Kyungsoo and Baekhyun had barged into Hana’s house at the same time. They ran up the stairs, avoiding Luhan on the way and met Sehun outside her door with a tray of food.

“Hana?” Kyungsoo called, “We came to see you! Come on, open up. We need to talk to you!”

“She won’t open,” Luhan sighed, “Even our mom couldn’t get her out.”

“Where’s Principal Kim anyway?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Some meeting. Mom said to make sure Hana finishes this before she gets home.” Sehun was leaning against her door, continuously knocking as he replied.

“My mask is off! Don’t you miss seeing my face?!” Baekhyun joked but nothing happened. Sehun shook his head dejectedly, “She won’t come out no matter what we try.”

“Don’t you have a spare key or something?” Kyungsoo suggested.

“Been looking for them since last night, can’t find it anywhere,” Luhan supplied. He was tired with all the work and now he was worried and anxious. Hana wasn’t the type to do something like this. Their mother, before she had left in the morning, said that the only time Hana had locked herself up like this was when they had recently moved out of Youngmin’s house. She remained cooped up in there for an entire month, only letting Junmi enter with food after constant pestering. Luhan chewed on his lip. He hoped it wasn’t anything serious as that.

Baekhyun looked toward the older, “Hyung, how abuot you go sleep? Kyungsoo, Sehun, and I will take of this.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo nodded, “Don’t worry. She’ll listen to us.”

Luhan looked unsure when he glanced at Sehun. Upon the firm nod of his younger brother, Luhan sighed and slipped into his room.

“But if anything happens, you tell me right away. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.” The three nodded in unison and watched Luhan slip into his room. They tried for another ten minutes, and when Baekhyun’s patience had finally snapped, he left to go downstairs, only to return with a cotton swab.

“What uh…” Sehun trailed as he saw the brunette bend and stick the swab in the lock.

Kyungsoo smirked, “You still remember how to do it?”

“Don’t tell Suho hyung or he’ll find out that I’m the reason his choclates keep disappearing.”

“Wait, you can pick locks? With a bud?!” Sehun asked incredulously and Baekhyun shrugged like it was no big deal. After a series of failed attempts, the door finally clicked open. The three boys shared a look before Kyungsoo gently pushed the door open. Hana was in bed, her body covered with a blanket and for a while, they were actually convinced she was asleep. But the sniffle they heard next told them she wasn’t.

Sehun looked warily at the duo and walked in, placing the tray at the foot of the bed as he approached Hana. He called her, asked her what was wrong, but she wouldn’t respond. Finally, the other two walked in and Baekhyun sat down next to her back as he her hair. He didn’t say anything, he just sang. It was a song that he had been listening to a lot lately and knew Hana liked it too. Kyungsoo joined and while they both sang, Sehun wiped away her tears and made her sit up.

She didn’t even resist. She didn’t have the power to. She hated herself. This was all her fault.

“Hana,” Sehun called, “You need to eat.”

They made sure she ate at least half of the stuff on the tray before Sehun took it away. They had been with her for fifteen minutes now and she hadn’t said a single word. It felt odd to be around her and not hear her voice. Baekhyun was about to ask what happened when Kyungsoo put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

He replaced Baekhyun and sat beside Hana, “You didn’t go yesterday?”

Hana shook her head.

“So he still doesn’t know?” Kyungsoo asked and she shook her head yet again, but this time with tears. Baekhyun knit his brows but didn’t say anything, he’ll find out what they were talking about soon enough.

“Hana, what happened?” Kyungsoo’s voice was soft when he asked, the last thing he wanted was to puch a wrong button. Hana pursed her lips, her hair falling in her face as she shook her head. Baekhyun gestured for Sehun to stop by the door and not make a single sound. Hana’s shoulders began trembling and tears escaped her eyes before she clung to Kyungsoo. The wide eyed boy ran his hand over her back as he tried to shush her. Sehun couldn’t take it when Hana cried. He hated it. He had seen her cry so many times before, he thought she wouldn’t need to shed tears anymore.

