"Aera, you smell really nice."             At that, a flush of red spread itself across my cheeks without any warning, and I thanked the lord that Luhan didn't see because he was hugging me.           My heartbeat accelerated as I felt Luhan breathing in and out against my neck. My heart was beating so loudly that I prayed for God to be on my side so that Luhan wouldn't be able to feel it. But who was I kidding, my chest was practically pressed against his. However, even if he noticed, he didn't point it out.           My head span faster the longer we stayed in that position, and I could feel my knees growing weak. I knew if we kept hugging like this, I'd either go crazy or just pass out. And since either opinion seemed very favorable, I choose to push Luhan away, and when I did, I could almost see a flash of hurt in Luhan's eyes, but it was only for a moment so I didn't not dwell on it.          "Aera?"          Suddenly, I looked at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing there was, just so that Luhan wouldn't see how red my cheeks were. The last thing I wanted was for him to question why my face was red.           "Aera." He spoke again.          "Huh?" I snapped out of my thoughts and jerked my head up. Oh no, so much for hiding my face...I thought as I mentally slapped myself. "Oh, sorry, the hugging was getting uncomfortable...so I..."         Uncomfortable? That was a lie. Definitely a lie. For some odd reason, hugging Luhan felt so natural and..comfortable. Which was what scared me so much. Not that I've hugged many guys to know this. In fact, the only guys outside of family that I've hugged like this was probably Sehun, but with Sehun, the feeling was different.           Hugging Sehun like this didn't make my heart race and head become dizzy. Hugging Sehun was comfortable, yes, but it was comfortable because we knew each other so well.           However, hugging Luhan felt as if he was giving you his whole heart and trusted you completely to guard it; hugging him was like a wave of relief washing over me and I've never felt so close to someone so naturally and so quickly.           And that thought alone scared me more than I realized.           "Aera." Luhan tried again, in which I finally snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at his worried eyes.          Luhan took a hold of both my hands into his own and held them up to his chest. "I wasn't scared that you would hit me, but I was just reminded of the past...and my reactions were just...reflexes. So, I'm sorry if I worried you."          He gave me small reassuring smile but somehow, I saw through it.           Perhaps it was because I was getting closer to Luhan, or perhaps it was because his smile hadn't quite reach his eyes like usual. Because through his smile I saw someone broken and wanted to be loved but didn't know how to express that.           "Luhan," I whispered as I pulled my hands out of his grasp and grabbed onto them, "You don't have to apologize for things you can't control, and I would never blame you for it."          "Aera..."           "And I want you to know that the way your past owner treated you was not how you deserved to be treated at all," I spoke clearly and without a single hesitation, "You're a good person-puppy or whatever you are, it doesn't matter, but I know for a fact that you're a great person who's caring and lovable, and the way you were treated before was wrong. Don't ever think that you deserved to be treated like that, because you deserve so much better."          Luhan's eyes were glistening with tears and I knew he would cry sooner or later, so I just ope