Flashback: (that afternoon) 

Jiyoung found Taemin a few hours later. He was walking around their neighborhood. They lived down the street from one another but he'd usually be in his house or somewhere else, not just walking aimlessly in the middle of the road.

Something's wrong she thought. She was curious as to what was bugging him and since Sulli wasn't answering her calls, she figured what.

"Hey" she hit his shoulder with her own but he wasn't even fazed. Her shoulders slump.

"You know when a person greets you, the polite thing to do would be to acknowledge their presence" she chides him.

Taemin furrows his eyebrows "What do you think about love?" Jiyoung chokes on air.

'What the hell?'

"Um you mean in general or personally?" She gripped the sleeves of her sweatshirt farther up to hide her shaking hands. Taemin decides the sidewalk is the best place to sit and does so. Jiyoung shoots him a look before sitting, joining him.

"Are you in love with someone?"

Her head shoots up "No!" She yelps causing Taemin to chuckle

"You answered that pretty quickly" giving her a cheeky grin.

'Wasn't he sulking a few seconds ago?' She blushes furiously "Why do you care?"

"I'm curious"

"Are you going to say that you are in love with Sulli?" An unintentional hardness to her tone comes out but luckily it's missed by Taemin.

"No" his playfulness gone. She looks at the palms of her hands and trace the lines, not remembering which one was for love and for life, but one line was shorter than she would have liked.

"I am" Jiyoung breathes out.

Taemin quirks an eyebrow "you are what? In love?" She nods, a sad expression on her face.

"You don't look so happy about it"

"That's because I don’t want to be in love" Taemin could understand, he too didn't want to be in love. "Why so?"

"It’s painful"

Did she feel the same pain he felt? Was it inevitable with love?

"Painful how?"

"The person I'm in love with ....has someone. And I am truly happy for them!” She waves her hands in front on her, trying to clear up any bad message. “I love them both so to be upset over their love makes me feel awful. Like I'm an awful person." She notes mournful.

When did this become about me?  He leans back, his shirt meeting the pavement but he doesn't care that it gets dirty, he just wants to bask in the sunlight. His position is weird. His knees up are on the sidewalk and his legs are spread out on the street. It's funny but Taemin makes it looks so comfortable and cool that Jiyoung can't help but admire.

"I don't think you're a bad person. I find you to be quite strong actually." Jiyoung blinks. "Yeah I mean, I don't know much about love. And my view on it is something else but I think to be able to support them no matter how much it hurts you makes you strong . You're amazing"

After that comment Jiyoung couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face. Taemin sits back up "Hey hey!What did I say? Are you okay?" She shakes her head trying to hide her red face. He pulls her wrist to him and pushes her arms down. Leaning his head down

"You know it's not very polite to start crying when someone is talking to you" Jiyoung lets out a gasp like laugh, rubbing her nose to prevent it running.

He smiles "There you go I made you smile! My work here is done" he proceeds to lie back down. She lays down next to him. Trying to slow down her heart rate before she asks her next question.

"The person I like, do you think he'll ever like me back?" She closed her eyes, shutting out Taemin's face now propped up beside her. His body is giving off this warm feeling that Jiyoung wishes she could embrace.

"I don't know but what I do know is that even if he doesn't, you'll be fine because happiness will find you when you stop hiding and that happiness doesn't have to include a man." He gives her a bright smile, his perfect white teeth showing from his lips and in the next minute her lips were pressed against his.

"Jiyoung wait" he breaks away. The hurt can't be masked from her face.

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that" she scrambles to get up when his question stops her in that awkward crouching pose.

"The said person you like ...is that me?" She sits back down and he does the same.

"I'm sorry. I...I've always liked you. Never really showed it because it was obvious you had no feelings towards me and were happy with Sulli, and oh my god! Sulli!" Jiyoung wails "She's my best friend! How could I do something like this to her! She's going to hate me" She starts hitting her head muttering "stupid"

Taemin sighs and stands up, his hands in his pocket. "I can assure you this, the only person she hates right now is me. And I'm sorry that I can't accept your feelings. I'm confused with my own. But I stand by what I said. You are an amazing girl Jiyoung." He brushed her bangs aside and gives her forehead a simple kiss that says "keep that in mind"

Jiyoung's heart crumpled and pumped back up in less than 5 minutes. The wonders love can do. Even though Taemin didn't like her, she wasn't expecting anything out of the kiss. She just wanted to know. She felt at ease and the kiss now had a meaning -closure. And she got that but what she didn't expect to get was two pair of eyes watching her from afar that weren't Taemin's.