The next word she whispered to Kyungsoo were only heard by him. Whatever they were made Kyungsoo’s eyes widen and he stared at her with his mouth agape, concern all over his face. His expression hardened the next moment.

“I’m telling them,” Kyungsoo whispered only for her to hear, “I’m telling them everything.”

 Baekhyun was growing restless but didn’t make an issue of it. He’ll just have to be patient for now. Hana said something else to which Kyungsoo nodded. He gave Hana another hug, a thighter one, and got up. Baekhyun was about to sit next to her again, when Kyungsoo grabbed his arm and shook his head. Confused and baffled, Baekhyun got dragged out with Sehun and closed the door.

“What did she say?” Baekhyun asked and Sehun grabbed his head.

“Why the hell was she crying?!” he whispered harshly as he stared at her door, as he’ll be see through it if he stared hard enough.

Kyungsoo sighed, his hands clenched to fists. Baekhyun glanced at his hands and raised a brow, Kyungsoo was pissed.

“Come down stairs and text everyone to meet up here.”

“What?” Baekhyun asked and Kyungsoo groaned.

“Just do it!”

-

Never in his life had Lay’s anger lasted this long. It was alredy the next day and he could angry tears burning his eyes. Being lied to was one thing but being cheated on was another. And to WITNESS being cheated on was a whole other level. He couldn’t bring himself to stop. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, he wanted to punch Jaekyung in the face; he wanted to do so much. Lay pressed his palms to his temples and closed his eyes to ease the headache but it wouldn’t go away. Images of that damned moment would flash in front of his eyes and he’d just feel like shouting at someone all over again.

He didn’t have time to think over what he had said to Hana. To be very honest, he didn’t even remember what he said to her. He just remembered they were pissed off words and that they were done. Hana could go do whatever the hell she wanted now and Lay wouldn’t care. Or at least, that’s what he told himself. But even in his fury, he knew it was a lie; he’d always care, and that made him angrier. The constant notifications of group messages on his phone didn’t make him feel any better either. He figured that the rest had found out by now.

Kris was staring at the donut box in his hands as he stood outside his brother’s room. It wouldn’t take a genius to know that things didn’t go well yesterday. Hana hadn’t been answering her phone or replying to his texts and it filled Kris with an odd sense of dread and regret. He knocked twice but he didn’t open the door.

“This princess,” Kris sighed and took out the spare key from the store room and opened the door himself. Kris looked around with a solemn expression. Lay’s room was clean, too clean. Kris shook his head and threw stuff around just to give it a look of normalcy, for his peace of mind if not his brother’s. Lay was still in his pyjamas, lying on the bed with his eyes glued to the ceiling.

“I got donuts,” Kris announced but Lay didn’t move. Kris sighed internally and threw his brotehr’s legs to the side before taking a seat next to his brother. He put the box on his stomach.

“Get up and eat,” he poked, “I know it’s not the most nutriotious food for someone who’s skipped dinner and breakfast but mom and dad aren’t home and we’re rebels so dig in.”

Lay didn’t move, only glared when Kris kept poking his stomach. Lay got up, but only after Kris had continuously started poking both his sides and threatened to blow on his neck. Kris felt no remorse as his brother grumbled and sat up straight, the box on his stomach sliding to his legs and Kris opened it to present a variety of donuts.

“Here,” Kris held a nut sprinkled chocolate covered donut, “Have this.”

Lay stared with empty eyes at the donut until Kris saw flashes of contemp in them and took it away.

“I thought you liked this one…” he mumbled and took a bite. Kris didn’t say another word, instead he sat in silence and ate one after another donut. Lay zoned out again but was completely aware of his brother’s presence, he also knew why Kris was here. Sometimes, Kris loved knowing the tricks of the mind. He sat, in complete silence without even glancing at his brother who was slowly growing uncomfortable. Kris was on his fourth donut by the time it happened.

