It's Tuesday, it's 3 o'clock, and it's raining like a monsoon. I just got out of my 1:30 chem class, which is all the way across campus from my dorm. I sigh and lean my back against a wall. I watch the rain pound against the street, the buildings, the cars, and the poor, poor bikes that were tied up outside. 

   I hear footsteps coming toward me and look to see who it is. 

   "Fancy seeing you here," I greet and walk over to Sehun. "What class did you just get out of?" 

   "Botany. I swear, every time I come out of that place I'm convinced to pot and plant things as a hobby."

   "Why don't you?"

   "It would look weird to the guys. Like, all of a sudden, Sehun likes flowers? They'd judge me big time," he bellows. 

   "I'm assuming you mean the roommates?" 

   "Yeah," he responds. He examines my posture, then looks outside. "Oh hey, you're a freshman aren't you?" 

   "Yeah..." I hate when people address me like that. I get it. I'm a newbie to college. Doesn't mean that I'm any less of a person. Hyerin is a sophmore, and so are Sehun and Kai. Luhan and Baekhyun are both Juniors. 

   "Do you and Hyerin live in the Freshman Girls' Residence Hall all the way across campus?"

   "Yes. And I'm not going back until this rain turns into a sprinkle," I tell him. He sighs.

   "Instead of waiting here, just come to our loft. It's a block away, tops. Besides, you'd be coming tonight to help me and Hyerin anyway."

   The gesture is nice, but do I really want to go with him? 

   What if he has this deep dark curse of becoming attracted to the girls he brings home?  What if he does something to me? 

   "Whatever you're imagining,  don't, " he laughs. "I'm just being nice. If you don't want to come--" 

   "I will, on the condition that you start growing plants."

   "I'm offering you something very nice, and you're accepting it with terms?" He smirks. "I'll consider it if you tell me where to do it. Deal?" 

   "Deal."

---

   When we reach the complex that his loft is in (after running like idiots in the rain,) I immediately cringe. I do it behind Sehun, though,  so I don't offend him. The building is so dirty looking. This must be where all the party people live and get in trouble and etcetera. The elevator is pretty gross, too. It smells old and moldy. 

   "Sorry about this elevator, " Sehun groans. "This building has been around for a long time, and... I bet you can guess what happens when drunk people get in here," he laughs. 

   "I don't want to think about it," I joke. "This is all so exciting for a freshman. Visiting a party complex with a cu--" I pause.  "With a nice guy." 

   "With a cute guy. That's what you were going to say." 

   Damn it. I've been caught red handed. 

   "I was going to say curious," I fib, and it's so obvious and pathetic. He cracks a grin and the elevator door opens. 

   "What am I curious about? When have I ever been curious around you?" 

   "You're... Um..."

   "See?" He says happily. For whatever reason, I've made him happy. If I were in his shoes, I'd be so embarrassed. I'm already embarrassed as it is.

   "You're curious about sweethearts!" I shout. 

   "Am not."

   "Pff," I sarcastically sound. "No one could've absolutely made you do the Sweetheart Search. The truth is, you're curious to see if you can find someone who likes you." 

   "That's not the issue," he mumbles. He puts his key in the door and opens it, and I mentally prepare myself for a messy loft. 

   It's actually pretty clean. There are two futons in the living room, angled to face the TV on the wall that turns into a hallway. The kitchen is on the left, with a granite counter being the only thing separating it from the living room. A dining table awkwardly sits in the middle of the layout, but it looks cozy. The hallway has four bedrooms, and a bathroom is on the end. 

   "It looks nice," I chirp.  

   "Did you expect anything less?" He snaps. He's probably aggravated about earlier.  

   I don’t care.  I’ve made it my mission in life (at least, part of it) to make him come to terms with his arrogance.  I make my way over to a futon and take a seat.  He raises an eyebrow at me and I roll my eyes.  After taking a deep breath, I pat the open spot beside me and gesture for him to sit there. 

   “There’s another futon.  I’ll sit on that one,” he states sluggishly.  He falls back onto the futon that is diagonal from where I am, and I give him a playful glare.  “Oh no.  I’ve invited Eunji into my home; who knows what evil she’s going to perform here.”

   “I’m not doing anything evil.”

   “To me, even if you’re just breathing, there is evil everywhere.”

   “No way.”

   “It’s true.  You’re the one that knocked us into the canal, anyway,” he claims.

   “That was totally your fault!”  

   “Can we settle for both of our faults?”

   “I’ll never settle with you,” I huff.  He grins and part of me is thankful for this playful banter that we have.  Sometimes I wonder if we’re the same person.  We’re both stubborn, and we both have a sort of ignorant bliss to the world around us.

   But there’s no way I’ll ever be as much of a jerk as he is. 

   But being friends with him...  I can handle that. 

   “So, why exactly did you want me to sit beside you, hm?”  Sehun questions.  He crosses his legs and arms.  “Is that how you act when you enter a boy’s house, alone?  Try to seduce him as soon as you walk through the door?”

   “And this is how you act when you bring a girl home?  You’re never getting laid,” I snort.  

   “Why are you interested in my ual relationships?”

   “I’m not, thankyouverymuch.  I’m just saying...  There’s gotta be something you want to find with the ‘Sweetheart Search.’  If it isn’t a girl who likes you... What is it?  What are you going after?”  I ask.  He takes my question and I can tell he’s thoughtfully figuring out how to answer me.

   “If I put it in words, you’ll laugh at me,” he whines.  He waves his hand at me as if magically commanding me to forget the conversation.

