Lay's Point of View

She ignored me for the next few weeks after that.

So everyone thought we were fighting again. Which I guess is partly true...

I tried approaching her in every way possible.

From using projects as an excuse, to even endlessly asking her questions every chance I got. Stupid questions that related to class.

She must've gotten annoyed because one time, she handed me all her notebooks just so I can answer my questions myself.

I really did it this time.

"I prefer it if you wouldn't voice out your emotional frustrations."

I blinked at Chen.

"You've been groaning and pulling your hair for the last 10 minutes." Luhan informed me.

Oh. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Just... stop." Kris sighed. Have I been that loud? "Maybe you should-"

"I'm already waiting so you don't need to tell me that." I stated.

"No. He doesn't mean that, Lay. He means..." Xiumin paused, "Move on?"

I stared at them.

"Did I hear you correctly?" I blinked at all of them. Why are they looking at me that way? Did they ALL mean that?

"Ge... Don't be offended, but noona doesn't seem like she's going to forgive you anytime soon." Tao said.

I shook my head. "I'll wait."

"What if she doesn't? What are you going to do then?" Luhan asked me. "You don't even know if she still has feelings for you..."

"You told me she did!" What were they saying? They were the ones who used to tell me to 'just give her time' and they're saying I should back out now? No way! I won't. I can't.

"I didn't say that." He calmly said, making me even more annoyed. "I just said she'll TRY to forgive you. I didn't say she still loved you."

"You're saying she hates me then."

"We didn't say anything like that." Xiumin gently said.

"But that's what you meant." I shot back. I glared at all of them. "You can't make me give up. I won't. I'll leave if you find me annoying, okay?" I said and stood up.

I walked out the cafeteria and went to my locker. I left my headphones there so I might as well go get it.

I don't care if I'm pathetic right now, just sitting alone on the staircase with my headphones. I'll wait. I can't stop.

And to think... they said they'd fully support me.

Luhan's Point of View

"See? I told he won't give up. So just leave him be, will you?" I sighed.

It was their plan to try and suggest for him to move on.

"It's just really sad to look at ge like that..." Tao mumbled. "It's like he's aged a year in these past weeks."

True. His eye bags have been competing with Tao's lately... but still. It's not right to try and stop him.

"Did you hear all that?" I asked through the phone.

"Yeah. We heard it." Yongguk said.

"And Junri?" Kris asked.

"... Gone." Zelo answered. "She left as soon as she found it was hyung who was making those depressing... sounds."

"Maybe we should just let them settle this?" Xiumin suggested. "We can't force Junri to forgive Lay."

"If we do that, Lay might end up bald already." Kris stated. "But you're right. We can't force her. We'll just help her."

I rolled my eyes. "You can't seriously believe yourself, right duizhang?"

"You got any better ideas?" He shot back.

"Hey. Calm down." Chen sighed. "Let's think for a while, okay? Just... calm down."

Whatever.

"I'm going to go find him." I said and stood up as well, leaving the table before they could object.

He's probably didn't go far. Maybe he's near his next class or something.

I was on my way to his next class when I spotted him by the staircase.

Huh.

I lightly kicked his leg with my foot. "Hey."

He looked up at me and removed his headphones. "What?" How does he do that? You know... asking rude questions but still sounding polite? Is it a special talent?

"Nothing. I wanted to see if you were okay. We didn't mean those... you know... words... before." I rubbed the back of my neck. "We were just worried, I guess. But if you want to keep chasing after her, we'll support you."

He sighed. "I guess it doesn't matter. She'll never forgive me. I'm the worst male at the face of the Earth. If I could go back in time, I'd kill myself so I wouldn't cause her so much pain."

"Don't say that. I'm sure she'll at least talk to you again..." I didn't want to raise his hopes up too high by giving him false reassurance.

"I don't know." He chuckled. "I'm at the point of giving up on hope."

But you won't ever give up on her, will you? "Just... leave it to fate, I guess."

"I've had enough of that." He stood up and dusted himself. "I'll just continue waiting."

"If that's what you want." I shrugged.

But why, Lay? I know how hard it is to move on. I haven't successfully done it myself, yet. But still... don't you have any plan at all to stop? She really doesn't seem like she's going to forgive you. Ever. And I don't blame her either because what you did really... .