“Hana cheated on me.”

Kris choked. Sprinkles burned his throat as he coughed his lungs out. He didn’t hear Lay right. Of course, there could be no other reason. Because no way in hell will the girl who was desperately asking for ways to make his brother’s life better be cheating on him.

“Wha-“

“I know you don’t believe me, but I saw it.”

Kris gawked at his brother with eyes so wide he could surpass Kyungsoo’s size, “I’m pretty sure it’s a mistake. I mean, Hana can’t-“

“She did! Okay! Don’t even TRY to defend her here!”

“But how are you so sure it isn’t just a stupid misunderstanding?”

 “I heard myself from her ex-best friend that something was on behind my back but I didn’t believe it, Kris,” Lay was panting and his hands curled to fists, “Until I SAW it myself. So don’t even question my judgement!”

Kris stared at his feet. That couldn’t possibly be it. No. HELL NO. But…is this was Lay meant when he asked Kris for that advice?

“Lay,” he tried reasoning with his brother, “Look, I don’t know what happened. Okay? But I still think you’re not thinking straight. Maybe what you saw was something else-“

“I know it wasn’t!” Lay interjected and Kris held up his finger while giving his borther a stern gaze.

“Listen to me. Did you talk to Hana?”

Lay glared-stared at his brother, unable to say anything.

“Did Hana admit that she was cheating on you? Because if you say it, there’s no way that she’d be able to deny it.”

Lay took a deep breath. He hadn’t talked to Hana. He yelled at her, but they didn’t ‘talk’…

“Lay,” Kris called with the big brother voice that he rarely used, “Did you or did you not give Hana a chance to explain herself?”

“What’s the point?” Lay asked exasperated, “It wouldn’t have gotten anywhere! I SAW it. That should be enough!”

“No! That SHOULDN’T be enough!” Kris said, matching Lay’s tone, “You should’ve at least let her tell you about it even if she DID cheaet on you. WHICH, I’m pretty sure, she didn’t!”

“How do you know?!” Lay shouted, annoyed at not only the situation but also at his brother for asking him if he’s done the things he should’ve done, “You don’t know anything!”

There was a beat of silence in which the two did nothing but glare at each other, hard in the eyes. Kris smirked, but it wasn’t mischevious as it always it. No. Today, it was sad.

“Trust me, Yixing,” Kris said, “I know more than you think.”

Lay furrowed his brows, “What do you mean-“

They were interrupted by the sound of their doorbell ringing. Kris, before leaving, gave his borhter one last glare and walked to the door before saying, “I’m done talking to you.”

Lay stared at his door that Kris had never banged shut before today and collapsed on his mattress, making it creak. What did he mean by all that? What is it that Kris knew? And why wouldn’t he tell him? Lay shook his head and accidently nudged the white box, still open with donuts on display. He had no appetite; especially not after what just happened. Kris hardly ever yelled at him and Lay never really got into a serious argument with Kris before either.

New waves of frustration washed through him as he thought over his brotehr’s words. As much as he hated to admit it, Kris was right. Even if things hand ended sour (which they did anyway), Lay should’ve given Hana a chance to talk. He was suddenly reminded of the way she was begging him to let her explain but he didn’t, and it only filled him with greater misery thinking about how broken she looked at the moment he was yelling at her.

Lay didn’t know how long he had been staring at the celing, with the donut box on his stomach, when he heard hard knicking on his door. He didn’t move, and the knocker let himself in. Lay didn’t need to look to know that it was his brother.

“Mom went to the hospital to meet dad,” Kris said monotonously, “She made dinner since she’ll be home late.”

Lay didn’t respond, he only stared at the ceiling. Something hard and heavy fell on his chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. Lay looked to find a black hard cover file slip from on top of him to the floor.