End 

Present Day:

Jongin didn't even notice that he was tearing until he felt his cheeks wet. He blinked, staring up at the ceiling

"Didn't think you would treat it like that" he directed his voice to Suzy. She was trying to keep calm. Trying not to run into his arms and say that she didn't do it. Bury her face in his neck. But she knew she couldn't. He was no longer hers and she, no longer his. Krystal watched the two interact. Not at all liking the way her boyfriend looked so broken.

"Why do you care?" Suzy finally asked, Jongin's head snapped towards her, traces on tears still stained on his cheeks.

"Why do I care?!" He roared. "Are you joking?! You know what that means. To me and you"

Suzy fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Krystal noticed but bit her lip to stop from commenting.

"It stopped meaning something that night." Suzy's voice bitter. Jongin's eyes softened and he was about to reach out for her when his girlfriend grabbed his arm.

"Stop" she warned him. His arm limped in her grasp and Krystal looked at Suzy with her game face. Suzy on the other hand was leaning to the side, amused by her interference.

“Suzy, I don’t know what you are trying to do but stop. You're not the victim. Look at all the people you've hurt and the only thing you could say was 'sorry'."

Jongin pulled her back. "Stop acting like this" 

"Acting like what? I'm not acting any way Kai. And do I need to remind you that I am your girlfriend?"

She rounded on Suzy "I’m already tired of seeing your face. It’s sickening"

Jongin’s jaw dropped and Suzy lifted a perfectly arched eyebrow.  

“Careful now Krystal, with all that ing I might have to throw a stick for you to leave”  

Jongin laughed despite the situation and Krystal narrowed her eyes at the smirking Suzy.  

"We're done here. But I'll make this very clear before I leave- I was only saying the truth; that night was your fault Suzy, don't try to blame someone else. We all hate you, Sulli hates you. That won't change. Ever" She pulled Jongin out of the auditorium, banging the door harder, hoping that it will emphasize her point: 'The door is shut tight and Suzy can't open it, no matter how much she tugs'.

Suzy bent down and picked up the keychain, and after making sure no one was there she put it in her pocket. Not yet ready to let Jongin go. She closed her eyes willing herself not to feel bad about their conversation but proud of herself instead. You didn't break in front of him With that mindset she picked herself off the floor and headed home. 

...............................................

Jiyoung watched as Suzy picked up the keychain and leave, from behind the stage curtains. She came through the back door hoping to find the back of her earring that fell on stage and witness something else. Jiyoung sat down on the edge of the stage. Legs dangling, her mind running in circles. Jongin wasn't over Suzy and clearly she wasn't over him but he was with Krystal now and Sehun was trying again. Too complicated. This is why she gave up on love. That kiss was what hurt her relationship with her best friend. She didn't think it would get so out of hand that she would never have the chance to explain herself. Her heart was buried in guilt and shame that it was starting to eat her up within.

Performing with Taemin was hard, she didn't expect it to be so hard. Jiyoung leaned back and laid her upper half on stage. They were all in pain. Though they wouldn't admit it, too scared to even try, they all felt like that night was somehow all their faults. Like each had their own role. Blaming Suzy was the easiest thing to do, she was there and still alive while Sulli wasn't. But some chose to ignore their conscious and others had theirs guiding them back. How was this group going to survive with so many secrets between them all? She didn't even know Sehun still liked Suzy until his sort of confession earlier. Of course thinking about her is one thing- no matter how much they all try to deny, they all still do, but singing a love song was a whole different level. She was as shocked as Hyeri but for some reason Jaebum and Jieun didn't seem so. Krystal almost fell out of her chair and Kai's knuckles turned white. Jiyoung had a bad feeling, a feeling that something was coming and it was going to hit them like nothing before.

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Sorry that this chapter focuses mainly on Jiyoung but she's important too! Gotta give her some love. Btw I am super excited for EXO's comeback stage! Overdose ~