=A New Friend=

After that incident, I headed to the Kims’ foyer covering my face with my hands afraid that someone might see me crying. As I head upstairs, I heard footsteps and stopped from going up. I looked up and saw Tao. His hair is messy and he’s already wearing a t-shirt and pyjamas with Beats tucked in his ears. I quickly wiped my tears just before he looked up and his gaze transferred from his iPad to me.

I faked a smile and then he smiled back. He removed the beats from his ears so it’s now hanging and his shirt’s collar is keeping the earpods from falling. He climbs down the stairs and I looked up at him when he’s already two levels above me.

His smile faded. “Your eyes are red. Were you crying?” he asked as he held my chin so he could see my face properly.

I shook my head causing him to let go of my chin and I looked down. I can’t stare directly at him because once we stared into each other’s eyes; he might read what’s inside my mind. I stared at the stairs’ polished railing as if there’s something interesting about it.

“You changed your mind about the wedding. Am I right?” he said, me still looking away from him, and I can sense hurt and worry just by listening to his words.

I decided to look up at him and then I faked a smile. “No! Of course not! Why would I?” I said in a fake jolly tone.

His face lit up and he wrapped his arms around my waist. He hugged me really tight almost putting his full weight on me causing me to gasp and us to almost fall from the stairs. Good thing I held on to the railing. I hugged him back and when he pulled away,

“SUCH A LAME EXCUSE TO BREAK UP WITH ME, SOO JIN.”

I quickly turned to the bottom of the stairs and saw an angry Chanyeol going up. When he stopped in front of me and Tao, I saw a fresh tear on his cheek and now I feel guilty.

I distanced myself from the two boys and started to go upstairs. I felt someone following me and when I turned to my shoulder, I expected it to be Chanyeol but it was Tao. When Tao and I reached the top, I heard Chanyeol shout with full sarcasm, that I can feel his jealousy and pain just by listening to the tone of his voice, “Best wishes for the two of you!”

Tao and I just looked at him and all I want to do is to run down the stairs and hug him and apologize to him but I can’t. Chanyeol spoke again, the sarcastic tone already fading and is replaced by a calm tone. “I hope you’ll be happy, Soo Jin.” 

And with that, Chanyeol turned and walked down the stairs.

When his figure disappeared as he walks towards the foyer, I sighed and walked towards the hallway where the guestrooms are. Tao and I exchanged ‘good nights’ and then we headed inside our own guestrooms.

I jumped on the bed placed on the right side of the room (the guestroom where I’ll be sleeping has two beds). I buried my face with the soft pillow and then I cried the hardest.

Chanyeol has no idea how much it hurts. I don’t want to break up with him and at the same time, I also don’t want to be his girlfriend anymore.

Sure, being Chanyeol’s girlfriend could be the best thing ever because Chanyeol is like… the perfect boyfriend material. When you’re his girlfriend, he would love you with all his heart. He’ll take care of you; he would protect you from other boys, and the cutest thing? He easily gets jealous. I will miss him and… I admit I will miss his attention because he might treat me coldly from now on. Dara is too stupid to break up with Chanyeol. I’m pretty sure Dara is suffering already because she couldn’t accept the fact that she had let a perfect guy walk out of her life.

I heard the door creak open and I quickly stopped sobbing. I heard a soft click and the next thing, the lights of the guestroom is already turned off and the only source of light is through the glass window where you can directly see the full moon. I pretended to be asleep so the person who came inside the room would just ignore me.

“Stop pretending. I know you’re crying.”

A male’s voice.

I don’t really understand why the voice is quite unfamiliar. It’s like… I know that the person standing by the foot of my bed is an Exo member but I couldn’t recognize the voice and maybe it is because I barely talk to that person ever since I stayed with them.

I uncover my face with the pillow and slowly sat upright. I took a deep breath and I looked up.

Lay.

He stared down at me with an unreadable expression.

Now I realized how handsome he is. Why didn’t I notice it before? Stupid, Soojin. Of course he is handsome. How can he not be handsome if he's a member of Exo?

I’m too busy facing my problems with Kris and Chanyeol that's why I never noticed him before.

I’m not really nervous that a boy is sharing a room with me. Even though Lay and I weren’t really close, I’m not afraid of him because I know that Lay is not a bad guy even though we only talked twice or thrice in my two-week stay with the boys.

The first time Lay and I talked was like two weeks ago. The day after I arrived at their mansion. When I pounced on him to wake him up and when we went down the stairs for breakfast. The second time was when we were at a restaurant at The Shilla where I sat beside him as he plays the piano when I was singing ‘Goodbye Summer’ with Kyungsoo. Lay and I had a small talk that time. He was telling me not to be nervous about singing. 

I was really amazed by Lay’s talent that time at the restaurant. When I was younger I’d always bugged my adoptive parents to hire a piano teacher because I want to learn how to play the piano and also because the small piano back at our former house was untouched. Just placed at home for display and not for playing it and not for listening to soft music.

I’ll be sharing a room with Lay for who knows how long.

I’m not afraid for myself that there's only me and Lay inside this bedroom. In fact, I’m afraid for him. I wouldn’t want Xiumin beating him to death just because he’s sharing a room with Xiumin’s dongsaeng. I wouldn’t want Tao to break Lay’s bones using his wushu stick because he’s sharing a room with his future wife…

I know looks can be deceiving but… there’s just something about Lay. I just can’t point out what it is. Somehow, there’s a part of me that wants to be close to him. I need a friend right now because I have a million things to worry about and number one is the upcoming wedding and I don’t want to think about it.

Lay sat down on the end of my bed and I gave him a small smile. He smiled back showing off his dimple.

Oh my gosh…

A dimple! Just like Chanyeol’s.

“How are you? Are you alright?” he asked as he adjusts himself on the bed.

