind was on rampage. Her heart remained fast beating and sweats started gather on the surface of her palms. 

"Just tell me now," Sehun started, catching her off guard. "Are you alright?" 

As Jamie about to open to answer, Sehun cut her off. "-and don't lie to me."
 

Jamie froze and stared at Sehun who stared back. No one moved as they seemed to read each other's souls. She tried to see through his mind, what he's thinking, what he's feeling or whether his heart beat fast when their eyes was locked with an unbreakable force. The girl's breath hitched as Sehun lifted a hand to cradle the side of her face  while their gaze never wavered. The boy began to smooth his thumb along the expanse of her cheek, gazing at her with adoring but pain-filled orbs. Jamie began to feel those swirls of feelings emerging from the pit of her stomach, twisting and stabbing at her heart. It throbbed as the prickling spread throughout her whole body. She desperately wanted to say it was alright, it was okay but the trembles in her ragged breaths was saying otherwise, that it's not okay, not alright. Her heart never stopped throbbing painful against her left ribcage, threatened to break its way out. Leaning against Sehun's comforting hand on her cheek, Jamie sighed shakily as her voice rumbled from the back of , unstable and wavering. 

"It hurts a lot..." She bit her lip, enough to draw the blood, pointing at the spot where her heart laid. "Right here." 

"Really?" Sehun's lips tugged up in an apologetic smile as he pulled her close until thighs were flushed against each other. "That's what I thought."

The feline girl blinked in shock as she felt a wet sensation on the back of her hand. Her eyes opened wide in shock as tears kept falling, drops after drops. But Sehun was quick to brush them away, reciprocated what she did for him; no question, no inquiries, just understanding and comfort. Slowly painful sobs raveled, echoed through the small living room. 

"I-It h-hurts." Jamie stuttered between sniffles, looking down at her clenched fists, resting on top of her laps. "I-It r-really h-hurts." 

"I know. I know." Sehun repeated after himself while enclosing his arms around the small girl, one hand tangled itself in her hair as he let soft strands weaved themselves in between his fingers. "I know. I know."

Jamie's sobs intensified and sooner wetted Sehun's shoulder with her salty tears. Sehun remained silent through the whole ordeal, rubbing her back continuously to calm her down. 

Jamie slumped her body against Sehun's, giving up on holding onto the perfectly fine facade. The hurt, disappointment, sorrow surfaced as they bit back at her. Cries after cries resonated through the enclosed space of the cozy but lonely apartment. Her tears and snots dirtied his yet again another favorite tee but he didn't care. As long as he's besides her, he'll make sure nothing would harm her. 

Interesting enough and to Sehun's glee, Jamie somehow ended up with her head rested on his shoulder, arms loosely wrapped around his waist while her breath fanned into his neck, making goosebumps spread across his whole body. He didn't dare to move in fear of waking up the petite girl so he tried to maintain the position until his back ached and sore badly. As gently as possible, Sehun untangled her arms around his torso while supporting her head with his free hand. Slowly he laid her down the couch after placing a small cushion underneath. Looking around for a blanket but didn't find any, he ventured around the small apartment in hope of finding one. The weather was getting quite cold at night and he wouldn't want her to suffer more than she already did. He opened the door to her bedroom, smiling in victory though remained at the entrance, feeling a little bashful for entering her private space without permission. Taking a full 5-minute eye-tour around the dim room lit by the moon light, he blushed at the imaginary scene which Jamie snuggled under layers of blankets, deep in slumber as her usual furrowed brows and grump disappeared, revealing a vulnerable but strong willed girl with cute button nose and pretty pink lips. Lost in his thoughts, Sehun never realized how hard he blushed until he spotted a piece of clothing, very closely resembled a bra, laying on the carpet floor. Ears tinted red, he hurriedly ran inside and pulled the first blanket he saw out of the room. When he made it back to the living room, he nearly laughed out loud at the sight in front of him. Orange (he refused to call him by the initial name) found Jamie's head comfortable enough and made himself home, sleep away like the little kitten he was. Shaking his head at the odd owner and pet duo as Jamie gathered the spineless bundle into her arms, hugging Orange to her chest despite squirming a little, the little kitten soon fitted his head under her chin and proceeded to go off into kitty dreamland. 

Sehun smiled as he draped the blanket over the sleeping figures, making sure they are comfortable enough before crouching down, watching as their chest came up and down as they breathed. Albeit a little creepy it seemed, he considered it watching over their well-being though he knew he just loved looking at Jamie's sleeping face. It made him wanted to kiss her so badly, as passionate as possible just to tell her how much he cherished her. 

