“I don’t think I’d be able to practice today. Sorry Soo,” Baekhyun sulked. The crew – minus Hana and Lay – was sitting in the music room. Baekhyun, had somehow survived his day at school. He had received occasional awkward stares from a few students but with Kyungsoo and Chanyeol on either of his sides, none of them held their stare for long. The music room was empty, and since the last class of the day was given as a free period, they decided to practice. Hana had texted them that won’t be able to join them and none of them tried persuading her to come. From their position near the huge window, they could see the whole soccer field, and on one of the bleachers, they could see a girl with her chin on her palm watching the team practice.

“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo smiled reassuringly, “you need the rest.”

“Someone’s being awfully nice today,” Chanyeol mumbled and Kyungsoo sent him a glare that shut him up. Kai had been laughing in the corner with his headphones for the past three minutes. They ignored it at first, but he just wouldn’t stop laughing and everybody seemed to be getting curious.

“What are you watching,” Sehun asked pulling out his headphones. Kai was taken by surprise but then he flipped his phone, displaying his screen to the others.

“It’s the video from the day when Lay made his surprise entrance. It’s so hilarious! Look at his face once you re-open the door! PRICELESS!”

Sehun, with mischief written across his face, grabbed Kai’s phone and the others huddled around him. The live scenario was funny as it is, but watching it again was even more hilarious.

“Stop making me laugh, my cheeks are burning,” Baekhyun begged. He was trying to limit his laughter but he couldn’t help himself. The fact that others were laughing as well didn’t help at all.

“This reminds me of the time she slammed the door when we popped up at her doorstep unannounced for the first time, doesn’t it Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo looked toward his friend with crescent eyes and a wide smile. Baekhyun still had the mask on but the wrinkles that formed around his eyes implied that his smile was as wide as his friend’s.

“Oh yeah, I remember that well.”

“Those times were so…awkward,” Kyungsoo recalled, “We practically forced her to hang out with us.”

“Really?” Sehun asked. He gave the phone back to Kai. Jongdae was there through their awkward phase of friendship, he had suffered that as well. Chanyeol however, hadn’t. So when Kyungsoo and Baekhyun explained all the desperate things they had done to befriend Hana, Sehun and Chanyeol listened intently. Sometime in the middle of their conversation, Sehun got up and went to the window. He could hear Hana’s improvement through their friends’ recollections. He watched as his sister sent thumbs up to a certain figure on the field. Sehun saw Lay waving back and raised a brow when he saw another, shorter figure half way across the field wave back even more enthusiastically.

Weird.

“Thank you so much guys.”

Kyungsoo and Baekhyun exchanged glances when Sehun hugged them.

“Thank you for the effort.”

The other two smiled and patted his back. Chanyeol had his hands clasped together as he saw the sight ahead of him and Kai looked weirdly at the taller.

“I MADE AN EFFORT TOO YOU KNOW!” Jongdae shouted, “I SHOULD BE IN THE HUG TOO.”

The boy proceeded to hug Sehun’s back but was soon joined by Kai, “ME TOO!”

Chanyeol felt left out, so he rose from his seat and fixed himself between Jongdae and Baekhyun, “And I don’t really know what’s going on but YAAAAY!”

Sehun could barely breathe but he didn’t mind. He was happy and indebted to these guys. They played a huge part in Hana’s recovery, and for that he was extremely thankful. When the hug broke and everyone settled on their seats again, Kai spoke.

“You know, this whole practice session of yours that we have to sit through is pretty boring for us,” Kai looked toward Sehun, “ain’t it?”

Sehun pursed his lips, “Sort of.”

“You’re welcomed to leave whenever you want,” Baekhyun said in an overly sweet manner that made Kai narrow his eyes at him.

“The point is, that while you guys practice, Sehun, Jongdae and I get bored.”

“Speak for yourselves,” Jongdae interrupted, “I happen to enjoy myself.”

“I apologize for my mistake. I shall rephrase, those of us who have a life, get bored.”

“HEY!”

“So what do you suggest we do about it?” Kyungsoo asked, “Because Baekhyun’s right. You guys can leave whenever you want.”

Kai shook his head, “I have a better idea.”

Chanyeol raised a brow, “And what would that be?”