I just shrugged trying to hide the fact that I want to cry again. “I'm not… and you were right. I was crying.”

He sighed. “You don’t have to marry him, Soo Jin.”

“I have to, Lay. I don’t want to lose my grandfather’s trust. He’s the only family I’ve got.” I told him straight in the eyes.

He grabbed my wrist. “He’s not your only family, Soojin. There’s me. We’re here for you. We will never leave you.”

I smiled at him. “Thank you, Lay.”

Lay chuckled. “Don’t mention it.”

Nobody spoke for a minute; we just stared at each other. I smiled at him as his lips curved into a half-smile. His eyes wandered around my face. “Why are you calling me by my stage name? I want you to call me Yixing. Alright?”

I nodded at him and I laughed a little.

“Is Tao the reason why you’re crying? Or… is there something else?”

I sighed for the nth time.

Should I tell him?

Yixing and I aren’t really close but there’s a part of me that wants to trust him after all those times when the people I used to trust kind of betrayed me. Just like my grandfather. I trusted him but look at what happened. I’m seventeen and already engaged. I’ll be wedded with a lot of issues and rumours spreading around me. And then there’s Kris.

Kris.

The boy I also once trusted but… he left. I don’t even know now if he did love me the way I loved him.

I shook off those thoughts in my head and smiled at Yixing.

I should tell him. It’s not like he would tell the boys what I’ll tell him, right? I know he’s just like Xiumin. An older brother.

“No, Lay—I meant Yixing. Tao’s not the reason. I know Tao would never hurt me. I’m sure of that."

Lay hesitates for a moment. “Can… Can you tell me the real reason why? Because I swear… I wanted to know.”

I nodded. “I… I was crying because of Chanyeol.”

A scowl appeared on Yixing’s once calmed face and then he laughed sarcastically but not too loud. “Oh, right. You’re together. He broke your heart because of Dara?”

I quickly shook my head no. “No, Yixing. We were together. I… I b-broke up with him.”

“Because of the wedding?”

I nodded once again. “Yes... and it's not just because of the wedding. You see... he asked me to be his girlfriend and I agreed because it has been a very long time since I gave someone a chance."

Yixing’s hand transferred from my wrist down to my hand. “Soojin, I know it’s hard to trust someone right now and  I know that I barely talk to you but… I just want to ask you something. Did you love Chanyeol?”

I smiled. “I admit I was infatuated because he's cute and all but... I can't love him the way he loves me. If we continue our relationship, it will be unfair in his part because... I d-don't love him. I wanted to return his feelings but I just couldn't." I sigh. "You can't dictate someone's heart... even your own. I almost loved him the way he loved me… but then I thought of Peter Pan. I thought of Kris… The only kind of love I could offer Chan is the let-us-just-be-friends kind of love and it makes me kind of guilty. But I couldn’t do anything when it comes to what I feel."

He just nodded.

I continued. “I really regretted those times when I followed my heart and I didn’t bring my idiotic brain with me.”

We both became quiet again for a minute and I looked at the moon outside the glass window. The next minute, I turned to him and I caught him staring at me. But that stare probably meant nothing. Maybe he’s just not used to this. Maybe he just felt weird. He and I talking because like what I’ve said before, we’re not close.

“What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?” I asked him, smiling. Since this might be one of our rarest times together, might as well get to know him.

He smiled back showing off his dimple. “No. I don’t have one.”

I raised an eyebrow at him and spoke in a teasing tone. “What about… a crush? Are you attracted to someone?”

His cheeks automatically turned red and even though there’s not enough light inside the guestroom, I can see that he’s trying to hold back a smile.

I nudged his arm. “I knew it. You’re crazy about someone right now. Tell me who.” I raised my right hand as if I'm about to take an oath. "I promise... I won't tell anybody."

He squeezed my hand one last time and then he let go of it, the colour of his cheeks turning back to normal. “You have no idea how much I’m crazy about this girl, Soojin. You have no idea.” 

I laughed and smacked his arm but not really hard. “I could sell it to the sasaeng fans you know. ZHANG YI XING OF EXO-M HEAD-OVER-HEELS IN LOVE WITH A CERTAIN GIRL WHO HAS A PECULIAR IDENTITY.”

He chuckled and stood up from the side of my bed. This time, I can feel that he’s trying to keep his distance from me. I can feel that he needs to avoid me but he doesn’t want to so he’s now keeping his distance instead.

He just stood there as my smile fades. I got confused when his facial expression changed. It’s like he wants to do something but he’s hesitating whether he’ll do it or not and… I swear it is making me nervous.

He took a really deep breath one thing a person only do when he’s nervous and then I heard him whisper angrily to himself, “Screw it, Yixing!”

And then the next thing I know, his lips are pressed gently on my left cheek for seconds. He held his hand up to my face and ran his thumb across my other cheek. I was really tempted to close my eyes so I did. When he pulled away, I opened my eyes and our gazes locked that I didn’t notice his face is dangerously close to mine.

My heart beats really fast when I saw his gaze transferred to my lips. I really thought he was going to kiss me because you usually look at the person’s lips before kissing.

But the kiss never happened.

He pulled away and smiled. “Thank you, Soojin.”

“For what?”

“For this… moment.” He said not breaking the eye contact with that intimidating gaze that he’s directing towards me.

I looked down and avoided his gaze.

“Good night, Soojin.”

I looked back at him and my lips curved into a small smile. “Good night.”

He leaned down and kissed the side of my forehead and then he walked across the room towards his own bed.

He lay down and faced the opposite side so he's back is facing towards my direction.

I sighed and I lay down and turned to the wall so now our backs are facing at each other. 

Thanks to Yixing. I never thought I could sleep with a smile plastered on my face.

I gained a new friend.