The next day at school was weird. For some reason, the entire atmosphere seemed stiff. No matter how hard Baekhyun or Chanyeol tried, the ice wouldn’t break. Hana was tensed. The feeling she’d been having since yesterday had intensified. That day after finally being able to go home, Hana went straight to see Lay. She had found it odd how there were no texts from him at all. She knocked at his door but no one received it. She even sat outside for almost an hour before she left. She had texted him numerous times that day, but the only reply she got that night was a rejection to her offer for a call and a simple statement that said he was tired and going to sleep.

And now, the next day, she was being ignored. He didn’t meet her at the bus stop like he does. Sehun suggested that maybe Lay was running late, but even after waiting for almost ten minutes, he didn’t show up. Turned out he was already at school. Hana had sent him texts asking where he was but hadn’t replied. Why didn’t he? Upon meeting he simply shrugged and said he forgot to tell her he’d be coming early. He had avoided eye contact but the red outline around his eyes wasn’t missed by her. His voices sounded different too. Hana thought maybe it’s because he’s been pushing himself too hard. She wanted to help him, but she didn’t know how to.

Lunch break was when she saw him again. He hadn’t waited for her outside class. Hana didn’t say anything, Baekhyun asked instead. At his friend’s question he gave the same response he did before. He simply forgot. Kai raised a brow. He knew Lay well, he doesn’t ‘simply forget’ things. He turned to his cousin who was not so discreetly trying to read the same dimpled boy. Kyungsoo nudged Baekhyun.

“Something’s not right here.”

Baekhyun continued to eat, making his nod discreet enough for only Kyungsoo to notice. Baekhyun looked past Chanyeol to look at Hana. His frown grew deeper. The girl looked visibly lost and confused. Kai glanced at Sehun and tried to keep his voice as quiet as possible.

“Did something happen between them?”

Sehun sighed, “I honestly don’t know man. It’s been odd since morning.”

Jongdae and Chanyeol, who were seated on each side of the couple felt the most awkward. For people like them, this sort of an atmosphere was suffocating. Chanyeol tried every now and then to engage Hana or anyone in a conversation but even after Baekhyun and the others joined, the conversation died moments later. Hana kept stealing glances at Lay who wouldn’t even look at her. He hadn’t ruffled her hair either. Hana took a deep breath, convincing herself that this is all because he was exhausted.

“Aren’t you going to drop her off to class?” Kyungsoo asked after the bell had rang after lunch break. Hana looked at Kyungsoo briefly before her eyes went to Lay. He had his back toward her but he was looking at Kyungsoo with an uninterested expression.

“I’m kind of in a hurry,” Lay said monotonously and Hana’s anticipation died. She had an awful feeling that she was being avoided.

“Her class is just down the hall on the same floor Lay. It’ll hardly take five minutes,” Baekhyun spoke. His brows twitched in agitation.

“I really need to-“

“It’s Hana, Lay.”

The said boy looked to Kyungsoo. The wide eyed boy was standing with his arms crossed. Kai stood behind him, warily glancing between his cousin and his friend. Jongdae and Chanyeol confusedly looked at each other. They were all just fine yesterday, then why were things so different today?

“You guys have the same class-“

“It’s okay, guys,” Hana intervened, “I can go with you two. He probably has somewhere important to go.” She looked at Lay who was staring at Kyungsoo’s shoes but the black haired owl boy still glared at him.

“She can’t go with us because we’ve got a meeting. We told you that just this morning,” Baekhyun provided. While Kyungsoo was glaring, Baekhyun’s gaze was more concerned.

“Don’t you remember?” Jongdae asked though he was too afraid to do so.

Lay shrugged, “I forgot.”

“I can go alone, it’s not a problem-“

“I’ll take you.”

Hana’s head whipped to Sehun. He was looking at floor. His voice was neutral and his hair hid eyes but Hana knew him well. He wasn’t very please.

“Sehun, it’s okay-“

“I’ll take you,” he said again, this time looking directly at her.

“But you’re class is the other way. You’ll end up being late,” she argued but he simply shrugged.

“I can run.”

“Really, Sehun. I’ll met you at the lockers again before the next class. I can go alone-“

“You don’t have to go alone when you have me,” he said in a voice that spoke finality. Hana couldn’t argue when he talked like that.

