“Hey, Sehun? I was wondering if I could uh- go to Lay’s for a while?”

They had spent the entire day at the park. Chanyeol had forced her into other miniature rides – one of them being an automatic space jet that played jingle bells for a minute – and she had overdosed on embarrassment for one day. Chanyeol’s house was too far for him to be able to walk to so Luhan had offered him a ride while Hana walked back home with Sehun. As guilty she felt thinking about it, she had fun. Who could resist Park Chanyeol’s laughter? On their way back she felt the odd feeling settle again. Sehun was talking, keeping her mind off of it but her attention never really stayed on his words. So as they were walking home after Sehun had finished telling Hana about the little stunt Kai had tried pulling in the chemistry lab, Hana thought it would be the best time to talk it over with Lay. She didn’t want him to hurt anymore.

So as they stood under the street lamp of the road leading to their house, Hana asked the question. She felt queasy and guilty and apologetic and majorly scared but she wasn’t going to chicken out on this one. She had shimmied out of Chanyeol’s grip and had overheard Luhan telling Sehun of what Kris had told him. She knew Lay was leaving tomorrow. Hana didn’t want Lay to leave with any feelings that would later interfere with his exams or training.

She’ll clear this up. Today.

Sehun gave her a good look before he spoke, “You sure about that?”

She gave him a determined nod. “Chanyeol’s done a pretty good job making me feel less like crap. I need to do this.”

Sehun hadn’t said anything, only nodded and was about to walk toward Lay’s house when Hana stopped him. “I want to go alone…if you don’t mind.”

Sehun made a face but agreed and let her go by herself. Parting ways with Sehun, Hana started thinking about what she was going to say. How was she going to bring up the whole thing up? Would he even listen to her? She didn’t know. She didn’t realise she had reached his door until she tripped over the little bump in front of his house. She walked to the door, took a deep breath but didn’t knock. She knew this feeling, she was about to whimp out. Hana stood outside his door for almost fifteen minutes until the door opened on its own and the person she wanted to see appeared.

Lay stared at her, shocked and confused but his grip on the plastic bag – that appeared to be full of papers – didn’t falter. Hana gulped. Under the little light that was left outside and the living room light peeping from inside his house, he looked more exhausted than she remembered. She couldn’t help blame herself. He was still staring, devoid of any emotion other than utter surprise. Hana cleared . She noticed he wasn’t wearing his wing. She pretend it didn’t matter.

It won’t  soon, anyway.

“I know,” she reluctantly started, “that I’m probably the last person you want to see right now. I found out you’re leaving tomorrow and you’re probably busy with all your p-packing and all but I wanted to talk to you. It’s okay if you don’t want to,” she forced a smile, “I’ll understand.”

He couldn’t bring himself to talk, he couldn’t even blink until he saw her slowly nod at his silence and turn away. “Wait,” he called and Hana stopped. He closed the door behind him and walked past her to empty the plastic bag into the bin and then ran back inside. Hana stood there for a while but then thought that he may not come out. She was wrong, because he did come out, with a jacket and two cans of iced coffee.

“You can come inside if you want.”

Hana wondered how, even after what happened, he could be polite enough to ask her in.

 “It’s okay, I won’t take long.”

He sat down on one of the porch and put the cans down. Hana followed but sat uncomfortably at a distance. Lay wouldn’t lie and say that didn’t sting.

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing she said to break their suffocating silence. Lay’s head whipped to hers. She shouldn’t be the one apologizing.

“I should’ve told you about Jaekyung- about everything, actually. But I couldn’t because I was afraid. I realised yesterday how fear could destroy things. My fear caused enough damage for both of us, but I won’t let it anymore. I won’t my fear destroy anything else.”

The sun was slowly going down, casting an orange glow in the sky. Lay’s face was contorted into a pained expression but Hana wouldn’t look at him, she only looked at her feet. Hana started telling him everything.  At first, he thought he should let the fact that Kyungsoo had already told him everything be known to her. He saw the difficulty with which she was talking, he saw how she was pushing herself and he didn’t have the heart to stop her anymore. As far as he had heard from Kyungsoo and Kris, Hana was petrified about telling him her secrets. And to think, that now even after all that had happened, she was still sitting on his porch, holding the can of cold coffee in her hands, and telling him the things she was afraid disclosing. He didn’t know why she was doing it. He didn’t deserve the closure from her personally, not after the way he lashed out and flat out accused her. But Hana was still there, talking and sniffling because she had just finished telling him about her move to Junmi’s.

Reading her file and hearing it from Kyungsoo was hard. Last night he had wanted to push away the file, afraid of what else he might read and this morning when Kyungsoo had told him the rest, he just wanted to reverse time so he could take all his words back. However, it was different hearing the story from Hana herself. There was the unique touch of personalism and details his other sources hadn’t told him that made his heart wrench. Kyungsoo had mentioned Sehun’s father was a block head, but he didn’t expect him to be that brute.

She had reached the most recent events, the ones that occurred while he wasn’t here. Hana had a little practice with her previous story, she had told it to her psychiatrist, Kris, Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo before. But the recent events, other than a brief run down to Sehun, she hadn’t told anyone else. There was no need to, they all knew one way or another what was happening. Their open dislike for Jaekyung wasn’t a concealed fact and she also knew the cause of their distate toward him was her. But Lay, he didn’t know anything. She had to tell him everything from the start. She was doing well until she told him of the great fall out two years ago, but when it got to the most recent events, the ones that were still raw, she felt unsure and nervouse. Hana, throughout, was mentally prepared for a possible outburst from Lay; but as she went on and explained the sensitive details to him without an aggressive reaction, she felt slightly relaxed.

