Chapter 16

The day felt so long and it was really cold out today that everyone was wearing extra clothes under their uniforms. The school felt like a freezer because our heater broke suddenly. Great. Just our luck, huh? The day it's really cold, our heater decides to make us suffer. Mind as well just go outside and learn. It would have felt the same way anyway. I was getting irritated with everything and everyone today. No one would shut up and my stupid headache wasn't making it any better either. So annoying. And then my homeroom teacher's mouth would stutter words because she was so cold. Why were we in school if it was going to be like this? Ridiculous.

The cafeteria was even worse than our classrooms combined. The fact that it was already cold when we had a working heater makes it even worse when we didn't have a heater. I felt like we didn't have any walls around us. Jung Ah and I shivered as we ate our food. No one seemed to even touch their food because everyone's body was frozen to the core.

"I should have just skipped today..." I mumbled.

"This is ridiculous. I'm not going to stay in school anymore!" Jung Ah got up from the table as she shivered. "I'm going home. I don't care if you stay or not, I'm not!"

"Jung Ah!" I yelled after her, but she ran off before I could even get to her. "Stupid!"

I got up from my table and threw away both of our trays into the garbage. I rubbed my hands together, looking around at all of the people in the cafeteria. Should I stay? I mean, there was only four more hours left. Eh. I walked back to my classroom and gathered all my things. I threw my coat over my body and dug for my gloves that I had bought yesterday. It was a good thing I brought my scarf as well. I threw it around my neck and heaved a sigh. My head was definitely not doing well against this cold school.

On my way towards the school's entrance, I suddenly saw Lu Han, Chan Yeol, Baek Hyun, and Kai sitting outside with drinks in their hands. Weird. I know it was cold inside the school, but was outside really any better? Or was this just some kind of gangster thing they did? I shrugged and made my way out. They turned around right as the door swung open. Man. They really are gangsters, reacting quickly. They all stood up slowly and stared at me. I was going to walk past them, but it didn't look like they were going to let me leave just like that.

"Where are you going?" Chan Yeol asked sipping on his drink. "Are you skipping?"

"Uh... Yeah..." I said awkwardly looking around and noticing that they were missing one person. "Where's... Where's Se Hun?"

"Why? Are you planning to go and see him?" Baek Hyun smirked cockily at me.

"No..." I said pressing my lips together. "I was only curious because he's not here..."

"Oh, it's okay if you are. I mean, he could use someone to talk to." Kai bit his lip as he placed a hand into his pocket. "The guy might make us go to the clubs again. I'm not about to waste another hundred dollars that I don't have."

Maybe Se Hun was just depressed and that was the only reason why they kept heading out to the clubs. Poor guys. I wonder how many times they've gone just to be there for Se Hun. They were such good friends. I was just about to speak and reply, but my head started pounding and it really hurt. I almost stumbled down the steps, but Lu Han's grip on my arm caught me before I could.

"Are you okay?" Lu Han asked peaking over at me. "You don't look well."

"I have a migrane." I nodded at him to thank him. "That's why I'm heading home."

"Look... Soo Jin... I don't want to ask you to do us a favor... But can you go see him?" Lu Han hissed under his breath, as if he really didn't want someone to hear us talking. "He needs someone to talk to and he's comfortable around you..."

I raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"Oh come on, Soo Jin. You have to know the guy is comfortable around you." Chan Yeol shook his head.

"But why me? Can't... Can't you guys talk to him?" I asked, only because I didn't think I'd be the right person to talk to him.

"No, we already tried talking to him." Baek Hyun took a few steps towards me so he could get a better view of my face. "Ahn Soo Jin, think of it this way... He needs a girl."

"What am I? Just another girl?" I rolled my eyes. 

"Yah. No one's calling you just another." Kai rolled his eyes at me. "If we really wanted just another girl, we'd go find one."

"Come on, Soo Jin." Baek Hyun scoffed. "Do you think it's hard for us to find another girl?"

"Please..." Lu Han whispered, his lips trembling from the cold.

I crossed my arms and stared at all of them. Why was this happening to me? They were urging me with their eyes and I already knew what my answer was going to be even if I hated it. Goodness. Am I going to regret this?

I was standing outside of Se Hun's house. I was shivering from the cold and it had started to snow. My pale legs couldn't handle this weather at all. I started knocking on the door. The boys had told me that he was definitely at home, so why wasn't he opening this damn door? Does he not know how cold it is out here? Even after I pounded on it, there was still no answer. I took my phone out and decided to call him. It rung a few times and then it had hung up. Wow? Did he really just hang up on me?

"YAH! OH SE HUN!" I pounded on the door even harder. "ARE YOU NOT GOING TO OPEN THE-"

The door suddenly opened and I saw Se Hun standing before me. He looked dead. His hair was a mess, which was kind of attractive, minus the dead looking part. He was only wearing a black graphic t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans. He was staring at me as if I was some crazy person. I wouldn't doubt it if he was thinking that way right now. But that took me out of my thoughts immediately when I suddenly got a whiff of the air from his house. It reaked of alcohol.

"Have... Have you been drinking?" I asked looking up at him.

"What are you doing here?" He sounded so cold and stubborn. "Go home."

"Yah. I came over here to-"

"Well go home." He cut me off as he started closing the door, but I stuck my foot in befor he could. "What are you doing?"