“Forget it. I can afford being a little late,” Lay suddenly spoke and Hana looked at him.

“Come on, I’ll drop you off.”

“Thank you for the offer but that won’t be necessary,” Sehun said and Lay looked at him, surprised.

“You have stuff prioritized for today and no one would want you to be off schedule,” Sehun smiled, “I can drop my sister off to class myself.”

With that he grabbed Hana’s hand and pulled her along. Hana didn’t resist, she wasn’t in the state of mind to, and they both left the cafeteria with the rest of the group watching them go. Everyone except Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. They were too busy trying to decipher their friend.

Lay scrunched his mouth to the side and sighed, “I’ll be off then.”

He left too and the two boys looked at each other. Chanyeol and Jongdae released breaths they weren’t aware they were holding until after Lay left. Kai patted Kyungsoo’s back, his cousin did not look happy. At all. Baekhyun tilted his head left and right while staring at the ground. Nothing about Lay’s behaviour made sense.

“Did they fight?” Chanyeol asked. Baekhyun shrugged, “I don’t know. She was her usual self this morning.”

“Yeah, if something was up then Sehun would’ve mentioned something while we were practicing earlier,” Kai interjected.

“It’s just Lay who’s acting weird…” Jongdae trailed. Kyungsoo frowned as he looked toward Baekhyun once again. Kyungsoo raised his brows at Baekhyun but the other boy shrugged. Kyungsoo sighed and shook his head, “Let’s wait for a while. It can be a phase. If this doesn’t stop, we’ll have to figure something out.”

“Sehun isn’t very happy though,” Kai said and the others looked at him.

“What do you mean?” Chanyeol asked furrowing his brows.

Kai looked around their circle before speaking, “He didn’t mention a fight or anything, but he did say that Hana waited for Lay outside his house for almost an hour or something and no one showed up or received the door.”

“Kris hyung was with Suho hyung yesterday,” Baekhyun provided.

“We all know his dad’s hectic shifts too,” Jongdae mentioned,”even his mom has a tight schedule these days, makes sense none of them were home.”

“But how come Lay wasn’t available?” Chanyeol wondered out loud, “Didn’t he tell us he was going home while we were at the café?”

“What time did Hana go to his place then?” Baekhyun asked Kai who shrugged, “I don’t know exactly when, but Sehun said she came back because it was starting to get dark.”

“He should’ve been home…” Baekhyun mumbled.

They heard the warning bell and sighed. Looking around they realised that the cafeteria was empty and no one except them was left.

“Let’s see how this goes and then we’ll try to figure out what’s going on.”

-

Hana was walking in silence with Sehun. She smiled when a hand came up and ruffled her hair.

“What’s wrong?”

Hana fixed her hair, “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Tell that to someone who believes you,” Sehun snorted. Hana nudged his side with her elbow and he made a face.

Hana rubbed her arm and she shook her head, “I don’t know what happened.”

“To? Lay?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “I haven’t had the chance to talk to him since yesterday.”

“Not even texts?”

“He said he was tired so I didn’t push the conversation.”

“Hmm… so you have no clue?”

“None whatsoever.”

Sehun chewed on his lip in thought. What could possibly be the problem? Whatever it was, it didn’t warrant Hana that treatment. Sehun was pissed. He wouldn’t show it, but he was irritated at his friend. He could tell Lay was avoiding her, but Sehun hated when the other party in question had no idea why they were being ignored. He let out a long, loud sigh and turned to his sister.

“What’s with you?”

“I’m just worried about him,” she shrugged.

Sehun flicked her forehead, “I know. There’s something else too, though. Isn’t there?”

Hana felt a robber caught red handed in the act of crime. She tried to be nonchalant and brush off the question with a mere ‘no’ and a giggle. But she should’ve known, Sehun would never buy that. It was too artificial.

“Is there something you want to tell me, Hana?” he stared at her.

“Why do you always ask me that?”

“Because that’s the only time you tell me what’s wrong with you.”

Hana knew there was no escape. Or she thought there was no escape. The bell rang and she stifled a sigh. Sehun shut his eyes and cursed internally. Now he’ll have to run extra fast. They had reached the door for Hana’s class but before Sehun dashed away, he gave her one knowing look, the one that said ‘we’re not done yet’.