-

That day, from the time Lay went home till the time he went to bed, hid mind didn’t get a single moment of peace. After school, Lay had ignored Yuri’s appointment. Suho came to pick up Baekhyun as compensation and the others went along with him. He and Hana stayed back. He wanted to drop her home despite her telling him it wasn’t necessary. The entire time he was with her, Yuri’s words kept nagging him. He wouldn’t say she was hiding stuff from him, but he knew she had secrets he didn’t know about.  Was it right to feel disturbed over someone’s words? But the words didn’t just come from anyone, they had come from Hana’s ex-best friend. The last time he had asked Hana about this, she had told him to simply trust her. And he did, he still does, but Yuri’s words still ate their way around his head.

‘Of course, she wouldn’t tell you how she stabbed me in the back.’

What did Yuri mean by that? What happened between them that made things turn out this way?

“You and Yuri were friends?”

“Best friends actually…not anymore though. I’ll tell you the reason some other time…I don’t really like talking about it.”        

His head throbbed. Why was he thinking so much about this in the first place? But he couldn’t help himself. He was just told his girl was cheating on him. Doesn’t matter who he was told by, someone still said it. Hana wasn’t that type of a girl, he knew it, that’s why it surprised him even more. Did Yuri say all those things out of bad blood? He suddenly regretted missing their appointment. He tossed and turned in his bed but the thoughts wouldn’t go away. Frustrated, he got up and went downstairs. He had already told Hana he’s going to sleep so he couldn’t text her either. Some random TV watching will probably clear his head. He didn’t expect to find the couch empty so he wasn’t surprised to find his brother sprawled across it. Kris’s mouth was open as he lightly snored, popcorns still in his lap. Lay shook his head and slowly sat down next to his brother, trying to avoid his long legs as much as he could.

Lay learned that watching TV was a complete waste of time and the shows that were being produced in this age of media were stupid and corrupting the young mind. The first show he opted watching showed a wife cheating on her husband. Disturbed, he switched channels where he saw a girl being caught red handed by her boyfriend. Another showed how a couple getting divorced. Finally, considering it as his safest option, he switched to Disney channel. He caught the ending of Pocahontas 2, the part where she tells her old partner who had returned after his disappearance that she doesn’t love him anymore.

Great, they’re doing this to the kids too.

Turning off the TV, he huffed and threw his head back. Why couldn’t he just fall asleep… He looked to his right where his brother was peacefully snoring. He scoffed, how envious. But then again, Kris was his older brother. And older brothers are mature, responsible ones. Lay was the younger brother, he’s supposed to be bratty and unreasonable with his older sibling. Because if Lay couldn’t be a brat to his brother, who else could he be a brat with?

So with that concept in mind, he bit his lip and rose from his position. Ready to sprint, he wacked Kris on the shoulder and took two large steps back. Kris jerked up and flailed his arms around, screaming incomprehensible nonsense. Lay knew he pushed the wrong button, but hey, at least there was someone who was momentarily more miserable than him.

“Where am I?!”

“Home,” Lay finally spoke and Kris looked at his brother.

“Shush, or you’ll wake up mom and dad,” Lay put his finger on his lips shook his head and Kris, with eyes only half open, nodded.

“Did I fall asleep?”

“No, I stunned you,” said the younger and sat next to his brother. Kris yawned and stretched. His gaze flew to the clock and he raised a brow.

“Why are you up? It’s almost 2. Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“I do.”

Kris narrowed his eyes, “What happened?”

It made sense that Kris picked up on his brother’s mood. Lay took a deep breath. He wanted to talk to someone about this. Everyone but Kris was completely out of consideration. Lay knew that if he mentioned this to anyone of his friends, they’d get involved and things would only end up getting complicated. Therefore, Kris was his only safe option. Kris wouldn’t judge Hana, would he?

“Come on, you know you can tell me.”

Lay looked at his brother and bit the corner of his mouth, “There’s this problem.”

Kris shifted so he was completely facing his brother, one leg folded under the other, “I’m listening.”

“Know what, forget it,” Lay said and almost got up to leave when Kris grabbed his wrist and made him sit back down.

“You ruined my sleep so shut up and tell me.”

Lay pursed his lips, maybe telling Kris would help.

“I was just wondering… you know how I was gone for about a month, right?”

“Yeah.”