Giving into his temptation, Sehun slowly leaned in; all the while watching her lips, slightly opened as she breathed. Pink pretty plump lips; how much he wanted to capture those between his, he refrained. Placing his lips onto her forehead, Sehun lingered before pulling away with rosy cheeks, smiling shyly at what he just did. He continued to watch, occasionally caressing her cheeks or tracing the contours of her eyebrows, her nose, her lips. Afraid he might turn into a love crazed stalker, Sehun hestitantly pulled his phone to text her, telling her he'd locked the door and threw the key inside through the gap before stratching Orange behind his ears and stood up. Putting on his shoes, he looked at the petite girl curled up against the small kitten and nearly squealed at the cuteness. Suddenly he experienced a light blub moment which made him grinned widely as he fished out his phone. Treading back to the couch on his tiptoes, Sehun captured the rare moment, turning it into a memory which he was sure, would never be forgotten. 

As always, Jamie woke up to the shrill alarm from her phone. Cursing under her breath, because her head hurt like there's no tomorrow, Jamie brought the phone to her face, checking the screen. Mildly surprised to find a message from Sehun, she opened it and smiled at the boy's sweet gesture. 

From: Sehun 

I've locked the door and throw the key inside, check the floor. Assuming you just woke up and see my message, good morning! ^^ Hopefully it's a better day than yesterday. Be snappy and mean to me all you want. If you feel like punching somebody, tell me. I'll be right there when you need me. -Poop head Sehun-

P.S Text me back! @@ You never do :((

Laughing at his childish tone, Jamie returned the favor. 

To: Sehun 

Thank you and good morning to you too. :)

P.S Don't text back. I don't want to start a whole conversation on morning greetings. 

Seconds later, fully expected, Jamie snorted as a new message from the said boy came. 

From: Sehun 

You're so mean :'( You should be glad I'm texting you. 

P.S What's wrong with morning conversation? 

To: Sehun 

Too tired to type. -.-''

From: Sehun

Awww~ Come on. Rise and shine \^o^/ . It's new day! I'm sure it would be better~ 

P.S Wanna hang out? 

To: Sehun 

Not sure. Feel like sleeping away the headache.

From: Sehun 

You have a headache? Is it bad? 

P.S If you need medicine, I could go and buy some. 

To: Sehun 

It's okay. I have some. Thanks for the offer anyways :) 

From: Sehun

No problem. By the way, I'm in front of your place. Open up! 

To: Sehun

What?! Are you nuts?? 

From: Sehun 

Consider the circumstance, a little. But besides that, open up! You wouldn't want me to freeze out here would you?

To: Sehun 

How could you be so sure? I could just leave you there and you would give up, going back to your dorm for all I know. 

From: Sehun 

I'm not leaving that's how. I'm a patient man! :D

To: Sehun 

Patient my . You can stand out there and become an ice block for all I care. Bye Sehun.

Chuckling, Jamie threw the phone onto the couch, watching it buzzed in alert of incoming messages. Fully knowing it's just Sehun being his annoying self, Jamie ignored it before slipping out of her shirt, cringing at the stickiness of her skin then walked to the bathroom for a refreshing shower. 

Steams came out of the small door, momentarily fogged up the entrance, Jamie came out with her comfortable cat onesie. Her hair was a bundle of mess as the girl took a comb to straighten out the tangled strands, easily done with wet hair. Dumping the dirty clothes into the washing machine, Jamie took the custody to dry her hair as well, fully aware of the change in weather. After she's done with all the procedures, Jamie plopped down the couch, sighing in happiness and refreshment. Showers are the best remedy. Upon noticing how she half-sat on a hard object, Jamie found her phone flooded with messages from Sehun, whining for her to open the door. 

From: Sehun 

But Jamie!!!~ Please open the door!! I promise to be nice and behave! I won't tease you. Pleasseee~ 

From: Sehun 

Jamieee~ Don't ignore me! I promise to be nice. I'll buy you coffee! I bought some cat food for Orange too. Let me in!! 

P.S Orange is his new name. Let's call him Orange!

From: Sehun 

Jamie~ Jamie~ Jamie~ 

etc.