"You're love story is in shambles. What are you going to do about it?" I asked.

He glanced at me. What he said really drove me to the edges of my curiosity...

"I'll wait." His eyes could’ve not been more determined.

"You can't wait forever." I stated. "You're bound to move on someday." Isn’t that human nature?

"Watch me prove you wrong."

Zelo's Point of View

"She'll forgive him. I'm sure."

"How could you possible know that?" I asked Yongguk hyung. "She walked out before she could hear any of what Lay hyung said."

He smiled. "She already had a clue of what he was going to say. Why do you think she left?"

"I don't know... because... she hates Lay?" Himchan hyung furrowed his eyebrows.

Yongguk hyung shook his head. "No. She doesn't hate Lay. Junri is incapable of hating anyone, remember?" He gave us his gummy smile. "She's just in denial. She's TRYING to move on, but she knows she can't. So she's distancing herself to give it another go."

"How do you know that, hyung?" Jongup asked.

"Because you should've seen her reaction. She wasn't mad... she was scared." Hyung explained. I guess he made his point.

"I think I'll go look for her." I said and stood up.

"What if she's in the girl’s bathroom then?" Youngjae hyung asked. "Maybe you should just leave her alone for a while..."

I shook my head and left to go look for her anyway. I'm done leaving her alone for space. I always do that these days and I feel even more helpless. She's clearly swallowing everything down.

And besides, I know where she may probably be. She won't go to the bathrooms because someone might hear her. So she'll go to the back, through the fire exit.

And there she is...sitting on the concrete, cross-legged.

"Are you going to stay there all day?"

She looked at me. "No. I'm not ditching classes. I just went here for... fresh air."

I rolled my eyes. "You should really start opening up, noona."

"And you should learn when to stop." She shot back.

I blinked.

"I... I didn't mean that. Sorry." She apologized with a sigh. "I just need to be alone, okay?"

"No. That's exactly what you don't need. You need to talk to him, or at least me, what the problem is." I said. "I really don't understand noona..." I sat beside her on the floor. "You readily accepted him as soon as you remembered everything. And then... you're backing out again."

"That's the problem. I remember." She frowned. What did she mean? Isn't that what she wanted? "Because of that... I feel everything again. I felt betrayal when he first told me about his engagement. I felt like I wanted to burn my drawings down that night." She bitterly smiled at me. "But I was so angry at myself for being so naive... I was so ready to trust him again because I still... loved him. And then I realized I was doing it all over again. I was being pathetic, crawling back to him."

"So you want to stop?" I guessed. "You want to stop all connections to him, just to prove something?"

"That's not what I meant." She sighed.

"It is. Other than that, you're just afraid of him. Because he can do everything again." I said. She didn't respond and stared straight in front of her. "But he won't."

She glanced at me. "How could you possibly know that? Anything can happen, Junhong. You never know..."

"That's exactly it. Anything can happen. So why are you afraid of one scenario?" I asked. "Give him one last chance, noona. You don't have to trust him... yet. Let him prove it to you, okay?"

She looked at me with a blank expression. "Weren't you the one who hated him the most?"

"Yeah... but..." Judging from her look, she wasn't buying any of it. I sighed. "Let's make a deal." She interestedly raised an eyebrow. "On Saturday, we'll visit... Dahee."

Her eyes widened in surprise. Yes. I am surprised too, noona.

"And then after that, you go on one more date with Lay hyung." I proposed. I intended to visit Dahee someday anyway... I might as well do it now.

She nodded. "Fine. IF he asks me out."

I grimaced. I forgot about that...

I FORGOT ABOUT THAT.

"Pleasure doing business with you." She grinned at me and walked off.

"Wait! That's not fair!" I whined and stood up, following behind her.

"What do you expect me to do? Ask HIM out?" She glanced at me.

"You can at least start talking to him so he gains confidence!" I argued. This isn't fair! Lay hyung will never ask her out if she always ignores him!

"I will." She nodded. "But it's up to him if he's even free on Saturday. Last time I checked, he has dance class. And they only permit one absence for a month."

My jaw dropped. "You... You planned this, didn't you?!" I narrowed my eyes at her.

"No. I just remembered too, actually." She shrugged. "Get to class, Junhong. You'll be late."

THIS ISN'T FAIR!