Sehun's POV:

Shin Yeong was calling me. I didn't know whether I should answer it or not. My mind was telling me that I should, but at the same time I am trying to hold myself back.

Two rings. I was still thinking of about what I should do.

Three rings. I had to act quick. I had to act fast. I had to come up with a final decision.

Four rings. My hand hovers over my phone. Wavering. Deciding. Should I answer it?

Five rings. She wouldn't be calling unless it was important. Unless she really needed to call me. Unless it had to do with our project for school. I answered my phone.

"Hello?" I said. I waited for her voice to come on over the phone. I could hear her steady breaths. Although they were steady, they were hesitant. She still couldn't believe that I answered. I couldn't believe it either.

"Hello Sehun," she said. She was trying to make herself sound sure of herself, but I could still sense a slight bit of hesitance in her voice. Before I could stop myself from doing so, I launched myself into communication.

"I'm sorry Shin Yeong. I shouldn't have left you alone like that. I was just startled when the bell rang and everyone started to come out of their classes." I stopped myself from going on. I don't think she expected a greeting like this. She was probably expecting a "How are you?" or "What's up?" or anything of the like. I face palmed myself.

"It's ok Sehun," she said. "You don't have to apologize. I understand, I would've done the same. You were startled." I couldn't help nodding along to what she was saying. That was the truth after all. I'm glad she understood my actions. 

"Ok," I said. "So what can I do for you?" I mentally slapped myself for saying that. It didn't sound like the right thing to say, for some reason. I heard a small chuckle from the other line. Hearing her chuckle at me, I couldn't help but do the same.

"Hmm, I think it's me that can do something for you," she replied. Huh? I didn't know what she was getting at.

"You sure owe me Sehun," she said. "You left your backpack at school. And I sorta maybe took it."

My eyes widened at Shin Yeong's last line. She had my backpack? Out of all people to take my backpack. But I couldn't help feeling relieved. I was relieved that it was taken by someone I knew. I was glad that it wasn't taken by some stranger. 

But what worried me was if Shin Yeong looked through it. Did she perhaps look through my belongings? She didn't seem like the person to do so, but you'll never know. I trust that she didn't look through my backpack though.

"You there Sehun?" Shin Yeong asked. I momentarily forgot that I was talking to her. 

"Yeah, still here." I said.

"Alright," she said. "Since I have your backpack, do you want me to come to your house? Or you come to mine?" I can tell she's really awkward about all of this. I guess I'm really awkward about all of this too. I knew she was gonna ask about that. 

I thought about how I was to retrieve my backpack. I didn't want to be seen going to Shin Yeong's house. I thought about the possibilities of Shin Yeong's stalkers crouched near her house behind a bush or something. I didn't wanna risk it. I thought it'd be best if she came here instead. I checked the time. My dad won't be home for another two or three house or so. We still had time. 

"Do you mind coming to my house?" I asked Shin Yeong. I knew it wasn't the right thing to do. The most gentlemen-like thing to do was to go there instead. But as I thought about it, there wasn't really such thing as gentlemen-like in our case. She was silent for a while, deciding.

"Ok, I'll be there soon." Shin Yeong said. I gave her my address and we hung up. I went downstairs to wait for Shin Yeong. I sat in the living room, flipping through the TV shows. I was looking for something to distract me from the fact that Shin Yeong was coming over. I gave up on watching TV and turned it off. I sat there, staring at the time. 

Shin Yeong's POV:

I decided to walk to Sehun's house. It wasn't that far away from my own. Plus I didn't think I needed to be in a hurry. I figured Sehun's father wasn't home right now. Why else would Sehun say yes to letting me come to his house instead?

I walked at a steady pace, but I felt like slowing down my pace. I still wasn't fully prepared when it comes to entering Sehun's house. I actually didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what I was gonna see inside Sehun's house. 

I was nearing Sehun's house. The outside of his house looked just like any other house in this neighborhood. I walked up the front steps to his front door. I rang the doorbell and waited for Sehun to answer the door. My breathing was at a steady pace, but in my head, I was anxious.

Sehun answered the door a few seconds later. We both stood there, staring at each other, neither of us believing what we were seeing. Neither of us believing what was happening. Sehun moved his gaze to the ground. He rubbed the back of his neck, shyly.

"You can come in," he told me. I nodded and stepped inside his house. My first instinct was to look around me. I wasn't sure what to expect, so when I saw a regular looking house inside, I mentally sighed in relief. Sehun shut the door and eyed me as I looked around.