Chortling at each pleading messages, the last one arrived 5 mins ago, she presumed he must have given up and went back to his dorm. She snorted at the image of a crestfallen, pouting Sehun, slumping himself along the hallway. The older boy sure amused her on so many different levels. Grabbing her laptop from the bedroom, she settled it atop of her laps, starting up the device. As the black apple appeared on the white background, a small scenario passed by her mind, urging her to check behind those doors. Removing her Macbook from her laps, she walked quietly to the door, pressing her ears onto the wood, trying to listen to the outside. When she heard nothing, Jamie slowly twisted the lock open, expected Sehun's absence. Peeking her head through the small opened gap, Jamie sighed in relief as the older boy was nowhere in sight. She smiled and closed the door successfully if not immediately after her began closing, a hand shot up to hold it open. Sehun peeked over, grinning from ear to ear, face a little flushed as small beads of sweat rolled down his temples. 

"Finally!" Sehun cheered before forcefully pried the door open and let himself in. Throwing his shoes carelessly, he ran inside while giggling like a little child. 

"Yah! I didn't let you in!" Jamie shouted after recovering from the shock. Has he been waiting all this time?

"Aww~ Don't be so mean. I brought fish cakes ~" Sehun yelled from the kitchen with an alluring offer that almost made Jamie forgot the problem at hand, almost. 

"Fish cakes or not you're intruding!" The girl yelled back before hesitantly closed the door, putting Sehun's shoes neatly together before going in to check on the mischievous boy. 

As soon as Jamie entered the kitchen, Sehun popped out of nowhere, startling the girl while she stared at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Here you go!" Sehun grinned, shoving a bowl full of fish cakes steaming hot into Jamie's arms. 

As the mouth-watering aroma enter her scent, against her will, Jamie decided to forgive Sehun for intruding because eomuk was worth it. 

"You're forgiven. Just this once..." She mumbled, frowning before breaking out into a big toothy grin. 

"Haven't eaten have you?" Sehun asked, smiling at the adorable sight. Fish cakes always did the job.

"Ummm." She meant to say 'yea' but it was muffled as she stuffed her face with the delicious treat. 

Sehun nodded after taking a seat next to the girl at the small dinner table by the wall. "I thought so." 

"I see that you still have not frozen up like a statue."

"Well I did a little exercise." Sehun shrugged before leaning back with his arms spread along the length of the couch, legs crossed, trying to somehow imitate the I'm-ruling-the-world pose.

Snorting at the ridiculous boy, Jamie resumed devouring the fish cakes, paying no attention to the older boy seated beside her, fondling Orange's ears. 

"Don't be so close to him Orange. You'll catch his idiocy disease." Jamie warned the little creature, picking him up from Sehun's laps, much to the boy's displease.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot. Give me back Orange!" The boy protested while reaching out for the small feline as he peered at the humans with big confused eyes. 

Jamie stuck out a tongue at Sehun, blowing raspberry for a good measure. "He's my baby. Not yours." 

Sehun pouted, trying to act as pathetic as possible while using his baby whiny voice. "Come on. Just once."

When Jamie hesitated, Sehun basked in happiness, thinking he had won with his puke-worthy aegyo act. A flat "no" rang through the air, followed by Jamie snickering. The girl promptly ignore the older boy, talking to Orange like a mother would to her baby. 

"You wouldn't want to catch his idiocy would you? Orange will be the smartest cat ever~" 

"Wait." Sehun blurted out suddenly, temporarily recovered from being flatly rejected. He then grinned, looking at Jamie with teasing eyes. Slightly creeped out by the boy's weird expression, Jamie frowned. 

"What?" She asked. 

"You just called him Orange!" Sehun chirped while Jamie turned bright red, proceeding to hide her face using Orange's paws. 

"Aww~ don't be shy. I'm just happy you used the name I gave him." Sehun chuckled, poking her cheeks, feeling a burst of rainbow, candies and unicorns throughout his veins. 

"I thought it was a cute name. Considering his fur color..." She mumbled embarrassedly, still holding Orange's paws in front of her face. 

Stratching the back of Orange's ears as the little kitten mewled in delight, Sehun smiled. "Thanks for helping me getting over my fear for cats." He turned to look at Jamie with eyes crinkled into crescents, making the girl blushed extra hard. 

"No problem..." Jamie mumbled. "Besides it was pretty amusing to see how you froze up like a statue." 

Sehun whined as he saw the smirk creeping onto Jamie's face. "Hey! I have my reasons okay?" 

"And? Mind telling me?" She raised an eyebrow while petting Orange's forehead. The little fellow purred continuously in delight. 

"Well typical being clawed at, getting shots and yea, terrified until yesterday." Sehun shrugged though his body threatened to shudder at the memory of those sharp claws. The stray cat had rabies for god's sake. 

