Broken. That was how Sehun felt as he drowned his sorrows in the eternal shots of alcohol that stung his throat. The stinging made him giddy. It made him forget about how miserable Luhan had made him.

Luhan. Luhan was picture perfect. He came into Sehun’s life with his doe eyes, blonde hair and charming smile. He had completely won over innocent Sehun who didn’t know any better.

Sehun had just been hired in an office and was bright and eager to work.  He was young, impressionable, a greenhorn. He had never had any relationships prior to Luhan and had no clue what he was getting into. He didn’t even have any plans to enter a relationship, but he saw Luhan. Luhan had opened his eyes to love and made him happy.

Everyone had told him about how Luhan was a player and how he would leave him just when Sehun had begun to feel something for the man.

Luhan began to grow bored of Sehun’s innocent, youthful qualities a few months into their relationship. Luhan didn’t have the patience for—nor did he like—Sehun’s naiveté.

So Sehun changed. He became a so-called “bad boy” to keep Luhan’s interest. He dyed his hair blonde and slicked it back. He put on a poker face at all times, and spoke only when he felt necessary. He held his head high when he walked and he rid himself of his former youthful bounce.

It worked for a short time, but true to the rumor mill, Luhan soon left. It became obvious to Sehun that Luhan just wanted to have some fun with the new kid.

So now, Sehun spends his days moping at work and nights drinking at bars. He let his forehead fall to the counter in front of him. He hadn’t even noticed the footsteps approaching him until the man beside him let out a large sigh and began shaking him.

“Come on Sehun. Let’s get you home,” the man said exasperated. Sehun did not lift his head, instead opting to lazily shoo away the person bothering him.

“Go away, Tao,” he slurred. Tao frowned, before letting out a sigh and sitting next to Sehun, leaning forward with his chin propped on his hand.

“Sehun, you really need to get over him, you can’t keep doing this.” Sehun slowly turned his head to look at Tao. If Tao wasn’t already used to this, it probably would have creeped him out. It had become his daily task to come and drag his best friend back to his apartment after a drunken escapade. He would have to spend the night to make sure Sehun didn’t do anything stupid.

“I can’t Tao. I miss him,” Sehun said.

“Well, he certainly doesn’t miss you. He didn’t even like you, Sehun. He was just playing you,” This statement made Sehun snap up giving Tao a glare.

“Oh, what do you know!” He yelled, causing the patrons of the bar to stare. Before Tao could respond, Sehun stood up, threw a couple of dollar bills on the counter and stormed off. Tao called after him as the two walked out of the bar. Well, Sehun more so stumbled causing Tao to have to hold onto him in order to prevent him from falling and hurting himself.

Tao managed to get Sehun into his car and buckle him in before jumping into the driver’s side and driving to Sehun’s apartment. Sehun had fallen asleep during the ride, so Tao had to carry him inside. Even with his wushu training, Sehun was pretty much dead weight in Tao’s arms and very heavy. Tao couldn’t carry him to the bedroom, so he placed Sehun on the couch and grabbed a blanket. He gently placed them on Sehun and turned to go to bed himself when Sehun called out to him.

“I’m an idiot, huh?” Sehun murmured softly, although it was slurred due to the alcohol.

“No, Sehun, you aren’t,” Tao said kneeling down to Sehun’s side.

“I am,” Sehun said, eyes glossed over and tears forming. "I’m all caught up about a guy who didn’t even love me. And I knew that. But I still let him destroy me.” Tao didn’t know what to say, so he let Sehun continue. This was the first time Sehun had talked about what had happened and how he truly felt about the whole situation.

“I was dumb to think that changing myself would make Luhan like me.” Sehun didn’t even try to hide his tears or how he hesitated every time he said Luhan’s name. “He was so perfect and I was just this dumb kid. What would he even want with someone like me anyway? He was so smart and he could see through me. I was so transparent it wasn’t hard for him to wrap me around his finger.

“He probably thought all those changes I was trying to make were funny. I was still the same. A dumb kid making changes that didn’t do anything but prove I was still the same. I think we both knew the relationship wasn’t going to work, but I still held onto that hope you know. For some stupid reason, I still hoped we would work.” Tao waited for a few moments, believing Sehun still had more to say, but when he didn’t say anything more, Tao ruffled Sehun’s hair.

“Sehun, just be glad it’s not you anymore. He’s found someone else to break now.”

