Chapter 17

Dilemma

Aerin was walking so fast that she bumped into Taehyung. Taehyung smiled at her but frowned immediately when he saw Aerin's sad face. "Hey, Aerin. You okay?" He worriedly asked. It was rare for Aerin to be sad and down because she was a cheery and bubbly girl. Aerin just nodded and tried to hide her sniffle. "Flu, that's all," Aerin replied softly and smiled reassuringly at him. Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows, completely not buying her words. "You're not okay. Something wrong?"

Before she knew it, Taehyung had already brought her to the school's park. It was barely no one because all of the students were having their lunch at the cafeteria. The weather wasn't that nice and wasn't that bad either. It was just so so and it matched Aerin's current mood actually.

"You know," Taehyung uttered while chuckling. "I'm quite sure of what's bothering you."

Aerin snapped her head towards him with a not-so-shock expression. "What? How?"

"It's pretty obvious, truth be told." Taehyung shrugged casually. Aerin just sighed and nervously fidgeted her fingers on her lap. Now, Taehyung must be thinking I'm childish. Aerin thought.

"It's about the principal's daughter, Lee Sora, right?" There. Taehyung had hit the bull.

Aerin nodded and huffed loudly. "Just what's her problem with me, really?!" She finally blew up, making Taehyung jump in surprise at her sudden outburst. "First, she didn't greet and introduce herself properly to me when she even had a dinner at MY house! Second, she keeps on glaring, scowling or smirking at me whenever we meet!" Aerin took a deep breath before she continued. "And lastly, she's like trying to tear me and EXO apart, especially from Sehun!"

Feeling a pang on his heart, Taehyung gulped and secretly frowned. So, I'm too late, huh?

"Sehun?" He carefully repeated her last word. Aerin instantly covered and knocked her head with her knuckles. Pabo. "I don't mean it in a romantical way," she quickly added. There's no way she would blurt her feelings towards Sehun to Taehyung. "I mean, uh... You see, Sehun's my roommate--"

"Roommate?!" Taehyung half-shouted, completely shocked and jealous at the same time. Aerin shushed him and looked around to check whether some students heard it or not. She mentally cursed herself for being so stupid to spill Sehun's and her darkest secret. Great, now if Sehun found out, she would be hung at the top of Mount Everest. Okay, not Mount Everest. It was far and needed a lot of money to go there. So, let's just hang her at Mount Fuji. It was nearer and cheaper anyway.

"Please don't tell anyone," she begged. Taehyung nodded and smiled to assure her. "Continue."

"So, since he's my roommate, I always, uh," Aerin gritted her teeth, really had the urge to scream at how slow she was to form a lie. "I-I always copy his homework. You know, since he's a smartass." She ended with an awkward chuckle but secretly congratulated herself on making a very lame excuse. Taehyung seemed to buy her excuse because he laughed at the nickname Aerin gave to Sehun. Aerin sighed in relief and smiled in response, which awestruck Taehyung at how beautiful her smile was.

Taehyung shook his head and looked away somewhere else when he realized he had been staring at her for too long. He cleared his throat and asked, "So, what are you going to do with that Sora?" Aerin looked down on her lap and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I don't know. You tell me," she mumbled. Taehyung flicked her forehead lightly and Aerin whined as she rubbed the spot where he flicked earlier. "Yah! What was that for?!" She hollered.

"Stop being weak. A woman should be strong even when people judge you. Speak out your mind to her and ask her why she's being rude to you." Taehyung calmly said. Aerin raised a brow at him, still didn't get what he meant. "So, why did you flick my forehead then?" She pouted. "And, I think I don't need to ask her that, it was obvious she despised me." She muttered lifelessly. Taehyung chuckled at her dumbness and pinched her both cheeks. "You're so cute, you know that?" Aerin pouted even more and he let go of her cheeks.

"I know I'm cute. But, you're violating my cheeks." She jokingly said. They both laughed and Taehyung shook his ehad in disbelief. "You're so full of yourself." He said. Aerin shrugged and stared blankly at the greyish blue sky.