She told him everything, how he’d mess with her in class, his harrassments, that time when she slapped him that lead to detention; everything. She was about to leave out the bullying incident but then thought otherwise. She had told him so much already, no point holding back anymore. That bit Kyungsoo had not told Lay so the boy looked at her with confusion and a tinge of anger.

“Wait- when did that happen?”

Surprised he spoke, Hana stopped talking but didn’t raise her head. “Remember when you called and thought I was crying?”

He remembered. He heard her thick voice and freaked out. She had assured him it was nothing, that she just missed him. But now to think otherwise…

 “Oh my God…” he whispered but before he could say anything, Hana continued. As Hana spoke, Lay’s urge to strike himself repeatedly in the head with a blunt object heightened. How could he believe Yuri? How did he allow himself to be carried away by the words of a girl he didn’t even know properly? How could he not get over himself and just ask Hana to authenticate what he had heard? He was always true to his word, he never broke a promise…he wondered how the most important one managed to slip through his fingers and hit the floor.

“- I couldn’t reach my phone he had stuck it behind his back. I meant to call you. I wanted to tell you all this yesterday but- yeah.” Hana kicked the air, “Kyungsoo told me to be careful. He didn’t say it directly, but he did thoroughly imply that this would blow up in my face. He was right,” she let out a humourless chuckle. She could see Lay from the corner of her eye. He looked like he had zoned out but Hana knew he was listening to her every word.

They sat in silence. The sun had set and the lamps and the moonlight lit the streets. Lay wanted to say something, anything. But his mind went blank with flushing guilt and regret.

“I’m sorry,” Hana spoke and for the first time since she had sat on the porch, she looked at him. Half of her face was shadowed while the other half was visible under the porch lights. Lay didn’t need light to see the glitter in her eyes.

“I should’ve told you all this- sooner. I was being selfish, I’m sorry. Although it seems pointless now,” she glanced back at her shoes, “I still wanted you to know.”

Lay wanted to ask her what she meant when she said that but she had started talking already.

“I told you to clear the misunderstanding. I don’t want you to be angry anymore. You didn’t do anything wrong, your reaction made complete sense. I froze because…because that’s what I tend to do when I’m scared. It happened with Yuri too, like I told you. But this time it’s different because I’m taking the initiative to clear things out.”

Then, with glazed but determined eyes, she looked up at Lay again, “You’ve helped me a lot. All of you. Helped me more than I deserved but I don’t think I can ask more, especially from you. I was trying to look out for you but I ended up hurting you the worst; for that, and everything else, I’m so, so sorry.”

Fear started prickling his skin. He didn’t know what status their relationship was after yesterday, and what Hana was saying, he didn’t have a good feeling about it.

“Go to camp, study hard and kick at the games. You don’t have to feel angry anymore. What you saw wasn’t the truth. You don’t have to feel guilty either, everything’s justified. I don’t have any hard feelings toward you. Frankly, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Not after everything you’ve given me.”

Hana felt light as she got up and Lay watched her, unable to comprehend what was happening. She was smiling down at him and it took him a while to get a grip of the situation. He opened his mouth again but Hana spoke.

“Don’t apologise. There’s nothing you should be sorry for.”

“That’s not true,” he finally spoke. “Hana, I should’ve listened to you. I should have asked you first.”

“Honestly Lay, I don’t expect you to be calm if you see me cheating on you with another guy.”

Lay furiously shook his head, “But you weren’t.”

“You didn’t know that,” she gave him a small smile, “Besides, if I saw you like that, I would’ve been a mess too. So just- don’t worry, okay? Everything’s crystal clear now.”

“Hana, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“But I’ am.”

She shook her head and moved to flick his forehead but then pulled back last second. Lay didn’t like the action, neither did he like the look she was giving him.

“We can be friends…can’t we?”

Lay’s eyes widened. No, no this was not going to happen.

“You know,” she gulped, “I though a lot yesterday. I realised how pathetically selfish I was. I didn’t give you anything while you gave me so much. I recovered sooner, because of you I have amazing friends, Kris worked extra hard on me during therapies; and what did I do? Give you a bag of secrets and heartache.”

“That’s not true.”

“Have you seen your face, Lay? You looked bad enough already but you look like a zombie today, and it’s because of me. I don’t want to do this to you anymore. And lets be honest Yixing, would still be able to completely trust me after this?”

Lay was going to reply on impulse, say that he would. But the moment he paused to think he realised it wasn’t true. He knew that in the back of him mind, there would always be a lingering thought that she might hide something from him in the future too. Hana seemed to have read his mind because she gave him another small smile.

“No, right?” she chuckled bitterly. “I didn’t expect you to. I’m still weak, weaker than I thought. I let my fears control me and I can’t guarantee what they’ll make me do. But seeing as how I was able to overcome one today, maybe I’d be able to get better with time,” Hana snorted, “I need to build myself better. I’m not good for you, Yixing. I wonder what I was thinking when I thought I could be with you in the first place. You don’t want a coward, you deserve someone far better.”

Lay didn’t know what to say. How was he to convince her that there couldn’t be anyone better? But he couldn’t say a word. He saw her angle but he didn’t entirely agree with it. The only thing he couldn’t fight was that he may not be able to trust her blindly like he did once. She said so herself, her fears control her and until she broke through that, he wouldn’t be able to build a foolproof foundation of trust with her.