“You didn’t get this from me,” Kris said and Lay looked at him with questioning eyes and furrowd brows. Kris shut the door again, this time gently. Lay’s gaze fell on the open file on the floor and the text, though fine, stood out to him and rang in his head. At first he thought he read it wrong, but it couldn’t be. Even a photo was there…

Name: Kim Hana

Age: 18

Diagnosed with: Severe Depression and Selective Mutism

-

After having the news broken to them, the goup, one by one, went to check up on Hana. While Kyungsoo had been explaining, Kai kept glancing at the pained expression on Sehun’s face and the first thing he did was hug his best friend. Chanyeol had never looked so vacant to Baekhyun in their entire eighteen years of being together. The giant didn’t smile as Baekhyun continued from where Kyungsoo had left off. The only time he did smile, was when he was the first one in the though Hana’s door and assuring her that it would all be okay. When Baekhyun had finished, he expected that to be it. But when Kyungsoo got up and gestured Sehun and Baekhyun to sit down so he could tell them the bits even they didn’t know, they grew extremely confused.

Jongdae and Baekhyun, evidently in shock, couldn’t shut their mouths the second they heard Hana had forgiven Jaekyung. Sehun had shook his head as if he had seen it coming. Kyungsoo hurridly explained but left no part out as he told them everything Hana had told him that day on the roof. Therefore, after all had been said and everyone had gathered their bearings before checking on Hana, Baekhyun and Jongdae hadn’t gone in. It had taken Kyungsoo and (surprisingly) Sehun a while to get them both to calm down and explain Hana’s angle on the situation. The foursome mutually agreed that it was a dumb move but they also knew how Hana was. So, after great reluctance and more sighs than any of them could count, they went in too.

Hana wouldn’t tell them what went down between her and Lay. She only told Kyungsoo that he thought she was cheating on him with Jaekyung and the rest could figure out what would’ve happened later on their own. Lay wasn’t replying to texts or messages and Kai had volunteered to go check on him before Kyungsoo told him not to.

A worried Lay needs to be checked up on.

A sick Lay needs to be checked up on.

A grounded Lay needs to be checked up on.

But a pissed Lay is better left alone.

They didn’t have the heart to leave Hana alone, so after Luhan and Sehun talked to their mother after completely camoflauging the entire situation as Hana oversleeping, the group decided to have a sleep over. Hana hadn’t said anything but a few words to each of them once they had entered her room one by one. The most response she had given to anyone were Baekhyun and Sehun. Her view that the others might think differently of her after hearing everything changed when they started joking around. However, Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s extra efforts to liven the atmosphere and Kai and Jongdae’s unusually loud laughter was a bit transparent. Kyungsoo had sat on the side table next to her bed the entire time and had the most natural reaction of them all.

Why wouldn’t he? He knew everything already.

There was also a time when Hana broke down crying. Surprising everyone as they rushed to her side. She didn’t talk, only mumbled words that showed how she didn’t deserve all this, how she was a bad person and they should all go to Lay instead because she had, not only kept secrets from them, but also hurt one of their best friends. Chanyeol had wacked her head (lightly, of course) and Jongdae had wacked his head for that before all of them enveloped her into a group hug and cheering their slogan, “Hana is stupid” over and over again.

 After Hana fell asleep – Baekhyun and the rest sung a lullaby – everyone had been split into Sehun and Luhan’s room whereas Junmi insisted that she wanted to sleep in Hana’s room to be a part of the ‘sleepover feel’. It was long after mid-night when someone slipped into Sehun’s room. Sehun looked toward the door in alarm before he visibly relaxed and ushered his friend in.

“Kai, what are you doing here?” Kyungsoo asked as the boy sat down next to him on the pillows.

“I want to help fix this too,” Kai shrugged.

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes, “How do you know what we’re talking about?”

Kai gave him a dull look, “So you’re telling me that you roomed with Sehun instead of Chanyeol so you three could talk about eyeliner trends all night?”