"Se Hun, what's wrong with you?" I felt worried for the first time.

"Nothing. Now will you leave?" He hissed at me.

"No." I shoved through him and went inside to see his house filled with cans of beer. "Se Hun... You can't live like this." I said turning to face him.

"You don't even know how I live." Se Hun closed the door behind him and walked over to his couch and sat down. "Leave before I carry you out and throw you into the snow."

Se Hun lifted up a beer can and was just about to drink it, but I grabbed it out of his hand immediately. "Stop it. Drinking won't change anything!"

"You're really frustrating me today, Soo Jin, and I don't want to see you right now." Se Hun stood up and grabbed the can out of my hand roughly, cutting my finger.

He didn't even notice.

"Why are you drinking. At least tell me this." I said holding onto my finger since it started to bleed. "Are you depressed because of your grandpa passing away? Is that it?"

Se Hun glared up at me. "Don't talk about him."

"Se Hun, you can't drink away your feelings. It's not going to bring him back." I didn't want to say it, but I had to. "What if he saw you like this and it was because of him? Do you think he'd feel happy seeing you in this state?"

"Shut up, Soo Jin." He growled at me. "Get out!"

"Can't I just help you?!" I yelled, my head suddenly pouding at me roughly.

"Why would I need your help?" Se Hun was staring at me and it was kind of scary.

"At least accept it when someone is doing so!" I tried to calm myself. "That's the least you could do!"

"I didn't ask you to come here for help." He chugged his can of beer.

"Well I never ing asked you for help either, did I? But I accepted it!" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Does it hurt to kill your pride just for a moment?"

"Go home." Se Hun let out a small sigh. "I want to be alone."

"Fine..." I said turning around. "I don't even know why I wasted my time to come here and try to-"

I stopped walking when my head started to pound. I felt the blood drip down onto my skirt. I looked down, but my vision started to get blurry. I didn't what was happening. My finger was bleeding and I had a major migrane.

"Soo Jin..." Se Hun's voice suddenly changed. "Are... Are you okay?"

I felt him touch my shoulder lightly, but I hit him away. "Don't touch me. I don't need your help if you don't need mine."

"You're bleeding, Soo Jin." He grabbed my arm and pulled me back to look at my hand. "Soo Jin, you look pale. Are you okay?" He touched my forehead and shook his head. "And you ing have a migrane, you idiot!"

I didn't know what happened next because I suddenly lost vision of everything around me.

When I woke up, I could smell a scent of Se Hun. I turned to the side and saw Se Hun sleeping on the couch adjacent from me. I felt a warm blanket around me and when I looked at my hand, I saw that my finger was nicely bandaged. Wow. This stupid gangster actually took care of me? I sat up and tried to peek over at him, but I couldn't see his face. My head was still hurting, but it wasn't hurting as bad as it had earlier. I threw the blanket off of me and looked for my bag, but I couldn't find it.

"What are you doing?" I heard Se Hun say.

I turned around and saw that his eyes were opened. "Oh... I... I was going to get my bag and leave..."

"No, you can't leave." Se Hun said as he sat up on the couch.

"Oh? Now I can't leave?" I rolled my eyes. "Weren't you just telling me to leave your house?"

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Se Hun got up and went into the kitchen and came back with a cup of water and a pill. "Take this. It'll make your migrane go away."

"No, I don't want to." I was only trying to piss him off for pissing me off.

"Yah!" Se Hun yelled at me.

"What? I don't want your help." I mocked.

"Come on, Soo Jin. You can't be serious right now." He set down the cup.

"Well yeah. That's how I felt when you were being a jerk about everything!" I yelled.

"Please, Soo Jin, just take the medication." Se Hun closed his eyes for a split second and bit his lip.

"No, not until you stop doing all these stupid things!" I crossed my arms.

"God, Soo Jin, are you serious?" Se Hun wrapped one arm around my neck and hugged me closed to him so he chould shove the pill down my throat. "Swallow it or I'll make you swallow it the hard way."

I tried to say something, but he shut my mouth forcefully. When I finally swallowed it, I pushed him away from me and glared at him. He went over to the couch and sat down as he ran both of his hands through his hair and then used one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Why is it okay for you to worry about me, but when I do it, you make such a big deal out of it?!" I was already pissed off that he was being so stupid about the whole situation.

"Who said I was worried about you?" Se Hun looked up at me annoyed.

"Fine. You helped me. I can't help you though?" I crossed my arms.

"I don't need your help." He said under his breath.

"You're a wreck, Se Hun." I said quietly, lowering my head. "Do you have any idea how worried your friends are?"

Se Hun got up and walked up the stairs to his room. "You can sleep in the guest room. It's your first door to your right."

"Will it hurt to kill your pride?" I asked standing up.

"It's not even about pride, Soo Jin." He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked at me. "To figure oneself, you have to do it by yourself. All I need right now is time; not someone who only pities me."

I didn't know what to say to him anymore. He wouldn't let me help him and his friends couldn't do anything either. What was I supposed to do? Keep being an annoying rat and follow him and have him talk to me when I could barely get anything out of him? Why was it that I accepted help so easily, but Se Hun couldn't? I didn't understand him. This was the first time that he's acted weirdly like this to me and it really did worry me. How could I leave him like this? Was he going to be alright?