Hanna rubbed her temples and took her seat. Students were still scattered around the class, talking and fooling around. Hana suddenly missed Baekhyun and Jongdae. Usually they’d be sitting on her table and spewing randomness here and there, make her laugh. But they weren’t here and she felt lonely. Lay was acting weird and Hana knew extremely well how irritated Sehun was. Her fingers dug into her temples. Why was Lay being so…distant? That too all of a sudden. She wondered and wondered until her idea of the worst case scenario hit her. She didn’t want to imagine that. Her hands found their way into her hair and she tugged lightly at her roots. She had her monthly appointment today. She had to get her prescription slip and maybe, if Kris would be there, she could ask him if Lay found out about her illness. Kris might have an idea at least…right? Because the rest of their group apparently didn’t. But even if Lay DID find out…who told him?

She was snapped out of her train of thoughts. Literally, snapped. Jaekyung was beaming down at her and Hana tried to hide her discomfort. He sat down next to her on his ‘assigned’ seat. Hana had noticed that he had stopped scooting his chair closer to hers. He had also stopped unnecessarily messing with her. But still, it still felt extremely off.

“Why the long face?” He bent down to take a beter look, “Boyfriend problems?”

Hana inhaled sharply, “No.”

“Then why did Sehun drop you off instead of him?”

For some reason, Hana felt irritated, “Why should I tell you?”

“I thought we were friends.”

“That doesn’t mean I’ll answer all of your questions.”

Jaekyung raised his hands defensively, “Calm down, I was just asking.”

“Don’t. Just- just don’t.”

Seeing that no questions were welcomed, Jaekyung looked away and to the board. Guilt prickled her and Hana screwed her eyes shut. No, she will not apologise. She won’t. He needs to see that there’s a line that he can’t cross. She will not feel guilty. She will not feel sorry. And she most definitely will not apologize.

“I’m sorry.”

Or she could stop listening to herself and apologise anyway. Jaekyung glanced at her sideways, lightly smiling.

“It’s okay.”

He knew better not to ask her any more questions the rest of their classes. Baekhyun and Jongdae had arrived by the second. Hana smiled as they entered. Baekhyun waved at her and Hana could see through the crinckles around his eyes that there was a smile hidden under that mask. Jongdae winked at her, and Hana saw Kyungsoo walk past their class door. He probably came to drop them off. Baekhyun and Jongdae had always been smiles around Hana, which is why when their smiles were replaced with frowns and glares, she faltered.

She couldn’t tell them.

Not those two at least.

But she had to tell SOMEONE. Anyone. Lay wasn’t talking to her, Baekhyun and Jongdae hated Jaekyung to the guts. Kai might slip in front Sehun, and Sehun would explode. And Chanyeol might slip in front of Baekhyun, hell would break loose.

The pencil Hana was holding slipped when a certain boy, and the answer to her problem, knocked on the door.

“Excuse me ma’am, but can I please speak to Hana for a second?”

Kyungsoo.

Hana abruptly stood and was out the door before the teacher finished her sentence. Kyungsoo waved at his friends at the back before Hana shut the door.

“Soo, wassup?”

Kyungsoo wasn’t talking and all he gave was a freaky, creepy, wide smile. Hana raised her brows, “What?”

“Guess who sent me to talk to you~” he sang and Hana tilted her head.

“Who…”

Kyungsoo, without saying a word, pulled out a note from his pocket and handed it to her, “Read it once inside.”

With a confused tilt she nodded. But before Kyungsoo could walk away, Hana grabbed his arm. She needed to tell him. Soon. Or else she’d go crazy with all these conflicting thoughts.

“Meet me after school?” she asked. Kyungsoo replied on beat, “Of course. We always meet Hannie.”

He was chuckling at her but Hana’s seriousness gave him the feeling that this wasn’t just a usual meeting she was talking about, “What’s wrong?”

“I uh-“ she cleared , “I have to tell you something. Important.”

Smiles gone, Kyungsoo nodded, “Okay. Where?”

“The roof?” she offered and he nodded again.