   “Probably,” I admit.  I laugh at him a lot-- not necessarily because he’s funny, but because he surprises me often and I don’t know what else to do.

   “But if I don’t tell you, you’ll keep pressing me for answers.”

   “Definitely.”

   He takes a breath and I can tell he’s plotting something.  I’m almost scared, but I keep calm.  Sehun won’t do anything to me.  

   “I’ll show you, that way I can have the last laugh,” he smirks.  I roll my eyes and mock his position of crossed arms and crossed legs.

   “Fine. Show me.”

   Sehun gets up and walks over to me.  He reaches out his hand for me to get up.  

   “Take my hand and follow me,” he cooes.  I pinch my eyebrows together and look at him with a what-the-heck-are-you-doing look.  

   “Do I have to take your hand?”

   “Trust me,” he smiles.  He has a really alluring smile.  It’s so soft yet so dazzling at the same time. 

   The very moment that I take his hand, he pulls me up, somehow lifts me into his arms, sits down, and places me in his lap.  I look at him in shock and he just gazes into my eyes as if he’s about to confess.

   No way.  There’s no way he’d do that.  But if he did... 

   Would I like it?

   He takes my hands and holds them up to his chest.  He’s wearing a V-neck.  Someone help me.  Even though it’s only a little bit, I’m touching the skin on his collarbones with my fingertips.  I don’t think I can handle this.  

   He removes one of his hands from mine and brushes the back of my hair.  

   “You’re so pretty, Eunji,” he hums.  My eyelids don’t know what to do-- do they stare blankly at him, or do they flutter shut?  “You don’t even try.”

   “What are you--”

   “I’m not finished,” he lightly snaps, and I shut up.  I continue staring at his face, waiting for the typical, evil Sehun to show up.  I want to look down so badly, but I feel like that would be giving in to this.  I keep telling myself that this is part of his scheme.  He’s getting back at me for being nosey.  I don’t care how obvious it is that I’m blushing; I’m not showing him I’m weak.  

   “Well, hurry up,” I bluff and try to act tough. 

   He leans forward and presses his lips to my ear.  He isn’t kissing it, but it definitely feels good. 

   No.

   This isn’t his territory.  

   I push him back against the couch and scurry off as quickly as I can.

   “You didn’t let me finish!”  He gripes.

   Excuse me?  

   What right does this kid think he has to gripe with me?

   “I wasn’t going to let you kiss me!”

   “Ew, gross,” he chokes like he’s actually offended.  All the blush that was on my face fades.  “But...  You weren’t seduced at all?”

   I am so not answering that question truthfully.

   “No.  No way,” I snap.  He wraps a hand behind his neck and looks off into the distance. 

   “I don’t know what to say...  I’m sorry, I guess.”

   “You guess?”

   “I’m sorry, okay?  I just...  I was having too much fun, I guess.”

   “I don’t even understand what you were trying to show me,” I groan and sit back on the futon.  

   “I was just...”  He falls down beside me.  My arms and legs are crossed, but I’m ready to strike him whenever it feels necessary.  “I wanted to see how you’d react, so I could cleverly say ‘Getting someone to like me isn’t the problem, me liking someone is the problem.’”

   I take a long, hard gulp.  

   What the heck?

   “Why on Earth would you do that to a girl you don’t like?”

   “We’re friends!”  He argues as if that justifies things.

   “Not with benefits!”

   “That’s not what I mean,” he moans and throws his head at me.  He rests it on my shoulder, and I resist flinching.  “I don’t know.  I just wanted to tease you.  You’re so much like the guys that I thought it’d be okay but...  I guess you respect your feminine side, too.”

   “Excuse me?!”  I yell.  I shove his head off of my shoulder and start pounding his chest with my fist-- at least, I try to.  He keeps catching my punches and smiling at me like it’s funny.  

   “Am I wrong?”  He laughs.

   “I respect my girl side all day, every day; you should learn to do the same!”

   “Or what?”

   “Or I’ll make you regret it!”

   “Ooh, scary,” he hums happily.  He catches my wrist and twirls me until I’m on my back and looking up at him.  “Can you stop being adorable for a second?”

   I stop my fidgeting and just stare at him.  His eyes are smiling for a few seconds, but then the awkward silence (and my confused stare) cause him to shake his head and fake a cough. 

   “I mean,” he starts, “You know, you’re being really--”

   “Adorable?”  A third person asks.

   Of all the times for Luhan to walk in, he has to walk in at this particular moment.  Bonus: he has Hyerin with him.  

   Sehun and I scramble to our feet and distance ourselves from each other.

   “Details.  Now.  Are you two--” Hyerin screams joyfully.

   “No,” Sehun and I answer simultaneously.  

   “Then what was that?”  Luhan asks sternly.  He’s looking at Sehun with a face that says Don’t disappoint me, but Sehun is looking back at him like I’ll do whatever I want.

   Hyerin and I just share panicked expressions that have no emotion.  Just shock.  

   Sehun shrugs and says the most arrogant thing he can think of.  It’s to be expected, really, but my poor little heart can’t take it.  I feel so bad for Baekhyun.  I really, really like him and I don’t want to lead him on, but Sehun is confusing me.  He confuses me further by saying these two words, as if they’re nothing, but to me they’re something:

   “Just flirting.”  

   I think I can say I get what his point was.  Sehun’s arrogance can be overseen by a girl...  I hate to say it, but look at me-- I’m friends with him and I’m occasionally addicted to him; the question is, can Sehun get over himself to let a girl in?  

a/n: I'm back!  Shorter chapter than usual but I'm hoping the momentum from this will keep me going!  thank you subbies and viewers for sticking around, i love you!