But even with that, he didn’t want to let her go.

Hana sniffed quietly, thinking he wouldn’t notice but he did, Lay bit the insides of his cheek. She ran the tip of her fingers under her eyeslide before she looked at him with a smile.

“We’re still friend though, aren’t we?”

Lay twitched the corcer of his lips with great effort and gave her a tiny nod. Hana grinned, trying to bear it in her mind that that’s how things were going to be from now and walked a few steps before turning.

“Uh- Lay?”

The boy who had been staring at the spot she had left abruptly looked in her direction, “Yeah?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to see you off tomorrow,” she tried to act less nervous than she was.

He should’ve seen that coming, “No problem.”

“Oh,” she remembered the unopened can in her hand, “this-“

“Keep it.”

She stopped, “O-okay.”

“See you then? Good luck with everything. Be careful and don’t forget to-“ Hana stopped talking once she realised what she was doing. But friends did this too, didn’t they? Lay noticed, and no, he didn’t like it.

“I’ll take care,” he said and Hana nodded.

“Good. Bye.”

For a second he thought she said both the words together, that she was saying goodbye and he won’t be able to see her again. But overthinking had been one of his habits and he shook his head.

“Bye.”

-

Kyungsoo waited for Lay to come back inside. He had been sitting on the sofa for the last forty minutes, dying to know what was going on outside. Lay walked in with his head hung low and Kyungsoo peered through his figure to find Hana nowhere in sight. When Lay plopped down next to him, Kyungsoo gently asked.

“What happened?”

Lay took a deep breath, “She told me everything.”

“I told you I didn’t tell her I was coming.”

“I know,” he ran his hand over his face in an exasperated manner, “it was different coming from her.”

Kyungsoo nodded. He knew what he meant. The experience that was conveyed by the memories was only felt when the victim relayed it themselves.

“We broke up.”

The three words were like a blow, more to himself than to Kyungsoo. It was as if now that he had spoken the words out loud that they had materialised and become true. He let the fact settle in and soon with it came the intense regret of him not stopping her. Maybe if he bolted now, he could-

“Why?” Kyungsoo asked over his thoughts. Lay looked at his friend with wide eyes.

“She asked me if I’d be able to trust her again…”

“And?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

Kyungsoo shifted violently, “But why not?!”

“I don’t know!”

Lay was panting as Kyungsoo stared at him. They didn’t say anything, just settled back into their seats and wondered how everything ended up the way it did. The prolonged silence was broken by Lay.

“I couldn’t tell her to stop. I should’ve. She insists I’ll find someone better and I wanted to get it through her head that that’s not gonna happen but- I couldn’t. I should’ve done something.”

“Don’t fuss over it now,” Kyungsoo patted his shoulder, “It’s done.”

Kyungsoo knew that was probably the lamest thing to say but he had nothing else on his mind. He didn’t expect Hana to show up at Lay’s doorstep and he most definitely did NOT expect her to end things. But it was done, and he was lost on ways to console his friend. Lay got up and left for his room with a murmured goodbye and Kyungsoo sunk deeper into his seat.

He didn’t like what was happening.

-

Everyone was at the airport, everyone except Hana. The PA hadn’t announced Lay’s flight and he hoped that he’d be able to see a certain face before he had to leave. Sehun was there, being his normal weird self. Lay was surprised, he thought that there might be an invisible wall around them now but the other behaved as if nothing had ever happened. Even Kris, who was pissed at him until last night, was being himself when he dropped him off at the airport earlier before going to work. In fact, everyone were as normal as ever, as if the news they had received yesterday was a hoax.

Sehun welcomed a teary eyed Hana when he opened the door last night. She had quietly sobbed into Luhan’s shoulder as she told them that she had called it off with Lay. Sehun had her hair while Luhan consoled her as much as he could. Sehun, now looking at Lay, could see that the guy had it just as hard as his sister. Hana had told Lay she wouldn’t be coming, but still when he saw Sehun approaching the waiting area with Kai and Kyungsoo, he couldn’t help but look for her. His entire team was there as well as their coach. Their group was one of the many others who showed up to see off the players. Baekhyun – who along with Jongdae wore gloves to cover his knucnkles – and Chanyeol were chatting animatedly and the others were trying to get them to shut up, Lay could tell they were trying to lift his spirits.

And it worked.

He spent majority of the time smiling and occasionally laughing with the others. He tried to make himself look more optimistic even if he wasn’t feeling so. For now, he forced the memories of what happened last night to the back of his mind. His flight was announced, and with one deflated look he looked over to his friends.

“Kick some and make us proud,” Baekhyun lightly punched his shoulder and Lay gave him a nod. He said goodbye to all of them, looking over their shoulders through the thick crowd for even a glimpse of black hair.

“Best of luck,” Sehun said and raised his hand.

“Thanks man,” Lay clasped his hand with his and was just about to turn and pick his suitcase up when Sehun pulled him back. Lay gave him a questioning look, Sehun looked a little uncomfortable.

“What-“

“Don’t put too much pressure on your knee; it’s healed but still, don’t.”

Lay furrowed his brows, “Why uh…”

“Don’t forget to take the vitamin suppliments your mom gave you.”

Lay’s mouth fell open because Sehun shouldn’t know that. Sehun shut hiseyes and titled his head up, as if trying to recall something.