Despite the situation, Kyungsoo gave Baekhyun an amused look as the other had his mouth in a thin line.

“Yeah, didn’t think so,” Kai said and Sehun snorted, “So what’s up so far?”

“We need to sort this out,” Kyungsoo started, “It’s about time certain people learned the truth.”

“I’m going to pound Jaekyung,” Baekhyun grumbled making Kai raise a brow. Byun Baekhyun was hardly ever aggressive.

“That’s my job,” Sehun intervened but Kyungsoo shook his head.

“Sehun, I think it is best you stick with Hana, right now is when she needs you the most.”

Sehun couldn’t disagree and Kai patted his friend’s shoulder in sympathy.

“We need to talk to Lay,” Baekhyun said, “I’ll-“

“No,” Kyungsoo cut him off, “I’ll do it. I’ll go to his place tomorrow and knock sense into him.”

“I’ll appreciate if you do some literal knocking,” Sehun added with distate, “I can’t watch Hana like this.”

Kyungsoo titled his head, “I’ll see how things go.”

“And I’ll go and set the record straight with Jaekyung,” Baekhyun scowled then added, “Maybe Jongdae would wanna come along.”

Sehun shook his head, “Give the guy what he deserves but don’t create a scene, he isn’t worth getting into trouble for.”

“But Hana is,” Baekhyun argued and Sehun only shook his head more.

“If you guys get into trouble because of this Hana will only feel worse,” he pointed, “So keep it low key and don’t go over the top, okay?”

Baekhyun was bitter but he nodded, knowing fairly well how unhappy Hana would be if they didn’t anything they weren’t supposed to. Kai silently listened to them talk with only one question in mind that he had been wanting to ask since they found out everything.

“I don’t mean to put you guys off or anything but, I don’t understand how Lay just simply believed she was cheating on him.”

Sehun furrowed his brows, “What do you mean?”

Kai wet his lips, “Look, we know that Lay thinks Hana cheated on him and ended everything, right? But how? Who told him? He trusted Hana enough. Then what the hell happened that made him think that way and call things off without even letting her explain?”

Things fell silent as the trio mulled over Kai’s question. He was right, what DID happen that Lay believed she was unloyal so easily? They knew that everything happened in the the span of four days. What could’ve messed with his head enough to convince him of something as absurd as this? Baekhyun’s head suddenly shot up as a possibility buzzed in his head.

“Yuri.”

Kai shot him a look, “Yuri?”

“They didn’t end well according to what Hana’s told you guys,” Sehun added with a thoughtful look.

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened, “I remember Hana slipping about Yuri being on her case…”

“Oh my God,” Sehun breathed, “Do you guys think she has anything to do with this?”

“She might?” Baekhyun reasoned, “You remember that bullying incident, don’t you?”

Yes, Sehun remembered. Hana had told him on the night he asked her what was going on with her. He also remembered her weeping about how she missed Yuri sometimes. To think someone whom Hana cries for would be the reason for this…

“We talk to her too then,” Kyungsoo announced, “See what she knows.”

“I’ll go-“ Sehun was cut off by Kai.

“No, I’ll go.”

Kyungsoo looked at his cousin, “But Kai-“

“I’ve seen her before, Soo,” Kai smiled, “I know how to handle girls like that. I’ll go tomorrow and ask her if she’s involved in anything. She doesn’t know about Hana’s…illness, does she?”

Sehun shook his head, “Hana didn’t want to tell anyone, I doubt she knows either.”

Kai nodded, “Alright. Jang Yuri is going to get a lot of revelations tomorrow then.”

It was settled. Sehun would remain with Hana and try to cheer her up. Kyungsoo would go and talk to Lay; Baekhyun, and possibly Jongdae, would settle things with Jaekyung, while Kai handled things with Yuri. Baekhyun had tried texting Lay a few more times but to no avail. There were no reples from him. He had never been angry for such a long time before. Heck, he had hardly even been angry in the first place.

