If Risae had expected to gain some sort of closure from her brief meeting with Minseok, she was sorely mistaken. If anything, the failed meeting with her ex-boyfriend – and the run-in with the he’d cheated on her with – had only made things worse.

“I’m sorry it went so badly,” Haneul muttered. It was several nights later and the two were lounging in their room, sharing a box of chocolates – Haneul graciously let Risae have the best-tasting ones.

Risae sighed and carded her fingers through her lose hair. “It’s not your fault,” she muttered. “It’s not even really Minseok’s fault that Jimin showed up, though it’s his fault that I hate her so much.” She sighed again. “It’s just a lost cause. I’m going to have to give up on getting closure.”

Haneul frowned, then snatched up her handphone and typed a message to someone. Risae was too busy wallowing in self-pity to notice – or care – who her best friend was texting.

“Yixing invited me to their dorm,” she said suddenly.

Risae perked up enough to say, “Congrats, unnie. Maybe he likes you too.”

“But I can’t go by myself!” Haneul exclaims. “Think of what people would say if they saw me walk all alone into their dorm! Rumors would fly like crazy. I’d probably get in trouble with management.”

“Oh no,” Risae said, holding up her hand to stop the elder. She knew where this was going. “No way, unnie. No way in hell.”

“Please!” Hanuel begged, grabbing her friend’s hand and tugging on it helplessly. “I really want to go but I can’t go by myself! Please? This could be my only chance to really get to hang out with Yixing! Please?”

“Unnie…” Risae looked away, trying to tug her hand free.

“Minseok won’t be there,” Haneul assured her, not releasing said hand. “Yixing said he’s at the studio working on some recording stuff.”

Risae hesitated. “You promise he won’t be there?”

“I swear,” Hanuel said. “Now come on! Let’s get going!”

It didn’t take them long to reach the dorm, and Risae felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach when they found themselves standing outside the door. She really didn’t want to be here. It brought back too many memories, whether Minseok was there or not.

It was Junmyeon who opened the door, another member of the group. He’d always been one of Risae’s favorites, polite and considerate. She didn’t see how Junmyeon could still be friends with Minseok after what he’d done. The only consolation is that she was pretty sure Junmyeon had given her ex a stern talking to after the messy break up.

“Hi guys,” he beamed, standing aside so they could come in. “Yixing said you were stopping by. Come on in.”

“Thanks, oppa,” Hanuel beamed, blushing as they stepped over the threshold. “Where is Yixing? He said he has something to show me.”

“Living room,” Junmyeon answered, shutting and locking the front door after them. “He’s waiting for you.”

Risae, chewing on her thumbnail distractedly, followed Haneul into the living room.

Then she stopped in her tracks, shooting a glare in her best friend’s direction. “You said he wouldn’t be here,” she muttered accusingly.

“I lied,” Hanuel said, putting her hands on Risae’s shoulders and giving her an encouraging push forward.

“No,” Risae said, trying to flee only to have Junmyeon, Luhan, and Yixing blocking her way. “No!” she wailed again.

“Just hear me out, Risae,” Minseok begged, voice breaking. “Please!”

Risae huffed and turned around, folding her arms over her blouse. “Fine,” she muttered. “It’s not like I have a choice, do I?”

“We’ll be waiting in the other room to give you guys some privacy,” Haneul said, giving her best friend a kiss on the forehead before following the other boys out of the room.

Risae flopped down in one of the armchairs, muttering something about conspiracies. Then she sighed and fixed Minseok with a flat, broken look. “Go ahead then,” she muttered. “Talk if you’re going to.”

“First off, I’m really sorry about Jimin the other day,” Minseok began.

Risae barked out a laugh, but it was far from amused. “You mean the part where she interrupted us at the restaurant or the part where you ed her?”

Minseok winced. “Both, I guess,” he muttered, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He sighed. “I-I don’t even know what to say, Risae.”

“Is that it?” she demanded, getting to her feet. “What a waste of time.”

“No, wait!” He reached out for her but stopped just before his fingers curled around her arm, hesitating and then dropping his hand back into his lap.

Risae sighed and resumed her seat. “Well?” she said, tapping her fingers impatiently on the armrest of the chair. “I’m waiting.”

Minseok swallowed audibly, his adam’s apple bobbing. Then he sighed. “I made a mistake,” he began.

“Yeah, no ,” she muttered. He gave her a look, and she sighed and gestured for him to continue. If she was going to have to sit through this, she may as well hear it through. It was the only way she was going to get out of this stupid dorm, after all. And then she might never talk to Hanuel again.

“I could tell you a million excuses about why I did it, but there’s really nothing that justifies what I did,” he said, running fingers wearily through his hair. “I guess it was hard, growing up. No one ever saw me as anything more than a bumbling idiot with dreams that were out of their reach. I guess I was just happy that someone who shunned me in high school saw that I was getting somewhere with my life. It meant that I was finally reaching my goal.”

Risae felt tears prick at her eyes. “I saw you as more than a bumbling idiot. I saw you as so much more, Minseok.”

He hung his head. “I know. Believe me, I know. I wouldn’t even be where I am if it weren’t for you. I’d probably be studying something I hate at a university where I was miserable, working in between classes at a ty dead-end job just to try and pay rent every month.” He chuckled bitterly, full of self-loathing. “I always wondered why you hung out with me. You were always so pretty and popular and smart. Everyone liked you. I know your friends wondered why you even hung out with me.”

Risae didn’t deny it. It was true, after all. In high school, her friends were always questioning why she was friends with Minseok. So she just crossed her arms and waited for him to continue.

He struggled to find the right words for a moment, but then he began to speak again. “I looked it up online, you know. Why people cheat on their significant others. And every website said that you cheat because there’s something wrong with the relationship. But there was nothing wrong with our relationship, Risae! There was something wrong with me! Me and my ed up self-esteem.” He hid his face in his hands again. “I want you back,” he mumbled through his fingers. “I know that you probably won’t take me back, but I would do anything to be with you again. It makes me sick to my stomach, what I did. It was the biggest mistake of my life and I never meant for it to happen in the first place, things just got out of hand, and-and…I’m so sorry, Risae.”

She got to her feet. “Well, you’re right about one thing,” she said, shouldering her bag. “I’m definitely not taking you back.” And she left the living room.

Hanuel and the other boys were waiting in the next room. The elder girl jumped up at once. “How’d it go?” she asked eagerly.

But then she withered under the look Risae gave her. “Let’s go,” she said coldly.

Hanuel winced, then shared a nervous look with Luhan and Yixing. Then she sighed and followed Risae from the dorm.

“What happened?” she asked, catching up to the younger and grabbing her hand.

Risae jerked her hand out of Haneul’s. “If you ever do that to me again, I swear to god that I will never ever speak to you again,” she threatened.

“Okay, okay,” Hanuel agreed. “I won’t. I swear.” She hesitated. “I take it that it didn’t go well?”

Risae’s answering look was answer enough.