“While I was gone, I missed out on a lot of stuff. Mom’s birthday, dad’s home more often and I couldn’t spend time with him either. I missed stuff in school, moments with family and friends-“

“And Hana.”

“-eh- yes, and Hana. I feel like I’m not a part of things now, you know. For instance, that day when I surprised Hana, we practiced for a while later. Kyungsoo seemed out of it and I didn’t know why. If I was around, I would’ve known. Jongdae and Kai were teasing Sehun about a blunder he made in the mall while I wasn’t here. If I was, I could’ve understood the situation better. But I wasn’t.”

“So you think that just because you haven’t been around much, you’re not a part of things anymore?

“Yes and no. I don’t know…”

This was probably the first time Lay had admitted any of those things, to himself and to someone else. Kris slowly nodded, he could understand what Lay was feeling. He himself had been away from everything for two and a half years, he knew what it felt like to miss out on events between family and friends.

“Look, Yixing, I won’t say what you’re feeling is wrong or unjustifiable. Because it makes sense. Trust me, it’s only natural to feel left out after returning from a trip. Remember how hard it was for me when I first came back from China? It was hard to adjust even when I had our family around. It’s only been a few days, hardly even a week, since you came back. Things will fall back into place in no time.”

“But by then I’ll have to leave,” Lay said, hanging his head low as he stared his hands.

“And then you’ll come back again. Plus, we’ll all come to cheer you on once the games start,” Kris hit his younger brother on the head, “Don’t think too much about it, okay?”

Lay nodded. He felt better, but still, he still hadn’t mentioned his main problem.

“Kris?”

“Yeah?”

“What if-“ he didn’t know how to phrase it. He chewed on his lip hard, trying to come up with a proper sentence that would be neutral and not leave his brother doubting anything or anyone.

“What if someone tells you, that someone you trust very, very much, wasn’t being sincere with you?”

He let the words fall and waited. When he didn’t hear a response, he looked up at Kris who was staring at his face. Dead serious.

“Did Kyungsoo tell you that I lent your purple beats that you love very much to Baekhyun?”

Lay’s eyes widened, “What?”

“I’m gonna kill him,” Kris clenched his fist and Lay stared at him with his mouth agape.

“You gave Baekhyun my precious headphones?!”

Kris’s brows shot up. So this wasn’t what he was talking about?

“Uh…no?”

“Kris.”

“Let’s talk about your problem and we can deal with this later.”

“But-“

“I understand what you mean, carry on.”

Lay sighed. He was possessive about those purple beats, but the problem he had at hand was a lot bigger and serious.

“Imagine if one day, a person comes up to you, and says that someone you respect and cherish is not being honest with you? What if you’re told that you’re being deceived, what would you do?”

Kris looked at his brother. Lay was a little too serious. He looked into his brother’s eyes. He could see doubts and frustration. Kris’s mind came up with numerous possibilities as to why his brother would be asking such a question. After rummaging his thoughts, his mind came up with only one possible conclusion.

“Yixing,” he called, “did someone tell you something?”

Lay took a deep breath,” Just tell me what you’d do.”

Kris pondered for a moment, if this was the situation he thought it was, he needed to make sure he worded his sentences very carefully.

“It depends on who told me that.”

“An old best friend whom that person doesn't talk to anymore.”

“Are the ex-best friends on good terms then?”

“Not really.”

“Then it all depends.”

Lay looked up, “Depends on what?”

“On the situation. And also on how much you trust the person being talked about.”

“What do I do then?”

Kris inhaled, “I suggest you find out the entire truth before you make any rash judgements.”

“And what if I end up making the wrong decision?”

Kris smiled, “You won’t.”

-

It was the second day and Baekhyun still had the mask on his face. They practice yet again and Suho, who had sworn to be Baekhyun’s slave for a week, came to pick up the crew.

“Let’s go for ice cream! My treat,” Suho announced and everyone cheered. They were all standing at the gate but Lay was nowhere to be seen.

“He said he’s got some soccer official stuff to do. He’ll catch up with us later,” Kai said as he plopped into the back seat.

“I’ll come with him then,” Hana suggested. Sehun furrowed his brows.

“You don’t even know when he’ll come out. Who knows how long you’ll have to wait. Just come with us,” he grabbed her wrist but she gently took her arm back.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve got stuff to do anyway,” she waved her book in front of his face and Sehun sighed.