Kai was abuot to go back to Luhan’s room but stopped when he heard Sehun speak.

“Why didn’t she tell me any of this…” he whispered and Kai sat back down next to his cousin.

“I’m her brother. I would’ve understood. I could have helped her… Why didn’t she tell me…”

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo exchanged worried glances. It was like Sehun was talking to himself. And he probably even was because he wasn’t looking at them. It looked like he had zoned out.

“Sehun,” Kyungsoo gentyl called, “I-“

“She didn’t tell me about her fight with Yuri. She didn’t tell me what initially went wrong with her and Jaekyung. She didn’t tell me all that. WHY?”

Baekhyun shifted, “We don’t know.”

“Then how come she told you guys? Huh?” Sehun looked at them and Kyungsoo bit his lip.

“She didn’t exactly tell us, Sehun.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun nodded, “We pretty much forced it out of her. You know how she is, she doesn’t share her problems.”

“Ever since her parents died, she been treating herself like a burden,” Sehun shook his head, “Do you have any idea how frustrating that is? That no matter how much you try to make them feel otherwise, they just won’t?”

“Luhan hyung and I try so hard to be there for her. We don’t want her to think of herself as a liability on us and we try oh so hard to make sure she doesn’t but then where do we go wrong?”

Sehun was conflicted and tired, they could see that. But the problem was that they didn’t know what to say to make him feel better.

“Do you know how left out we feel? Hyung doesn’t show it but I know he notices it too, her behaviour. Imagine knowing that the most precious person in the world to you is going through something but won’t tell you what because she still hasn’t accepted you as family entirely.”

Sehun was on the verge of tears when Kai got up and enveloped him in a hug. He sat like that for a long time, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun remaining silent and they rubbed Sehun’s back in soothing gestures. Sehun was sniffing, but none of them made any indications of knowing that.

“Don’t blame yourselves for this,” Kai spoke, “It’s not your fault. You’re doing the best you can.”

“But it’s not enough…” Sehun sniffed again, “if it was then we should’ve known from the start.”

Kai shook his head, “No, you idiot. The problem isn’t that it’s not enough, it’s that you guys are trying too hard. Give her some time. I can’t even imagine all the things that happened to her at such a young age. She’s scarred and scared, you have to keep that in mind. She’s had people she was close to her leave, you can picture her fear from that right?”

Kai continued when he felt Sehun nod, “She’s been depressed at a young age for two years. Two years of keeping things bottled up, two years of not having anyone to talk to. Her best friend ditched her and her other friend turned out to be a complete douche, and for two years she kept it all to herself.”

“It hasn’t even been a whole year since she’s been living with you guys. It takes time for people like that to start opening up, even if it is to family. Trust me, if these two hadn’t forced her to spill the beans, and things were going smooth, she probably would’ve told you all of this herself.”

“But she didn’t.”

“Because she couldn’t. Look Sehun, a year isn’t enough time to tell someone the secrets that have bruised you. If I had a cousin who suddenly came into my life after a gap, no matter how close, I probably wouldn’t be able to come clean about my ty experiences too. So don’t put this on yourself for not being there when she needed you because what’s done is done. And don’t whine like a baby that she hadn’t told you all that before because sooner or later she might have. So get a grip and grab a tissue because I can’t afford getting your snot on my pyjamas.”

Sehun chuckled as Kai backed away, a grin on his face as he settled next to his cousin. Kyungsoo was looking at his cousin like a proud father and even Baekhyun looked impressed. Sehun grabbed a tissue and dabbed his nose while the two boys gave Kai a grateful look. That night, when they had all fallen asleep and only Sehun was left awake, he thought of Kai’s words. Feeling a lot at ease and clear headed, Sehun thought of the things he’d make Hana do tomorrow because no way could they study for the finals in this atmosphere.

Misconcpetions were about to be cleared, they were just waiting for the sun to come up.