"Don't think too much," Taehyung advised. "Always remember that I'm here for you if you feel left out." He took her hands and gave them a light squeeze, making Aerin turn to look at the latter. Aerin smiled in return and nodded. "Thanks, Taehyung-ah. I don't know what to do without you."

"My pleasure," Taehyung replied softly. "But you still need to ask why she hates you, though. Remember, don't you ever curse. A strong woman never curses."

Aerin rolled her eyes. "That spoiled brat will curse first, I'm sure of it. Geez, can I just shout at her? She's really getting on my nerves." Thinking of that Sora really made Aerin's blood boiled. Taehyung wagged his finger, literally forbid her to do that. "Nuh-uh," he said. "You'll cause a chaos. And think about it, do you think EXO will be on your side when you suddenly yell at their childhood best friend?"

Aerin tapped her chin and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. She's their baby anyway," She mumbled. "I'm just her replacement." She laughed bitterly.

"Don't say that," Taehyung patted her back lovingly. "Well, I'm not that close to them, but I think they're nice guys, looking from how they treat each other like a family. So, they never once considered you as that. In my opinion."

"I think-- I think I'll just let her be like that." Aerin sighed in defeat. She was so sick of Sora's attitude and wanted to beat the crap out of her, but she didn't want to make any drama between them. Especially between EXO. She didn't want to create any barriers between them. "I'll stop hanging out with EXO." Even though it'll be hard for me because Sehun is a part of them.

"Aerin," Taehyung said sternly. "What did I say about weak women?"

"But it's not chickening out!" Aerin replied defensively. "I hate being weak. I guess, it's the right thing to do. But that doesn't mean I'll stop talking to them like I didn't know them before."

Taehyung sighed and nodded in understanding. "Okay, whatever you say," he said. "Just remember I'm here for you, okay?" He patted her head and smiled.

Aerin nodded and smiled back. The bell rang, meaning the lunch time was over. Aerin and Taehyung had the same class, so they went together.

As they both walked, whispers and gasps echoed around the hallway. Aerin pretended she didn't hear anything and continued to listen to Taehyung's jokes. Taehyung, too, did the same.

When they arrived at their class, murmurs could be heard and Aerin swore she could rip their throats off to shut them up.

“Yah, you see that? First, Sehun then Taehyung!” One of her classmates gossiped.

"Tsk. Tsk. I just realize that she's that low." Another girl gossiped as her eyes shooting daggers at Aerin.

Hearing those awful comments from the girls, Sehun kicked the desk in front of him hard, making the girls jump in surprise and quickly shut up. It did hurt, but Sehun was too cool and too jealous and too mad to wince in pain.

He noticed that ever since Sora came, he hadn't been spending his time with Aerin. He missed it. He missed his endless bickering with Aerin. Mostly, he missed her. Oh, how he wished Sora would mature a bit more and leave him alone with Aerin. Yeah, he did notice too, that Sora was like making a distance between him and Aerin. What a waste, he thought. Aerin lived in the same room with him anyway. But what he didn't know was that Sora's intention gave Aerin a great impact.

Aerin plopped herself on the seat beside Sehun, startling him a little but his face remained expressionless.

The rest day of the class seemed awfully long for both Sehun and Aerin. Usually, they would start hitting each other for no reason or have a glaring contest when they were bored. But today, they were extremely quiet. Even Mr. Huang was a bit surprised because he always saw them so hyper.

Sehun let out a very long sigh when the class was dismissed. Now, he could have an alone time with Aerin. Just as he wanted to call Aerin, she stood up and left without sparing a glance at him. He was left dumbfounded and hurt. He wasn't supposed to feel hurt. What's this? He harshly slung his bag on his back and left the class.

Walking alone lifelessly on the hallway, Sehun hung his head low.

"Hunnie oppa!" A familiar high-pitched voice boomed on the hallway. Sehun rolled his eyes. He definitely wasn't on the mood to talk to anyone, especially Sora. He ignored and walked past her, leaving a speechless Sora. Nonetheless, Sora followed him behind and clung her arm around his.

"Oppa? Why are you ignoring me?" She battled her eyelashes. Again, Sehun ignored her and kept walking towards bloc B, where his dorm was.