“Baek and I will be there,” he said. Hana’s eyes widened. Baekhyun wasn’t supposed to know. Before Kyungsoo could leave, she called him out again.

“Wait!”

He turned and raised a brow, “What?”

“Come alone. Baekhyun- isn’t supposed to know.”

Kyungsoo was confused but he nodded anyway and left. He haerd the door of Hana’s class close and walked back to his class. What was it that she could tell him but hide from Baekhyun? Kyungsoo knew Baekhyun was the first to know about her problem, then why didn’t she want him to come along? Shaking his head, he walked faster. Whatever it was, he’ll find out soon enough.

Hana had the note clutched in her hand on her way to the seat. Sitting back, she unfolded the white paper chit to reveal a message written in black.

‘Sorry I couldn’t drop you off. I’ll pick you up from class

– Lay’

A wide smile spread across Hana’s face. She couldn’t wait for the classes to end.

-

Just like he said, Lay was waiting outside the class room. No soccer practice meant their usual practice. He sighed, he really should keep his attitude in check. He knew he was mean to Hana earlier, but he couldn’t help it. His best way to deal with problems was to avoid them or to pretend they didn’t exist. But this, this was different. He still didn’t believe it was the truth, but after what he saw…. He couldn’t shake off the picture. She even lied to him…

Hana bounced out the door with Baekhyun and Jongdae right behind her. Baekhyun was holding her back by grabbing her bag. She couldn’t walk properly because of it. Jongdae, he was just laughing. Lay, despite his crappy mood, smiled. The way she struggled with her bag, the way she was laughing, he missed it. But…

“Yo! Look who’s here!” Jongdae hollered and Hana’s head whipped toward Lay’s direction. He waved lazily. He couldn’t really reciprocate their enthusiasm. But the way Hana’s eyes lit up, how could he not smile at that.

“You’re here!” she said the second she stood in front of him.

“Duh,” he said and nodded toward the door, “let’s go.”

Hana watched him, disappointed. He didn’t ruffle her hair. He didn’t even greet her properly. She glanced back at Baekhyun and Jongdae but they both seemed to be talking abuot something on their own. Shaking the uncomfortable feeling, Hana followed Lay.

“You okay?” she had to ask. He didn’t look good, at all. He looked skinnier in general, his posture was lazy and there were bags under his eyes.

“Yeah,” he shrugged. Hana felt…odd.

“Okay…um-“ she didn’t know what to say, “Are you- is everything alright? You don’t seem so good.”

Lay shook his head, “I’m perfectly alright.”

The chance he took to look at her showed how unconvinced she was by his statement. Also, the look in her eyes made him guilty. So he added, “Just exhausted.”

Hana let out an ‘oh’ and nodded, “Practice?”

“Yeah,” he partially lied. Practice was exhausting, but only physically.

“Just another one and a half month! Then you’ll be free~” she sang in efforts to cheer him up. It didn’t help. At all.

“Yeah, free.”

Hana felt awkward. Why was Lay being this way? Then she thought abuot all the stress. Stress of exams that were up in two weeks, stress of both soccer and winter practice. Hana reconsidered… She had planned on telling him everything. She had decided, three days after she had told Kyungsoo and Beakhyun everything. But seeing Lay’s current state, she couldn’t think of giving him other stuff to worry about.

‘I’ll tell him after his final game…’

Some tackled both Hana and Lay. Baekhyun was on Lay’s back and Jongdae was in the middle of inserting his arm in Hana’s.

“Wassup you two?” Baekhyun asked with what they assumed from his voice to be a cheeky grin.

“Having fun alone~” Jongdae teased and Hana slapped his arm.

“We’re in a hallway full of people,” Lay spoke dully,” There is no alone here.”

“AWWW disappointed?!” Baekhyun rubbed his knuckles against Lay’s head but the latter wasn’t amused. Lay pried off Baekhyun’s arm, gave him a rather unfriendly look and walked off, leaving Hana and the duo in silence.

“I was planning on ignoring it at first but,” Jongdae turned to Hana, “what the hell is his problem?”

Hana bit the corner of her lip, “He’s just exhausted.”