“And…uh…since its exam season soon don’t stay up too late, coach will scold you for being half asleep on the field again. And…Oh! Yeah, and make sure that you have the window closed before sleeping or you’ll catch a cold.”

Sehun nodded, perfectly listing all the things he was asked to relay. Lay took a while to understand what Sehun meant. A small smile creeped up his lips, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And lastly, don’t get distracted and don’t worry. Everything here will be fine so you should be too.”

Sehun gave him a smile and let his hand go. Lay redjusted his purple bag, grabbed his suitcase and fell in line with his team. Despite knowing better he still looked, all hope lost when he passed the gate without seeing anything familiar. The group waved him goodbye and with unbelievable syncronasation, sighed together.

“We should run,” Chanyeol glanced at his watch, “Or we’ll be late.”

“Yeah. Come on guys.”

Kyungsoo ushered them toward the exit. Halfway out, Sehun held out his arm so Hana could grab it. Kai ruffled her hair and Jongdae leaned to playfully flick her forehead. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun gave her encouraghing smiles which she gratefully returned.

“You could’ve just said all that yourself,” Sehun mumbled, “You made me look like a mother lecturing her son.”

Hana nudged his side and gave him a look but didn’t say anything. She didn’t know if she should, besides, she already told him she won’t be coming last night. Hana didn’t think she’d be able to act as normal as the others; thus, she didn’t want Lay to leave with any sense of concern or discomfort from her side.

School was a breeze up until it was time for History. Hana remembered the events of Friday as if they happened yesterday. She didn’t even want to look at that anymore. But what she was worried about the most was their teacher’s reaction. But when she came in and the class proceeded without Hana being called out, the girl grew surprised before glancing at her friends in the back. Baekhyun and Jongdae simply shrugged. Ten minutes into the class, Hana got a text.

Sehun: Mom took care of it ;)

She felt a little ashamed but for the most part relieved that she won’t have to spend extra hours cooped up in a class room with that guy. Once was bad enough already, she didn’t want to see what would happen a second time.

Jaekyung walked in, late, and walked toward the table. The teacher didn’t even bother, she looked too tired to argue and with a lazy warning, let him off. Hana was surprised to see a purple-ish bruise on his jaw but didn’t ask of it once he sat down. She was a little concerned but she held it back. She wasn’t going to associate with him anymore. He too, gave her a side glance, that being all he did during the entire class. Hana couldn’t wait to get out of the room once the bell rang. But when she turned to leave with her friends, she saw them giving Jaekyung pointed glares before turning to her with crescent smiles.

She didn’t know they could be so bipolar.

“What happened to your hands?” Hana suddenly asked and the boys shared wary looks.

“Oh this?” Baekhyun nervously chuckled, “We thought we should start wearing gloves. Since, you know, winter’s almost here.”

“Wear a glove on one hand?”

“It’s the trend,” Jongdae spoke, “only EVERYONE is following it.”

She raised a brow, “But it isn’t even winter yet.”

“Exactly,” they said in unison and Hana gave up.

Baekhyun nudged Jongdae from behind Hana, Jongdae understood; they had to tell her. They could see everyone already there. Hana tried not to look as solemn as she felt.

“Practice,” Kai announced, “My place.”

“I can’t believe Kai just made the practice call,” Baekhyun gawked, “Can you believe it?”

“No,” Chanyeol obediently shook his head and Kai mock laughed.

“My basement has mirrors, which, I think you guys need to see what you’ll look like when you sing up on stage. Does Baekhyun know he looks like a walrus?”

Sehun, Kyungsoo, and Jongdae broke down laughing whereas Chanyeol tried not to let his laugh slip. Hana grinned in amusement at Baekhyun’s face.

“Do you eve know what a walrus looks like?!” Baekhyun shouted and Kai laughed even harder. With Chanyeol comforting his cousin, they walked the bus that took them to Kai’s house. Unlike Sehun, Hana had never been here before. They had always met Kai at other’s place but never at his own place. It was nice. It was all very open, with huge windows and little but well- put furniture.

“His mom’s an interior designer and his father is an architect,” Sehun whispered. Hana looked back at him with questioning eyes but a thankful smile.

He shrugged, “I know that look. You’re welcome.”

“Let’s go to the basement,” Kai waved enthusiastically.

“Wait,” Jongdae called, “No food?”

“You’ll get food once we’re down. Now, hurry up.”

They followed and Hana gawked at the mirrored walls. There were three walls that had full length mirrors on them while the other wall had a stereo set up. There were bean bags near the mirror less walls and a three seater couch on the other side.

“How did you…” Hana trailed as they all found themselves a spot.

Kyungsoo snorted, “He’s an only child; you can figure he’s spoiled.”

“My parents love me and make sure I have whatever I want, that’s not called being spoiled.” Kai retorted Chanyeol laughed.

“Oh really now.”

“Do we start?” Kyungsoo asked and Jongdae groaned.

“Let us breathe first, sheesh.”

“You’re not even the one singing,” Baekhyun scoffed from the place where he was standing in front of the mirror.

“Or dancing,” Sehun added and Jongdae gave them a dull look.

“Watching you guys is a test on its own. Don’t underestimate me.”

“Can we at least have some coffee before we start?” Chanyeol whined.

“Not a bad idea,” Kyungsoo jumped, “I’ll go make some.”

“I’ll come with you!” Kai, who was busy setting up the stereo system and mics, bolted up stairs with his cousin. Hana had been listening to them as she stared at Baekhyun who was busy staring at himself. She shook her head and walked up to him.

“You don’t look like a walrus.”