Sehun had heard all about Luhan’s boyfriend, Jongin, whom he picked up only days after his break up with Sehun. The young man was bright and had just joined the office. In other words, he was just like Sehun was. He paraded him around and praised the life out of him to everyone he met. He especially did it when Sehun was nearby. He made it a habit to push Sehun’s buttons whenever he could, even if the latter did not always respond. He still knew it hurt Sehun.

“Get some sleep all right? You’ll probably be nursing a nasty hangover in the morning,” Tao said patting Sehun’s shoulder before going to bed himself.

-------------------------------

Sehun had a nasty headache and he was tired. He had drunken several cups of coffee to nurse his hangover, but it didn’t seem to be working.

As Tao and him walked through the office doors he was greeted by the sound of Luhan’s loud voice, which became louder when he saw Sehun out the corner of his eye.

“Oh, Jonginnie, I love it!”

Tao rolled his eyes, “Just ignore it,” he said to Sehun who was looking at the situation with narrowed eyes.

“What’s happened this time?” Tao asked Baekhyun, a co-worker and friend, nearby.

“You aren’t going to believe this. Jongin bought Luhan a ring. An engagement ring,”

“What?!” Sehun and Tao exclaimed at the same time. Jongin was being foolish, he couldn’t possibly think of marrying Luhan, especially when they had been dating less than six months.

“You must be joking,” Tao said in disbelief, “Jongin is out of his— Sehun? Where are you going?”

Sehun couldn’t stop himself. He began walking towards Jongin and Luhan, despite Tao and Baekhyun’s cries for him to come back.

Sehun’s eyes were locked on Jongin. He didn’t even bother to acknowledge Luhan, he just wanted to stop Luhan and save Jongin while there was still time.

“Jongin, don’t do this,”

“Excuse me?”

“You can’t marry Luhan,”

Jongin chuckled at this, “I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s any of your business if I choose to marry Luhan or not.” Jongin kept a smile on his face but it was tense. He was offended that Sehun would suddenly voice his opinion on his and Luhan’s relationship. The two had hardly spoken before and Sehun had never said it bothered him before.

“You’re right, it’s not, but I’m warning you, you are making a big mistake. You don’t know what Luhan is truly like.”

“Like you do?”

“Yes I do, because we used to date.” Jongin was silent for a moment before he began chuckling again.

“Are you doing this because you are jealous?” Sehun blinked.

“No, I’m not,” he said, but Luhan laughed, causing Sehun’s eyes to finally land on him, a sweet smile upon Luhan’s face that used to beguile him, but now it made him sick.

“Are you sure Sehun? It’s funny that you choose the moment we get engaged to start voicing your displeasure.” Luhan’s voice was sweet and gentle, but Sehun knew otherwise.

Sehun narrowed his eyes at Luhan before turning back to Jongin. “Jongin, listen to me, Luhan is like an angel to you. He captivates you with those big eyes and that sweet voice, but I promise you that you are nothing but a toy to him. He’s just playing with you and then when he gets bored, he’s going to leave. He’ll ruin you and leave you reeling as he goes off to do the same to someone else.

“Yes, I was jealous, but I’m not anymore. I’m talking to you now not out jealousy, but to tell you of Luhan’s true colors. I don’t want you to go crawling to him out of desperation. I don’t want you to waste away your life in bars, drinking out of depression. I don’t want you to end up like me. All those declarations of love he says to you are nothing but a lie. Your entire relationship is a lie.”

Jongin had wanted to stop Sehun several times, but Sehun was determined to get Jongin to see the truth. Jongin, however, wasn’t convinced.

“Luhan hasn’t done anything to convince me he is anything but sweet. Is this because I chose to marry him so early into our relationship? This may sound cheesy, but I feel Luhan is my soulmate and I will marry him regardless of what you or anyone thinks. Maybe you are still being guided by your jealousy and you should seek some help for that.” Jongin grabbed Luhan’s hand and dragged him away from Sehun and everyone else’s prying eyes.

As the two were leaving, Luhan turned around and gave Sehun a smile, which would more accurately be described as a smirk. Sehun’s heart dropped, because that smirk held all of Luhan’s true intentions. Luhan knew all of Sehun’s words fell on deaf ears and once again Sehun was the loser in their little game.

Sehun didn’t need a crystal ball to predict Jongin’s future and per naïve Sehun tradition, he held onto the hope that Jongin had heard something he had said.