“We’ll be at the usual café, okay?” Suho informed and Hana waved at the zooming car. Sighing, she looked back at the school entrance. The hallway was empty now. She took out her phone to text and inform Lay when her phone buzzed.

Jaekyung: are you still in school?

She scowled. She was about to go back to the general menu when it buzzed with another message.

Jaekyung: you are!

Why aren’t you replying? :(

Hana stopped in her tracks and looked around. How did he know…

Jaekyung: I can see you silly :P

Read your mind didn’t i? ;)

Jaekyung was slowly bordering creepy. She actually felt a bit scared. She decided to ditch the texts and straight out call Lay instead. But before he could even pick up, someone grabbed her phone and canceled the call.

“Jaekyung, what the hell?!”

He returned her phone, but there was a triumphant smile and a glow in his eyes. Hana didn’t like it.

“C’mon! I was only trying to be like the old times.”

“We CANNOT be like the old times, so please, STOP trying.”

Hana almost shouted and Jaekyung’s expression dropped and the glint in his eyes vanished, “What’s wrong with you?”

“What’s wrong with you?!”

“I was just messing around, no big deal. Who were you calling, anyway?”

“I was-“ her phone rang mid- sentence and the name she’d been wanting to call flashed. Hana spun but not fast enough to hide the small smile that formed.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” he replied. He sounded tired, his voice was strained and it worried her a little.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Training, you know,” he chuckled but she could tell it was forced. It bothered her, it bothered her a lot.

“You called?” he asked and Hana snapped back into reality.

“Oh! Yeah, about that. Everyone went to get ice cream,” she suddenly remembered that she wasn’t alone. She glanced back at Jaekyung who was looking around uninterestedly and took a few steps away and lowered her voice.

“Yeah, Baekhyun messaged.”

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a meeting after school?” she asked. She had been wondering why wasn’t aware of it, to be honest. When Kai announced that Lay won’t be joining them for so and so reason, she felt a bit odd. He usually tells her these things.

“I didn’t tell you?”

“No.”

“Sorry, must’ve slipped my mind.”

Hana felt bad, he sounded so tired…

“It’s okay. I didn’t go with them.”

“Ho- why? Are you alone?” he sounded surprised.

Hana smiled though she knew he couldn’t see, “Yeah, they all went on ahead. I wanted to wait for you. So we can go together.”

“I’m sorry, Hana. I don’t think I’ll be free anytime soon.”

Hana’s excitement fell and her disappointment showed with her reply, “Oh. Okay, no problem.”

“The school’s probably empty now. How about you go on ahead and if I get off on time, I’ll catch up. Okay?”

“Okay,” she sighed.

“See you later.”

“Later,” she said and was just about to cut the call when Jaekyung shouted, “Hana!”

Hana’s eyes widened. Her gaze fell on her phone that notified that their call had disconnected. She heaved a sigh of relief. If Lay had heard him… She whipped her head back and glared. Jaekyung innocently shrugged and walked over.

“What’s the matter? Boyfriend too busy to be with you?”

“He has responsibilities,” she tried to hide the disappointment in her tone but it was still evident. It was written all over her face. She couldn’t help but feel…weird; bad weird.

“How about we hang out then?” Jaekyung suggested and Hana raised her brows.

“Us?”

“Yeah! We’re friends now, aren’t we?”

Hana shook her head, “I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea.”

Jaekyung sighed, “Are you still uncomfortable around me?”

Hana didn’t hesitate to nod.

“Well then how do you expect to change that if you’re not even willing to give me a chance to prove myself?”

Her conversation with Lay had already turned off a lot of buttons. She wasn’t enthusiastic or excited anymore. She simply wanted to go home now. Jaekyung, however, wouldn’t let her.

“I want to go home.”

“Come on, Hana. You said your friends went out for ice cream, right? Let’s just have ice cream together and then you can go home.”

After a series of ‘no’s and compulsion techniques, Hana couldn’t help but follow. She remembered how persistent and stubborn Jaekyung was. Apparently, he hadn’t changed much at all.

-

“I can’t believe you told her you were in a meeting.”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Lay tucked his phone in his pocket, “besides, I didn’t lie. This is a meeting.”