"Oppa!" She shouted, earning some looks from the other students. Sehun sighed and stopped. "Sora," he called. "Leave me alone, please." He softly pleaded.

Sora blinked, slightly confused of why he was acting this way because he wasn't like this this morning. "Oppa, what's wrong?" She asked. "Did that Kim Aerin snap you or something?"

Sehun glared at her. "Show some respect, Sora. Aerin is older than you." Sora casually shrugged and crossed her arms on her chest. "I don't care. Age doesn't matter to me. She's just a copy of me anyway."

Sehun had enough. "Get lost, Sora." He spat. "I don't know you anymore." He stated and walked past her, not forgetting to bump his shoulder against Sora's.

Wiping her tears, Sora stomped her feet and walked the opposite.

---

Aerin jumped on her bed when she heard someone slammed the door. Shutting her novel, she peeked from above and saw Sehun threw his shoes and bag somewhere only we know Aerin didn't know. Slowly, Aerin got down because she was curious of why Sehun was mad.

Here he was, lying on his bed, not bothering to change with his eyes closed using his arm. Aerin cleared and slapped his thigh. "Yah."

Sehun abruptly sit right up and met Aerin's pretty brown orbs. "At least wash up before you sleep." She muttered. Sehun held her wrist, preventing her from going back to her bed. Aerin could only stare boringly at him. "Y-You're mad, aren't you?" Damn it, when did the almighty Oh Sehun start stuttering?

Aerin cocked her head to the side, acting dumb. How could he know I'm mad? Sehun sighed and let go of her wrist. "Don't play dumb, Stupid. I know you are." Sehun jokingly snapped at her. Stupid. How she missed that nickname rolled out from Sehun's lips.

"Look," he started. "I'm sorry. I actually still think of you whenever I'm with Sora, but that girl is seriously out of her mind and always drags me with her."

Aerin nervously look down on her feet, having no words to say. Actually she did, but she didn't have the guts to spill. "I'm sorry, Aerin."

"Why are you sorry?" Aerin finally spoke out. Sehun laughed and stood up from his bed. "Why are you laughing?!" She whined.

"You really are stupid," Sehun shook his head in amusement. "I just said it, dummy." He uttered and ruffled her golden brown hair.

Aerin rolled her eyes and yanked his hand away. "Geez, you couldn't be serious for once."

"So, am I forgiven?" Sehun asked with a smile. "If you forgive me, I'll give you your favorite lollipops." He smirked.

"Yah, that means your apology doesn't come from the bottom of your heart." She pointed out.

"It does," Sehun said matter-of-factly and secretly unwrapped a lollipop -I don't know where it came from- behind his back. "Come on, I know you want it."

"But that---" before she could finish talking, Sehun had already shoved her favorite lollipop inside .

Aerin pulled it out and semi-glared at him who was chuckling. "This is cheating."

"But you like it." Sehun said while smirking.

"Whatever," Aerin snapped and continued her lollipop. /watch out your mind dear readers XD/ "Go wash up, please. You stink." Aerin stated before going up on her bed.

"You like me just the way I am," Sehun teased from below. Aerin almost choked on her lollipop when he said that. "Tch. You're so full of yourself," Aerin snapped and rolled her eyes, as if Sehun could see her.

"Don't lie, baby~" he cooed while grabbing his towel and Aerin shivered. "Ew, don't baby me! Get lost!" Sehun chuckled before going in the bathroom. Aerin smiled before she mumbled,

"Sehun's on my side."

Hi darlings!!~ Sorry that it took me a week to update this crappy chapter ;_; homework's waiting for me hehehe~ I'm literally so sick of my own country honestly -_- why is it so hard just to pick a freaking president?!

Yey, Sehun and Aerin finally made up! :D *throws confetti* I'm having an IQ test tomorrow, wish me luck!! Anyways, subscribe and comment juseyo~ upvotes will be awesome:D btw, some of your comments made me laugh like a retarded even galaxyxoxo said that I'm crazy. Hahaha, enough for the longass A/N._. Bye!!~♡

CHECK OUT MY ANNOYING ROOMMATE'S TRAILER ON THE FOREWORD! :D