Baekhyun flinched but then straightened, “I know.”

“Then why are you staring at yourself?” she asked amused.

“Because,” he blinked rapidly, “I just noticed this mole above my lip.”

Hana looked unconvinced, “You noticed? Just now?”

“Yes.”

“You know I don’t believe you, right?”

“Heh, yeah.”

“Tell me what’s up?”

“It’s nothing important.”

“The amount of information you guys forced out of me,” Hana folded her arms with an amused smile, “You think I’ll let you off the hook that easily? It’s payback time midget.”

Baekhyun’s head whipped in her direction and she broke out laughing. His mouth was open so wide that she could probably fit her fist in it.

“What did you call me?!”

Hana was couldn’t bring herself to reply, she was still laughing and it made Baekhyun laugh too.

“Idiot,” he said.

“Puppy,” she retorted and they both calmed down.

“No really, what is it?” she asked again but before he could say anything, Kai came down running.

“Could you guys text me the milk and sugar quantities?”

Sehun face palmed, “You could’ve just texted us to text you.”

Kai looked as if he genuinely hadn’t considered that possibility.

“Want me to come instead?” Hana offered, “I remember everything.”

“No, we got this,” Kai insisted, “Just text us.”

“Kai!” Chanyeol called. Baekhyun knew his cousin like the back of his hand and that look he had on confirmed the chances of Chanyeol getting hit in the face. The boy who had run halfway up the stair case, ran back down with an alarmed expression.

“What happened?”

“Miss you,” Chanyeol blew him a kiss and Kai threw his school jacket toward his face.

Hana shook her head and the phones instantly buzzed.

Kyungsoo: in my defence, I was going to tell him to text but he ran off without listening

Baekhyun: Yea sure

Chanyeol: dumb and dumber

Kyungsoo: Shut up –KAI

Jongdae: look at him

Typing his name in caps

Kyungsoo: Problem? –KAI

Sehun: yea

Use your own damn phone

Hana: leave him alone guys

Kai: I swear shes my only true friend here

Chanyeol: since she’s the only one who can tolerate your level of dumb

Right Hana?

Sehun: lmao

Baekyun: ouch XD

Hana: hey that’s not true

Kyungsoo: so you mean tou cant handle his dumb either?

You*

Baekhyun: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH

Kai: Hana :(

Hana: NOT TRUE

Chanyeol: that backfired OMG

Kai: I thought you were the only one Hana :(

Hana: NO NO TASTH TNO WHAT I MANT!

That’s* not* meant*

Sehun: C’mon Hana

You don’t have to hide it anymore :)

Baekhyun: I think the fact that Hana currently has Sehun in a headlock is worth an update

Chanyeol: I can hear Kai laughing til here

Kyungsoo: ikr

My ears hurt

Where’s Jongdae?

Chanyeol: looking for his phone

But he wont be able to find it

Kai: Why not?

Chanyeol: I’m sitting on it XD

Kyungsoo: wow

Jongdae: Chanyeol is a little

Baekhyun: he’s taller than you’ll ever be

Jongdae: Ok fine

He’s a tall little

Sehun: ouch

Kyungsoo: Hana let you go?

Hana: yea

Baekhyun: never underestimate the power of a female

Kai: no one underestimates you Baekhyun

Baekhyun: could you NOT?

Kyungsoo: XD

Hana: can we focus on how almost 85% of us are in the same room?

Jongdae: can we come back to the fact that Hana thinks Kai is dumb?

Sehun: I think I’ll pass on that one

Kai: Hana :(

Kyungsoo: there there

Chanyeol: what did the poor boy ever do to you ><

Baekhyun: sigh

Hana: guys ._.

Lay: stop bullying her people

Hana paused the sentence she was typing. She looked to the others, none of them were as surprised. She looked back down at the name and her hands started shaking.

Chanyeol: hoi hoi

Baekhyun: you have wifi?

Kai: in flight?

Hana checked the time, he should have landed an hour ago.

Lay: I landed almost an hour ago…

Sehun: makes sense

Jongdae: of course it does idiot

Kyungsoo: guys we still need to know the milk and sugar proportions

We’re almost done

Baekhyun: we’re about to practice Lay :D

Lay: yea I figured lol

I gotta go

We just reached the hotel so gotta unload and unpack

Chanyeol: that’s a lot of extra details e.e

Kai: Chanyeol stahp

Lay: lol thought you guys should know

Laterr

Kyungsoo: later

Kai: Lay-ter!

Chanyeol: Lame^

Toodles Lay!

Baekhyun: Oh my God Chanyeol

Rest up bro

Later

Jongdae: buh bye bruh

Sehun: bye!

Hana: laterr

Kyungsoo: all the ‘bye’s are cute but coULD YOU GUYS SEND THE QUANTITIES ALREADY?!

Baekhyun: WHO TOLD YOU NOT TO REMEMBER THEM?!

Kai: Kyungsoo looks pissed

Kyungsoo: DON’T MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE BYUN

Baekhyun: WHAT CHA GONNA DO DO?!

Chanyeol: do do lol

Kyungsoo: you want some too PARK?!

Chanyeol: no sir

Sorry

-

It had been an hour since they had been practicing. They had the song perfected, the only thing that was left was to make sure Sehun and Kai’s choreography was perfectly in sync. The mirrored walls were of great help, not just for the dancing duo but also for the others. Kai was right, they could make sure their expressions were proper as they sang. In the times they had practiced, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Kyungsoo had tried a variety of expressions to pull during different portions of the song. Hana, just had to make sure she was sitting right. Kai and Sehun took a break almost the same time as they did.

