"Pain is inevitable."

6

“I feel like I’m going to fail math.” Krystal whined while sitting down on a bench. They just finished their math test and Krystal was drained, none of them felt like going home early so they decided to stay in the garden, not really waiting for Sehun and his friends since they usually hang out in the garden after school.

“So, why did Sehun tell you to come here again?” Luna asked while randomly kicking pebbles.

“I don’t know. He just asked if we could meet up after class.” Krystal said.

“Then why did you agree?” Amber asked. It was only the four of them; Victoria still has a class to teach. Yeah, why did I agree again?, Krystal asked herself but then she remembered she agreed because she was annoyed at Sehun and Sulli that time.

“Well, mainly because he and Sulli were fighting and I don’t know, I was stressed out so I agreed?” She said, it was more of a question actually.

“Well, if they don’t show up then that means they’re playing with us.” Amber said.

“Who says we’re playing with you?” They all turn around to find Sehun and his friends looking at them, there were five of them. The one who spoke, smirked before hooking his arm across Amber’s shoulders. Amber rolled her eyes,

“Oh come on Suho, it’s not like you don’t. And besides I know you. I know all of you too well.” She added, pointing at every one of them.

“Uh, me too.” Luna butted in, smiling and giving Suho a high five. Amber rolled her eyes,

“Okay fine, the three of us including Sulli.” She said. Sulli was still quiet the whole time, basically trying not to start an argument with Sehun. She was still quite pissed about what happened earlier. Krystal isn’t entirely should with everyone’s relationship but she figured they’re friends. They wouldn’t talk playfully to each other if they weren’t.

“So why did you invite us here?” Krystal asked.

“Well, we just wanted to know the new student actually, which is you.” The guy with big round eyes said. “I’m Kyungsoo by the way, but you can call me D.O.” He said. He looked like an owl… an adorable one., Krystal thought.

“It’s also to catch up with some old friends, you know.” The tall guy with a deep voice said while pointing at Amber, Luna and Sulli.

“Wait, you’re friends with them?” Krystal turned to Amber and Luna.

“Well, sort of.” Luna replied, shrugging. Krystal gave her a puzzled look, she was confused.

“Okay, fine. We’re friends with them. We know them since middle school.” She explained.

“Okay.” Krystal said, nodding. She looked back at the tall guy with a deep voice. “And you are?” She asked.

“Oh, I’m Chanyeol. While this is Baekhyun,” Chanyeol pointed at the guy with black hair, wearing eyeliner.

“This is Suho,” He pointed at the guy with blonde hair. “And you already know D.O and Sehun.” He said smiling and Krystal can’t help but feel weird by the way Chanyeol was smiling but he’s probably just wanted to be friendly. They settled down in the garden and talked about random things. Krystal thought it was nice, because she’s able to meet new friends, even though her original plan was not to be close to anyone. She takes it back, it wouldn’t hurt to have friends anyway, right? Even Sulli was already talking to them and everyone was having fun.

Krystal learned a lot about the group, she found out that Suho is their so called “grandpa”, Chanyeol plays the guitar, piano and can rap too along with Sehun. Baekhyun likes wearing eyeliner while D.O likes to cook. Krystal asked why there were only the five of them because they’re supposed to be six and Baekhyun answered,

“Maybe Kai’s off doing something, I don’t really know.” Krystal nodded and the flow of conversation went ahead, they were laughing about Chanyeol’s stories when someone entered the garden.

“Guys, sorry I’m late.” They all turn around to see Kai staring at them.

“Well, you’re always late. By the way, this is Krystal, the new student.” Sehun said.

“Oh… uh, hi.” Kai waved at Krystal. “Kai.” He added and Krystal nodded. Kai sat down next to Sehun and suddenly, there was an awkward silence.

“So, Kai, I thought you were with Suzy?” Sulli asked.

“Oh no, we already broke up.” He said. He didn’t look like he regret breaking up with Suzy, he said it as if it was a normal thing to say. He had a blank face so Krystal couldn’t tell what hr was thinking. The others didn’t ask Kai anymore questions and they just went on to the usual conversation. Krystal couldn’t help but look at Kai, he doesn’t really look like a playboy but then, looks can be deceiving. So she’ll never really know unless she finds out.

“Hey, I got to go. My mom texted me.” Sulli suddenly said, standing up.

“Oh, do you want us to go with you?” Luna asked.

“It’s fine, unnie. I can go home on my own.” Sulli said, walking out of the garden.

“Okay then, but be careful.” Luna shouted.

“I will.” Sulli shouted when she was already outside the garden. Krystal was getting bored, it’s not that she doesn’t want to hang out with them but she’s drained. She just wants to go home and sleep. When she looked at the boys, she noticed Sehun wasn’t on his place anymore.

“Hey, have you seen Sehun?” She asked. Everyone looked around to find Sehun gone.

“Maybe he followed Sulli, I don’t know. Sehun has been kind of distant lately.” D.O said.

“What do you mean distant?” Krystal asked, curious.

“H