Jongin groggily woke up to the sound of a voice filling the air nearby.

     “No, he was really bad last night. No, I know it’s not healthy, but what can we do? How many interventions have we tried? How many times have we tried to tell him to stop dancing so hard and stop drinking? Yeah, I’ll talk to him, don’t worry. Yixing. It will be okay.”

     Then footsteps sounded and with effort, Jongin pushed himself into a sitting position, groaning as he did so. “So you’re finally up?” the voice said again and the brunette lifted his head to meet the eyes of his friend.

     “Yifan hyung…” he murmured, looking down in shame. He couldn’t imagine how he must have looked like the night before. “I’m—“

     “Save it,” Yifan cut him off, making Jongin flinch. It wasn’t that his tone was cold or anything, but just the sharpness of it felt as if it could cut like a knife. “Jongin, what’s wrong with you? What happened?”

     And then suddenly, Jongin’s heart hurt. “You know what happened! You know why I’m like this!” he cried out, ignoring the throbbing in his head.

     “You’re becoming a drunk over one stupid break up?” Yifan asked coldly, his own voice raising.

     “Damn it, I loved him!” Jongin yelled, his voice cracking at the end. “I loved him and I broke his heart.” His voice quieted from the loud tone as the realization hit him full force once again. “I…”

     His voice failed him but the tall blonde waited for him to continue. This could quite possibly be the wakeup call the younger needed.

     “...I deserve every single pain that comes my way. I deserve everything horrible that happens to me.”

     Those words made Yifan freeze. This was not how this was supposed to go. “Jongin—“

     “I ended it with Kyungsoo because I couldn’t bear to look at him, much less be with him. How could I, when every. single. thing. reminded me of my sins? Except that it was too late…”

     Jongin’s voice shook, the pain of losing his love hitting him full force. Tears gathered at the corner of his eyes and his breathing was shaking. His friend could only watch in shock. Yifan wanted to wake Jongin up, but not like this.

      “I can’t even…look at my best friend the same way because…because I know that he could treat him a million times better than I did and could have. That and the fact that it was him that he slept with before finding out the truth. Hyung… Am I a bad person?”

     The question surprised Yifan and he hesitantly sat down next to his friend. “You’re not a bad person, Jongin-ah. You’re just a person who made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes in life and they overcome it.”

     “Even when it feels as if your whole life is turned upside down? Even when that person is sinking into a pit?”

     The older of the two softened and pulled Jongin in for a side hug. “No, you’re not a bad person. You’re someone who made a mistake, and even though that mistake dictated your life, it was a mistake nonetheless and you will get over it, okay?”

     Jongin nodded numbly and then Yifan made him look up, shaking his shoulders slightly. “Jongin. You have to wake up. You can’t be like this anymore. No more drinking.. You have to get a job, get back to life the way it is now,” he said softly.

     “One, two, and turn, and four. Swing, six, seven, eight,” Taemin chanted and then the music ended. “Alright! Great class guys, I’ll see you guys tomorrow, same time!”

     Once the class had dispersed, the dance teacher finally noticed the person leaning against the wall and broke into a bright smile. “Jongin! Where have you been? It’s been forever…”

     “Yeah, I know hyung..” Jongin said, giving his friend a hug. “Listen, I know I’m in no place to ask this of you, but do you have any openings for a dance teacher?”

     Taemin chuckled and nodded. “Of course I do. And with a talent like yours, why would I turn you away? Come on, let’s go to my office, we’ll fill out paperwork, and you can start working next week, okay? You’ll most likely teach my junior class. Teenagers, ranging from 13 to 17, and they’re actually quite good.”

     “I can’t wait,” Jongin said, a smile appearing on his face.

     In addition to working, he went back to school. Taemin had offered him the position of business partner, but since Jongin had no clue how to manage things like that, he went back to college.

     His days were filled with schoolwork, dance instruction, and the occasional meeting with Yifan and Yixing, self-appointed therapists. They helped him get through his drinking thoughts and his insecurities.

     Soon enough, Kim Jongin was back. Gone was the depressed, drunkard man he had become. Gone was the former player. Gone was the boy who would play pranks on his friends by paying people to moon them in the hallway. Now, he was Kim Jongin, aspiring dance school owner (co-owner at least).

     He still missed Luhan, that he could never get rid of. There were times when he would lay in bed at night, replaying all of their happy memories together. He missed the Chinese male, and even though both Yifan and Yixing assured him that Luhan was fine, Jongin still longed to see him in person. But he knew he could never face his ex-boyfriend. Maybe soon he would go and beg forgiveness for how bad he treated Luhan in the last days.