“How was it?” Sehun asked once he settled next to her on the floor. She raised two thumbs.

Sehun pushed back his bangs, “Why, thank you.”

“I missed seeing you dance. It’s fun.”

Sehun raised a brow, “Watching is fun?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, “it makes you look dedicated and, for once, serious.”

“Hey, I can be serious.”

“For less than five minutes.”

Sehun nudged her shoulder with a playful glare. They both sat side by side, watching their friends. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were trying to dance in front of the mirror while Jongdae and Chanyeol were lying on the floor, groaning. Kai was on the phone, glancing around the room once in a while and nodding.

“WHERE IS THAT FOOD YOU PROMISED?!” Chanyeol shouted the second Kai hung up.

“On its way,” Kai replied, “There was a problem with directions.”

“What are we having?” Jongdae asked sitting up, his eyes almost sparkled in anticipation.

“Fried Chicken.”

“Score!” Chanyeol shouted and high fived with Jogdae. Hana was clenching and unclenching her hands with her head leaning on Sehun’s shoulder as they both watched Kai cross the room to Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. It was only five minutes later that the bell rang.

“FOOD!” Chanyeol shouted and almost made a run for it when Kai cut him half way.

“I’LL GET IT DUDE RELAX!”

“Oh,” Chanyeol stopped immediately and beamed, “OKAY!”

Kai ran up and they all started making room for the meal they were about to devour. Hana could hear her stomch growl and she had JUST started feelng hungry, she couldn’t imagine how hungry Chanyeol and Jongdae must be.

“Shouldn’t we go help him?” Sehun asked as he was helping Kyungsoo place the mat Kai had left.

“There must a lot of boxes for one person to carry.”

“I’ll go,” Hana got up and dusted her hands. She was halfway up the stairs when she heard footsteps coming down. She grew confused when she heard two pairs of feet, but then shrugged and came down, figuring the delivery guy must be helping Kai carry them down.

“No food?” Jongdae sullenly asked when he saw Hana return with nothing.

She pointed behind her, “Delivery guy’s helping.”

“I got food!” Kai cheered and Hana grabbed the plastic plates, ready to distribute when Sehun spoke.

“Why is she here?”

For a second Hana thought he was talking about her, but that couldn’t be it because…well, it was HER. She looked at the others for hints but they weren’t even looking at her. Hana turned and her mind took a while to register the new presence because it made no sense.

Yuri stook with plastic bags in her hands and her head hung low. Hana’s gaze flickered to Kai to who looked very much aware of all the gazes he was receiving. Sehun looked toward Baekhyun and Kyungsoo who stood calmly next to each other with folded arms and serious expressions. Jongdae had seen Yuri and so the question why she was in Kai’s house rang in his head too. Chanyeol, however, had only heard of the girl and had never seen her. Looking at the girl in front him standing next to Kai, he couldn’t help but ask.

“Girlfriend?”

Hana’s eyes widened and she couldn’t hold back the surprised “What?!” that escaped .

“No!” Kai held up both plastic bag filled hands, “It’s not what you think.”

Kyungsoo and Baekhyun walked toward the duo. Baekhyun crossed Kyungsoo to help Kai free himself of the bags. Kyungsoo, who was originally supposed to help his cousin, was taken aback a little but didn’t make much of it and helped Yuri instead.

“Have a seat,” Kyungsoo ushered. Confused and nervous, Yuri looked up at him and reluctantly nodded. Hana felt a hand on her shoulder, Sehun gave it a little squeeze. He pushed her down to sit and she did, him on one side and Baekhyun on the other.

Kyungsoo and Jongdae helped set up the boxes and sauces. Hana usually helped but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from the girl opposite her. Chanyeol was on Yuri’s right and seeing that no one took the other side, Kai sat on her left. Hana had pretty much lost her appetite, but when Sehun gave her all her favorite pieces and looked at her with those concerned eyes, she couldn’t say no. She had enough of having Sehun worrying about her, she wasn’t going to give him anymore reasons to.

So despite not wanting to, Hana forced two pieces down only to have a third given to her by Baekhyun. Unlike Sehun, Baekhyun was cheerful and among the only three people talking, Chanyeol and Kai being the other two. Hana coul feel the brief glances Yuri was sending her way and chose to ignore them. It was after three dead conversations and five boxes of fried chicken that they were done eating.

“So full, but, oh so delicious,” Chanyeol graoned making Hana crack a tiny smile.

They were done with food but the unasked question still lingered in the air, what was Jang Yuri doing here?

“I get a feeling,” Sehun started, “That this is that time of our meeting when one of us reveals something important to the group.” Sehun then pointedly looked at Kai, “Isn’t it, Kai?”

“You’re right, it is.” Baekhyun said and Hana glanced at him.

“Jongdae,” Baekhyun looked to his friend and they nodded at each other. Hana furrowed her brows, obviously not understanding the interaction.

“But uh…” Jongdae trailed, pointing not so discreetly at Yuri.

Baekhyun shook his head, “She needs to hear it too.”

Jongdae nodded. Baekhyun wasn’t sure how they were supposed to open the topic, but he knew as much that the two girls had the right to know the damage that had been caused by that . Hana was looking at them with eyes screming confusion and Jongdae thought it’d be best not to drag the suspence.

“One fine Saturday morning, and by that I mean yesterday, me and Baekhyun went to the arcade.”