"I got clawed by a cat once when I was small. Got shots too. But I came to love them even more you see." Jamie chuckled as she fondled with Orange's paws. 

Sehun's eyes widened in slight surprise. "Why? I mean getting shots are like the scariest thing ever when I was a child." 

"I don't know actually." She shrugged, making Sehun even more confused. "But until the little guy hissed, I had unknowingly backed him into a corner. I just wanted to touch him. As I reached my hands out, his back suddenly arched up and all those furs stood up. I kept telling him it was okay, that I wasn't trying to hurt him. I even tried to give him a small biscuit but the little guy refused it and clawed me pretty badly. I kept trying though because I slowly understood how hard it was to trust a stranger. His energy depleted though after trying to shoo me away. Too bad, I stayed. For a moment there, I could see that one moment which he was like ' it! I'm hungry. A biscuit from the little twerp won't hurt.' And he ate it. Then he whined for more and more. And eventually the entire package. The little guy warmed up to me and honestly, the needles were ing scary and the scratches hurt. But it was the best feeling in the world watching a small creature curled up on your lap, sleeping away without a worry about the outside world because he trusted you will be there to protect him." Jamie smiled at the precious memories as Sehun stared intendedly at the young girl. 

"What happened next? You took the little guy in?" 

Jamie's smile slipped off her face, stirring Sehun curiosity at the change. "Yea I did."

"Something's wrong?" 

"He passed away a week later from pneumonia. Apparently when I took him to the vet, Ham was dying slowly. They couldn't do much for him because the disease manifested within him before I adopted him. As a young child, it was hard to accept your only friend had a scythe around his neck ever since you laid eyes on him. I couldn't come to a decision when they suggested to put him down. It was like me deciding his life for him, like I indirectly killed him." Jamie stopped as she swallowed her incoming tears. Sehun reached out to squeeze her hands in comfort as she gave him a small smile. 

"So yea. I decided to let them put Ham down after many thoughts. It was heart breaking. I couldn't accept it for months until a young vet came to me and he told me something that save me from my dark depressing mop of a human being. He told me that Ham might have already known that he would never make it. His aggressive behaviors could be a result to his sickness and when I stuck around despite him clawing me, he came to trust me and decided to stay with me. He told me that Ham loved me in spite of the face we only spent a week together. That he trusted me enough to let me touch me because he tried to claw the vets when they touched him. Safely said, the young vet was my first crush." Jamie laughed as she sniffled. 

"Really?! You have a crush on someone a decade older than you?!" Sehun exclaimed in shock. 

"Why not? He was tall, handsome, smart and kind. Every little girl's dream husband." Jamie said nonchalantly, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. 

"How old were you again?" 

"10?" 

"And he was?" 

"25 I think?" 

"Wow... That's... just... I don't even know what to say. Wow." Sehun blurted, slightly mortified. 

"What? It was just a small crush. I grew out of it eventually." 

Sehun put both hands in front of him, signaling the small girl to stop. "Okay. Let's talk about something else." He suggested cuz he didn't know if he could handle it as Jamie kept talking about her past crush with that longing look on her face. 

"Alright." Jamie laughed as she let Sehun removed Orange from her lap. "What do you want to talk about?" 

"I don't know. What's your favorite color?" Sehun replied without much interest as he played with Orange's cute ears. 

"Damn you. You're the one who wanted to talk." Jamie mumbled as she reached out for her laptop and placed it on her lap. She started to type away, occasionally clicking the touch pad, slowly drawing Sehun's attention. 

"What chu doing~" He sang, scooting closer to her on the sofa, peering at the screen with interest. 

"Blogging." 

Sehun leaned in a little more, trying to get a better view of her so-called blog. Upon seeing the views on her current article, his eyes popped out of their sockets. 

"You're this popular online??!!" 

Jamie scoffed as she replied to one of the comment under one of her post. "If people would love me this much offline, my life would be so much easier." 

Sehun glanced at her stern expression, feeling his heart ached a little. He remembered how she was bullied, how people isolated her, how Tao betrayed her. At that moment, he vowed to never hurt her, never betray her, never lie to her in disregard of any circumstances. 

And he kissed her. 

Author's Note

You guys all know about EXO's situation right now. I really hope everything will be alright. Tbh, the road for them ahead seems very dark at this moment. I love Kris and I don't want him to leave EXO but whatever his decision is, we may not like it, I will respect that and wish him the best. For now, I wish EXO the best and stay strong boys.