Yuri cracked a smile and shook her head, “You know, I was surprised when you told me you wanted to see me. I expected being blown off yesterday. This though…”

Lay tucked his fists in the pockets of his pants. It felt so wrong, so hideously wrong to be doing this. First, he wasn’t completely honest with his friends. Second, he turned down Hana’s offer of going together. He wasn’t dumb, he could hear the disappointment in her voice but the second he heard someone call her, he felt conflicted once again. She said she was alone, then who was the one who called her?

He needed to know.

“You said you had to tell me something. What is it?”

“Straight to the point, okay then.”

Yuri straightened, “Hana and I, we’ve been friends since as long as I can remember…”

-

Lay’s head hurt. Tears stung his eyes and he started feeling dizzy. He stood for twenty minutes and listened to all Yuri had to say. He didn’t believe it. He couldn’t. Hana can’t do something as sickening as that, could she? He staggered back to his house. His head was a mess, his mind felt mush and his eyes kept burning.

‘Jaekyung was my boyfriend.’

‘Hana liked him too.’

‘Over summer, she seduced him while I was away.’

‘She broke everything we had.’

‘She’s doing it again, to you.’

No, this wasn’t true. But how could Lay overlook the fact that this was all coming from her own best friend. Their friendship, as Yuri described, was precious. Something major, as major as this could’ve been one of the probably reasons why they weren’t friends anymore. He shook his head.

 No.

 This was NOT true.

He stopped at the bus stop and leaned against the metal pillar. Denial was obvious even to himself but, how could one honestly believe all that Yuri had said? He shook his head once again. The bus arrived, but just before he got on, his eyes fell on the ice cream parlor across the street.

He didn’t want to believe it. He almost convinced himself that he was allowing all this to take a lot more space in his head than necessary and as a result he started hallucinating. But no matter how much he tried telling himself that the girl in the window across the street wasn’t Hana, he couldn’t believe a word. The guy sitting opposite her stung his insides even more. He was pushed into the bus. His gaze was still on the couple in the parlor as he mindlessly took a window seat. There was no mistaking it. He could recognize that face anywhere.

No.

It’s not possible.

The bus moved and the boy snapped to his senses. Lay pulled out his phone as if his life depended on it and opened Hana’s contact. He couldn’t trust himself to talk, so he sent her a text instead

Lay: hey

Where are you?

He tapped his foot as he waited. . He prayed that she’d tell him the truth. Even if she told him now, that she was having ice cream with that jerk, he’d be at ease. At least then he’d know she doesn’t lie to him. At least then, he’d feel a little secure, that Hana is honest with him. His phone finally buzzed and he immediately opened the message.

Hana: I went home

His hands started shaking. His mind shut down and every sentiment he could imagine left. The last thing he did before he succumbed to the numbness was text her back.

Lay: ok. Have fun.

-

Hana came back from the bathroom. She spent more time than necessary in there. She didn’t want to sit outside. She felt uncomfortable as it was already. Jaekyung said he wouldn’t let her leave until they have finished their cups. Well, she had almost finished hers, letting the other half melt and sit in the bathroom would be a better option than to go and sit outside with him. The only thing she regretted doing was forgetting her phone on the table. Still, she had so much on her mind that she didn’t need her phone to entertain her.

Lay seemed off. Hana had been worrying about him ever since he left for training camp. He had become weaker, his bones showed more, but he was still training. And today, he sounded so tired that it saddened her.

“I’ll visit him today…” she said to herself as she made her way to their table. Hana liked window seats, and Jaekyung remembered that, which is why they were sitting near the window of the ice cream parlor down the street from their school. The ice cream was good, but nothing compared to the one she was used to having at their regular café. She wasn’t very fond of her company either.

“Took you long enough!” Jaekyung beamed and Hana forced a small smile. She noticed her phone wasn’t on her side of the table anymore. Defensively, she took it back.

 “Did you touch my phone?”

To her surprise, he nodded.

“Yeah, I wanted to see your wallpaper. Cute photo, you two look nice.”

Hana glanced at her screen and internally nodded. It was a photo of her and Lay that they had taken at Cocktail Club House on their first date. She stared at it a bit more. Lay looked much healthier. She closed her eyes for a second.

‘I’ll definitely visit him later.’

-