     But then he would fall asleep, wake up, and go back to his normal life. And Jongin was quite happy with that. He thought that it would be alright for a while.

     Then the text came.

Guys! I feel like I haven’t seen you all in forever, so we’re going to have a small reunion, okay? Us twelve, like it used to be. It’s going to be at my restaurant, I’ll text you the address later. Text me back if you’re coming. Again, everybody is invited!

            Don’t worry if Luhan is there, okay? Yifan and I will be there helping you. –Yixing

            Jongin smiled at the touching and caring messages his friends sent and looked up in the mirror, straightening his tie. He took a deep breath, looked in the mirror, and said, “You’ll be okay Jongin. Head high, pretend that it doesn’t affect you that they’re together still. You’ll be fine.”

            With that, he walked downstairs and got into his car, driving to Joonmyeon’s restaurant. He knew that Yifan was looking forward to seeing Tao after six months of the latter being in China. And he also knew that Yixing hadn’t been spending much time with Joonmyeon because the older was spending a lot of time with Jongin.

            He felt bad for keeping his friend away from his boyfriend. After all, he didn’t need another relationship wrecked because of him.

            Upon his arrival at the restaurant, he found that he was one of the last to arrive. As he said hi to his boisterous friends, he noticed that Luhan and Sehun had still not come. “Are Luhan and Sehun coming?” he asked, and it was like he asked if the president was coming because everyone got quiet, staring at him in surprise and concern.

            They all knew about what Jongin and Luhan had gone through. But that didn’t stop Jongin from saying hi to Kyungsoo. Yes, they were awkward, but they were civil, and that was all their friends wanted. But Luhan was a different story.

            Luhan had gone straight to Sehun after his and Jongin’s nasty breakup, and that was the last most of them had heard from the pair. “They should be coming,” Joonmyeon said, consulting the text message. “Oh, here they are now.”

            Jongin was closest to them as they walked in and everyone watched with bated breath, hoping an altercation wouldn’t break out. “Hey guys,” Jongin said amiably and much to everyone’s surprise. “It’s been a while, huh?”

            All eyes turned to the pair who had just arrived, wondering what they would say. Sehun spoke for the both of them, civil, but there was a touch of coldness to his tone that surprised all of them. “Hello Jongin. Yeah, it’s been a while.”

            And that was it. Luhan and Sehun started walking around to everyone, saying hi, and everyone noticed that Sehun’s voice was much warmer to everybody else except for Jongin.

            Luhan kept quiet, looking down, while everyone kept talking and laughing. Of course, the only person who noticed was not his own boyfriend, but Jongin.

            Moving to the empty seat next to Luhan, Jongin asked, “Are you okay?”

            Luhan jumped slightly at the sudden question and turned, expecting to see someone like Kyungsoo or Baekhyun, but nope, there was Jongin. “O-oh… Y-yeah,” he stuttered, looking back down.

            “Are you sure? Lu, you’re really quiet today, and that’s really unlike you,” Jongin pressed, concerned for his ex-boyfriend and still friend.

            “I guess…” Luhan hesitated before stating, “Jongin, anything you hear tonight… I’m sorry, okay?”

            Jongin tilted his head, a frown appearing on his features. “What?”

            Before Luhan could explain, Sehun was there and Jongin had to move back to his seat, still frowning as he tried to think of what he was going to hear. “Are you okay?” Jongin heard in his ear and he turned to see Yixing.

           “Yeah, hyung, I’m okay,” Jongin answered with a smile.

           “Hyungs, I have something to tell you all,” was suddenly heard and everyone fell silent.

            Sehun stood up and looked down with a loving smile down at the older male next to him. “So… I know it hasn’t been long, but you know… I’ve decided this.”

           “Get on with it Sehun!” Tao yelled out drunkenly, leaning on his boyfriend. “I don’t want to hear a long speech!”

           Chuckles were heard all around and Sehun gave a small smile. “Okay then. I’ll get straight to the point. Luhan and I are engaged.”

A/N So I decided to update waayyy before the next date since a few people wanted a longer chapter ^^" So here you go~~ I hope you all like the cliff hanger! ;)

Comments are loved btw.. ^^" And I'm thinking of either keeping up with a blog here or making a tumblr.. What do you all think?

P.S. Next update won't be until the 15th I think.. Maybe I'll finish the story and update before then, but I want to sort of drag this out because It's a short story.. ^^"