Hana did not see how that was in any way relevant to their situation at hand.

“What he means to say is,” Baekhyun said, “That Jongdae and I, went to the arcade yesterday looking for Jaekyung.”

Yuri’s head snapped up and Hana looked bewildered, they both stared at Baekhyun and the boy picked at his glove. They told them the rest of it, Baekhyun and Jongdae alternating. They took off their gloves at the end, exposing their bruised knuckles. They had turned purple-ish blue and Hana lightly touched Baekhyun’s with her fingers.

“So it was all a game?” she whispered, “A pathetic plan to get back at me?”

Baekhyun and Jongdae nodded solemnly. By now, Chanyeol had figured who the girl next to him was. He looked at her with just a speck of distaste which immediately melted when he saw her expression. Yuri thought that she had experienced extreme guilt yesterday, she was certainly wrong. To think that she had unintentionally helped Jaekyung, the root of all their problems. She wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear. She glanced at Hana but the girl didn’t even look at her, she was too busy inspecting Baekhyun’s hand.

“Does it hurt a lot?” she asked but Baekhyun shook his head with a reassuring smile. She asked Jongdae the same thing and the boy shrugged, “Totally worth it.”

“Who punched him first?” Kai asked as if the idea of punching Jaekyung was entertaining, which it was.

“I did,” Jongdae said with a smig smile and Baekhyun huffed.

“I was about to before HE stopped me,” he jabbed an accusatory finger in Jongdae’s direction. The latter blew a raspberry.

Somehow they started bickering again and Hana shook her head because it just couldn’t be helped wit these guys.

“You shouldn’t have punched him,” Hana said and they looked bewildered by her statement.

“What?!” Jongdae exclaimed.

“He deserved it, Hanster.”

“Yeah but, you guys could’ve gotten into trouble.”

“Which we didn’t,” Jongdae pointed out. Hana shook her head, smiling.

“What am I going to do with you guys?”

Baekhyun swelled his chest, “Baekhyun gets what he wants.”

Kyungsoo on his other side smacked his head, “Loser.”

Baekhyun stuck his tongue out but didn’t say anything. Kai, who was grinning widely, suddenly grew conscious when he noticed their expectant gazes.

“I uh-“ he glanced nervously at Yuri was sitting with her head low. Kai felt bad for making her sit in an awkward setting but what could he do? She was the one who suggested it after all.

“Hana, can I talk to you?”

Hana didn’t look but she grew rigid at the girl’s voice. She clasped her hands and when she felt a tap on her shoulder, Baekhyun was giving her an encouraging smile. When she turned to look at Sehun, he was doing the same, and so was everybody else. Hana looked back at Yuri and nodded.

“Okay.”

“In private?” Yuri asked and Hana nodded again. They were about to get up and leave when the boys started shifting and picking up the plates and boxes.

“I call dibs on the karaoke machine!” Jongdae announced and Kyungsoo scoffed.

“We’ve been singing our throats off! NO KARAOKE!”

“MARIO CAAAART!” Chanyeol shouted and ran upstairs with the bags in his hands.

“MAGICAL RACING TOUR!” Kai cheered and Sehun followed him out with a dull look.

“What are you? Six?”

“Imma beat your in Guitar Hero,” Baekhyun challenged Sehun.

The boy snorted, “With that hand? We’ll see.”

Their voices soon disappeared and Hana looked back to Yuri who was still looking at the stairs.

“Don’t mind them,” Hana excused, “They’re a lively bunch.”

“I can see,” Yuri turned with a small smile which instantly faltered when she met Hana’s gaze.

Yuri felt lost. Hana, the girl whom she could always talk to without hesitation was standing in front of her and Yuri couldn’t bring herself to speak, and it was all her own fault. Hana had her lips pursed and stared at the pale blue mat they had just eaten on and bent to fold it. Yuri bit her lip as she continued to stare at Hana.

“Uhm,” Hana started, “I’m sorry about Chanyeol. The part where he thought you were Kai’s girlfriend must’ve been a little uncomfortable.”

Yuri stared at her for a second before she could respond, “Oh that. Yeah, no problem.”

“You… wanted to talk about something?”

“Yeah, right I did. Right,” Yuri struggled with words, “I- I came to- uhm- I came to apologize.”

Hana raised a brow, “What for?”

Yuri bit her lip hard. How many things could she apologise for? There were too many. She wanted to apologise for being a lousy friend, for not being there for her when Hana needed her the most, for not keeping their promise of being friends forever, for accusing her, for not trusting her, the list could go on and on.

“If it’s about that cafeteria thing-“

“No. Hana, that’s not it. It’s one of the things but it’s not it.”

Hana furrowed her brows, “Then what…” Hana’s eyes widened when she saw Yuri’s eyes sparkle. She didn’t know how to react; usually, whenever either of them would cry, the other would wrap them in a hug, but Hana knew that authority wasn’t hers anymore. Hana turned to grab the tissue box Kyungsoo had thrown on the couch and when she turned she was crushed in a hug.

Surprisingly, Hana didn’t feel awkward. Instead, she felt oddly familiar. Hana’s arms came up, one patting Yuri’s head and shushing her while the other rubbed her back. Hana could feel tears soak her shirt but she let it be.

“I-I’m s-so sorry,” Yuri hiccupped, “I’m the worst Hana. I’m so s-sorry.”

“Calm down, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not!” Yuri pulled away and Hana could see her red face and watery eyes. The sight still bothered her.