Baekhyun watched Lay go with narrow eyes, “If you say so…”

By the time they were outside, Chanyeol, Kai, and Sehun were already waiting for them by the gate, Lay included. Baekhyun steered clear of Lay and walked to his cousin. Jogdae dragged Hana next to Lay and let go of her arm to go to Sehun. Things were awkward, everyone could tell.

“Hey guys,” Chanyeol started in hopes to dent the awkwardness, “Kyungsoo has stuff to do, so he went early. Know what that means?” he asked and wiggled his brows at the newly arrived troup, “NO PRACTICE TODAY!”

“Why are you so happy about it?” Kai asked. The taller shrugged, “I don’t know.”

Baekhyun sighed and shook his head, mumbling a ‘never mind’ before he rubbed his hands together.

“Group study then? I at Biology,” Baekhyun announced and the others groaned.

“I prefer practicing instead,” Sehun complained and soon, an argument about how importan it is for them to study ensued. Baekhyun was right, they really had a lot of material to cover but them being typical teens, didn’t want to. While they argued, Hana stood next to Lay, both of them silent. She wished she could make him feel a bit better. She hadn’t seen him like this ever before.

But before she could do anything, her phone buzzed.

Kyungsoo: im at the roof

Lay glanced in her direction. He couldn’t peek at the screen because of the sun but he caught the change of expression in her expressions. Lay’s eyes darted to the school entrance. Jaekyung was exiting with his phone in his hands. Lay then looked back at Hana again. She was texting back Kyungsoo. He saw her fingers move, then saw the boy he wanted to punch in the face walk his way behind the building, fist pump and put his phone down. Hana did too.

“Guys, I think I’ll pull a shift at the library instead,” Hana said but no one heard. No one except Lay. She wasn’t being honest, he knew.

Lay bit his lip and sighed, hard. Hana noticed, “What’s wrong?”

Lay bit harder and shook his head. Hana was about to reach out when Lay just walked away.

“I’m going home!” he announced without even looking back. The bickering stopped and they all looked at the dimple boy’s retreating figure. All gazes then moved to Hana who was standing with ajar.

He left.

Just like that…

“Han-“ Sehun started but he got cut off.

“He’s tired,” Hana said, trying to keep her voice from sounding too disappointed.

“He said he needed sleep since he wasn’t getting any,” she lied. They weren’t entirely convinced but nodded anyway. Sehun though, looked at her with slit eyes.

“Han?”

“I have to go to the library. I can’t study with Sehun in the house,” Hana suddenly mentioned, “he’s too loud.”

She laughed and the others watched her. Baekhyun cracked a smile, “You’re a tough rascal to live with, huh?”

Hana smiled at Baekhyun. She waved them goodbye and ran inside the building. The others watched her go.

“If this keeps up,” Sehun started, “And Hana ends up getting hurt, Lay’s going to get it.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with him…” Baekhyun mumbled.

“Hana said he’s tried,” Chanyeol supplied and Kai nodded along.

“Yeah, soccer camp is pretty hard. Plus I heard they had to take classes there too.”

“Exams are up soon,” Jongdae sighed, “We can reason it’s the stress.”

Kai patted Sehun’s shoulder, “Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure whatever it is will blow over soon.”

Sehun’s took a deep breath, “It better.”

“I’ll make sure it does,” Baekhyun added and smiled up at Sehun when he looked at him, “It’ll get better soon.”

-

“So what is it that you wanted to tell me?” Kyungsoo asked once Hana had setteled beside him on the ground. She fidgeted with her hands. Kyungsoo grew nervous, why wasn’t she saying anything?

“Hana?”

“Kyungsoo,” she suddenly said, “Promise me something first.”

He stuttered a bit but replied, “S-sure.”

Hana looked up at him, she looked afraid.

“You won’t tell anyone.”

The boy raised his brow, “Why?”

“Just promise me first.”

Kyungsoo pursed his lips. This was serious.

“Promise.”

“Not even Lay.”

“Not even Lay.

“Or Baekhyun or Sehun or Kai or-“

“No one. I won’t tell anyone.”

Hana nodded, “Okay. Promise, right?”

“Promise.”

Hana took a deep breath, “Okay.”

She cleared , “A few days ago, before the surprise party, Jaekyung said he wanted to talk to me…”

-