Jinri's bag was sitting right next to the bed in the infirmary, just where she expected it to be. She scooped it up quickly and made to run back to where she left Baekhyun, but instead ran smack dab into a hard chest.

"Oh, excuse me," she said, bowing in apology. When she looked up, her eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"What a way to greet a friend." Jinseok brushed his shaggy hair out his face and looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. "You look well."

Jinri shouldered her bag and crossed her arms over her chest. She stared back up at him defiantly, resisting the urge to both hug him and smack him at the same time.

"I've been well, thanks," she said, purposely speaking formally to him. "Now if you don't mind, I have somewhere I need to be. Excuse me." She tried to brush past him, but he stepped in the way, blocking her with his arm.

"Come Jinri, don't be like that," he said, a lot less sarcasm in his voice than before. This time it was Jinri's turn to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Don't be like what, Jinseok? You're the one who wanted to stop being my friend," she told him, ducking under his arm and into the hallway. She turned around and opened to say more, but realizing that tears were about to spill and her anger was getting the best of her, she began to walk away.

"No, Jinri, wait I'm sorry!" He grabbed her arm and spun her back into her chest. If it weren't for the absurdity of it all, Jinri would have laughed at the K-drama-like atmosphere. Jinseok hugged her close, like he used to when she was sad and needed a shoulder to cry on.

"I'm sorry, okay?" He whispered, her hair. Jinri stood stiffly as he held her, resisting the urge to give in to the hug. "I was being stupid and jealous. Honestly, I was really happy that you made new friends. I just... I guess I was afraid that you'd forget about us because of them. That you would become closed off like them." Jinri pushed away from him lightly and fixed him with a sad stare.

"You pushed me away," she told him. "Of course I would grow distant from you. I... Jin, I really can't do this right now. I have to go."

"Noona? Is everything alright?"

Jinri perked up as she heard Tao's voice calling to her from down the hall. He was by her side in what seemed like a moment, staring down Jinseok fiercely. Jinseok took a step back, intimidated.

"I'm fine, Tao. Did Baekhyun send you? Sorry to make you worry," she flashed him her best smile, and to her relief, he just nodded his head. "I'll see you around, Cho Jinseok."

She readjusted the straps of her bag and with one last sad glance, left with Tao. When they had finally turned a corner and were out of earshot, she stopped Tao and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Surprised, he gently hugged her back.

"I'm sorry, Tao," Jinri said, muffled by his sweater. "I just needed a proper hug from a friend." Tao nodded his head and relaxed a little more, patting her head affectionately.

"It's okay, Noona. You used to be friends with that guy, right?" He felt her nod against his chest. "Did he want to be friends again?" Again she nodded.

"He apologized and acted like things could return to normal just like that," Jinir vented. She pulled back from Tao, and now calm, they began to walk down the hall again. "My head is telling me to accept the apology like an adult and move on, but my heart is telling me that it's still too early to forgive him." Tao nodded his understanding.

"He was like a brother to you, right?" He asked. "It's hard when someone you really care about treats you in a bad way. It hurts more than when a stranger treats you wrongly. It's understandable that you would be angry and sad."

"I mean, I really would like to work things out with him, but how would I explain everything? How could I hide this new life from someone who was so crucial to my old life?"

"I don't have an answer for that," Tao admitted. "You have to decide if you can manage it, and even then, you would have to be able to deal with the distance that a secret puts between yo and the people you care about. It's hard and it's lonely."

Jinri was silent. Tao's words had struck a chord with her, and she didn't have any way to respond. He was right. Despite being surrounded by 11 fantastic guys who had become her surrogate family, and one guy who actually was her family, she was still lonely. She could only imagine how Tao and the others felt. Tao had described it to her once before, and she had seen it in their faces when she observed them over a meal, but they all had that sheen of loneliness in their eyes. For those who didn't know them, they seemed like they had everything in life: good looks, an unbreakable circle of friends, smarts, and a horde of fangirls that could span several city blocks. Of course, that's what Jinri had thought of them until a few weeks ago. She never imagined that they could have worries and insecurities; that they could have problems like the rest of the people around them. How wrong she was. They had all of those good things, but they were nowhere close to perfect or perfectly happy. They were more alike than she would have ever admitted.

"Ah, there you are!" Baekhyun said as they rounded another corner and found him, Chanyeol and Sehun leaning against the wall. "We thought you guys got lost. Come on, the others are waiting at the cars already."

Flanked by Chanyeol and Sehun on either side, with Baekhyun in the lead and Tao pulling up the rear, the little group made their way out to the front circle where the rest of them were waiting. Kris, upon seeing Jinri, immediately started fussing and making sure that she was okay.

"Hey now, I'm not five, Kris," she protested, gently pushing him away. "I'm fine, really. Whatever happened before is gone." She ducked under