“I’ve been such a to you! All this while I was going around thinking you backstabbed me when it was ME who stabbed YOU!”

Hana’s mouth fell open. It’s not like she wasn’t going to confront Yuri about what had happened two years ago. She was planning on doing it this week actually. Hana now understood why Kai had looked like a child who stole from his brother’s cookie jar.

“Yuri-“

“Your parents died… HANA, YOUR PARENTS DIED AND I DIDN’T EVEN COME CHECK ON YOU!”

“Yuri-“

“I can’t believe myself… All this because of a guy who was never sincere with me in the first place…” she sobbed harder. Hana never liked seeing her cry. Despite all what happened, it didn’t change the fact that Hana had known Yuri for majority of her life. Watching the girl break down like this didn’t please her one bit.

“Yuri, please stop crying.”

She defiantly shook her head, “I’m such a .”

“You’re not a .”

“I am!”

“Could you stop cursing yourself?”

“I DESERVE IT!”

“You apologised, right? I forgive you. Now stop crying, it’s all in the past.”

Hana’s words went over her head, “I accused you…”

“Forget about it,” Hana said softly.

“I hurt your feelings…”

“It doesn’t matter, Yuri.”

“Your mom and dad died and I didn’t show up…”

“You found out late.”

“BUT I DID AND STILL DIDN’T COME!”

Hana had to admit she couldn’t just brush this one off, “It doesn’t matter now. It’s in the past. I lived through it.”

Yuri had grabbed her hair and was furioiusly shaking her head, “I can’t believe it.”

“Please, stop.”

“I even ruined your relationship. How could I be so blind…”

That made Hana pause, “Wait. What do you mean?”

Yuri was sniffling like crazy and Hana broke out of her train of thoughts and handed her the tissue box.

“I- oh God, I feel awful.”

“Yuri, what do you mean?”

“I told Lay, a-about what happened two years ago…my version of it.”

“Elaborate.” Hana was surprised how hard her voice sounded to her own ears.

Yuri looked as if she flinched but Hana didn’t notice, “I told you went around with Jaekyung while w-we were dating two years ago and can’t be trusted…”

For the first time since they had started talking, Hana felt anger. All this while, she thought that Lay’s trust in her was weak that it snapped so easily when he saw them. But if she had known that Yuri had been misinforming him beforehand and polluting his trust in her, maybe the outcome of their situation would have been different.

“I told you were hanging out with Jaekhung ever since he left…

“You what?!”

“I made him think you were cheating on him.”

Hana snapped, “HOW COULD YOU?!”

“I thought so too! You’d been hanging around him those days and I thought that you were going to end up hurting Lay!”

“Even if I was Yuri, you had NO RIGHT to involve yourself in our business!”

“I was trying to look out for him!”

“YOU DIDN’T NEED TO!”

Hana grabbed her temples and turned. She never thought Yuri would ever ACTUALLY go and do something like this. But she had and the entire situation left Hana in state of tumult. She could hear Yuri sobbing behind her but Hana didn’t know what to do.

“I-I’m so sorry, Hana. I didn’t k-know. I’ll fix this, I swear!”

“Forget it,” Hana shook head, “It’s done now.”

“No! I’ll do something-“

“You don’t have to anymore. We broke up, end of story. I told him everything already, he knows it was a misunderstanding.”

When Hana didn’t hear anything from the other girl, she turned. Yuri stared at her in horror, as if what Hana had told her just settled in and she couldn’t believe it. This was partially Yuri’s fault, and she knew it. If she hadn’t planted the seed of doubt in his head in the first place, maybe they ended up this way. But if Hana said she explained everything then-

“Why did you break up?”

“Why should I tell you?” Hana could only keep her tone in check but the words were slipping past her filter. Yuri, not used to the latter’s hostility, stepped back. Yuri knew the damage she had caused, had been causing since the past two years. When Kai told her about Hana’s mutism, she spent the entire night thinking that if she was there with her, she wouldn’t have fallen under such conditions, she could’ve prevented it from happening. For that, she felt guilty.

“I’m sorry,” is all she could say. As mean as it sounded, Hana felt tired listening to her apologies. Kyungsoo and Kai had come downstairs, figuring that it had been a bit too long with both of them alone and it couldn’t possibly be going well with all the shouting they had heard. Kyungsoo led Yuri upstairs while Kai stayed back with Hana. When she heard them leave, she couldn’t help but ask: “Why did you talk to her?”

“She needed to know what happened two years back,” Kai shrugged.

“I could’ve done that myself.”

“But you weren’t going to.”

“How do you know that?”

“You didn’t want her to end up like this,” he said pointing to the door.

Hana chewed on her lip as she stared at him before sighing, “I don’t know. I’ve tried telling her, but she never listened.”

“I wasn’t planning on interveining, really.”

“It’s okay, I guess. How did you find her?”

“Sehun gave me her address.”

“You guys,” Hana placed a hand on her forehead, “I need to handle all these things on my own. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate the help to the point where I feel like I don’t deserve all of you. But, there are some things which I need to do on my own, or I’ll never be able to grow.”

Kai gave her a smile and nodded, “I understand.”

He ruffled her hair and flicked her forehead, forcing her to smile and took her upstairs. Yuri was nowhere to be seen and Hana felt slightly relieved, things would’ve been awkward if she was still there. The boys had abandoned their games and were looking at her cautiously. Hana scratched behind her ear, now what?

“So…” Sehun started, “Another hour of practice?”

-