"Thanks for taking my backpack," Sehun said after a while. I turned to look at him. He was still staring at the ground. "I'm glad it was in your hands instead of someone else."

I walked up to Sehun. Closer. He slowly looked up to me. I smiled, showing I was grateful as well. I was glad that Sehun was glad.

"Your welcome," I said. I slung the backpack off my shoulders and handed it to Sehun. He took it and bowed to show his gratitude. 

All of a sudden, we could hear the sound of a door being unlocked. I could hear the sound coming from the front door. I looked to Sehun and he looked to me in alarm. Sehun quickly grabbed my hand and ran up the stairs. I ran after him, just as alarmed as him.

He swung open the door of a room. I perceived it to be his room. He let go my hand and closed the door. I sat on the edge of his bed out of exhaustion and shock. Sehun leaned his hand against the door, catching his breath as well. After we both had a steady breath, Sehun was the first to speak.

"I'm sorry," he started off. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just reacted on impulse again. I didn't know my dad was gonna be home this early. He was usually home later than this."

"It's ok," I said. "I figured it was your dad who was home. I just didn't know what to do if he saw me."

"Me neither," Sehun said. "But I think it would be best if he didn't see you. Is it okay if you stay here for a while? You know, until we can figure out a way for you to leave without him seeing you." I nodded yes. 

"What would your father be doing at this time?" I asked. 

"He usually went straight to his office when he got home. If not, he would go straight to his room. But my father could be very unpredictable at times." Sehun said. I processed in my mind what Sehun just said. Looks like it'll be easy for me to leave unnoticed then.

Just then, we heard knocking on Sehun's door. Sehun looked at me with an alarmed look on his face. 

"Sehun open the door," his father said. Sehun led me to his bathroom. He closed the door behind me. My heart was pounding again, out of shock and alarm. I steadied it and put my ear to the door, trying to catch their conversation.

I couldn't quite catch their whole conversation, as their words were muffled through the door. All of a sudden, I heard complete silence. I tried to listen harder to see if they were still in the room. I pressed my ear closer to the door. That was a mistake. Sehun opened the door and I fell forward, causing a scream to escape my mouth. Luckily Sehun cupped his hand over my mouth before my scream can reach it's crescendo. Sehun caught me before I could fall on my face. My hands and arms pressed up against him, grabbing on to his shirt. I quickly regained composure. I cleared my throat and started up a conversation to distract myself from what just happened.

"What did your father say?" I asked. 

"Looks like it'll be harder for you leave now." he said. Sehun explained what was to occur.

His father was to hold a small little get together with some of his friends at the company. They were to celebrate their company's growing success in the past few months. The get together was just gonna be his father and bunch of other men drinking and talking about the company's success. And the problem was, in order for me to exit the house, I had to pass by them first. There were three exits to the house and either way I will be seen by them. In other words, I'll be stuck here for a while.

"I should've went to your house instead," Sehun said. "This wouldn't have happened if I went to your house. I'm sorry." There he goes again. Sehun has been apologizing a little too much to me lately. Why can't he see that I understand him? That he doesn't have to be sorry all the time. 

"It's ok Sehun," I said. "It's not your fault." I smiled, showing him that I was okay with this. He nodded, showing he believed me. I sat at the edge of Sehun's bed, while he sat at his desk. 

"Does your father have these sort of things a lot?" I asked. For a while, I didn't get a response from Sehun. I looked his way, only to see him staring at his backpack, lost in his own thoughts. Something was bothering him, or at least taking up his mind, and I feel that I'm in the way for some reason.

"Sehun?" I said, wondering if he'll hear me this time. He shook his head as if breaking away from the spell.

"Huh? What did you say?" he asked. I didn't bother repeating my previous question. I tried a different one instead.

"What's wrong? Something's bothering you. I can tell." I said. Sehun's gaze went to the ground. I pushed a little more. "Does it have to do with school? Perhaps Nick's friends?" Sehun looked at me, trying to decided whether or not he should confide in me this time.

"No, it doesn't have to do with school or Nick or anything like that." he said. Suddenly, Sehun reached inside his backpack and took out an envelope. Sehun walked over to me and sat down. He stared at the address on the envelope. He sighed and turned to look at me.

"This letter came in the mail today." he said.

"Who's it from?" I asked. But as Sehun said it and by the way he was acting, I could already tell who it was from.

"My mother."