Author’s POV

That very same night that Sehun, Luhan and Mirae had talked, Luhan didn’t sleep next to Mirae, but alone on the couch. They hadn’t spoken either. Luhan had lied awake all night, thinking about his life the past few years. How it had changed so drastically because of Li Jing and how he had let himself become so caught up in grieving their breakup that he hadn’t seen the horrible transformation he had made. Luhan realised that during these two years, not one weekend had he been fully sober or gone to school without feeling hung-over. The mere knowledge disgusted him. By the end of the night, when the sun was coming up, Luhan was determined that he would do whatever it took in order to move on and become the one who he used to be, before the drama. He would start by apologising to his real best friend, Sehun, then kick out Tao and Kris for a little while since he had come to acknowledge how bad they were for him. Lastly, Luhan would hence forward try his best when it came to Mirae. Her apology during their fight had been too much for Luhan, because it gave him such guilt afterwards. Luhan liked to believe that not even he would feel anything after hearing Mirae say it was her fault that they had ended up like this. This was not the case, because, simply enough, it was a lie.

The next morning when Tao and Kris got home drunk – again – Luhan told them to go home to their own houses. At first they were very mad and although an argument had risen, Luhan won in the end. After they had left, Luhan walked into the bedroom where Mirae was still sleeping. He nudged her carefully on the shoulder, trying to wake her up as gently as possible. “Mirae?” he whispered, “How do I get to the café where Sehun works?”

Mirae rolled over. “You go down the street until you come to a sort of market... Then you’ll see a cosy little café on the right side. He works there,” she tiredly mumbled. It was like she didn’t even know who it was that had awakened her, or maybe she was too tired to even care?

“Thanks...” Luhan whispered again. He stood up again and observed the girl for a while, contemplating whether she was sleeping deeply or not and if she would notice a kiss on the cheek. All that night’s thinking had made Luhan realise that the real him would have been a lot nicer to Mirae in the first place, given her a chance from the start. And although he knew he couldn’t take back what he had already done, a fresh start might be a good way to go. With these thoughts in mind, Luhan bent down and placed a small, yet admirably caring, kiss on Mirae’s warm cheek. She didn’t move, so Luhan assumed that she was in too deep sleep to notice that little act of affection. “See you later,” he mumbled as he walked out of the room, unknowing of the surprised expression on the girl’s face after he left.

Luhan followed Mirae’s directions, going down the street to the familiar market where he had spent countless hours with Sehun, eating ice cream, annoying people by running around and overall having a really good time. It was also here that they had pretended to be invisible and walked around like no one could see them, even though everyone saw those weird hand gestures they came up with all the time. Luhan chuckled at the memory. Those had really been the best times in his life. As Luhan walked down memory lane in his head, he was beginning to reach the café Mirae had told him he would find. There weren’t a lot of other cafées around the area, so Luhan assumed this had to be the one. He opened the door, making a bell cling, announcing his arrival to those who were working. The café was empty even though it had been opened since an hour ago. Luhan walked up to the counter, leaning over it to see if he could see anyone inside the office; he didn’t see anyone. “Luhan?” He suddenly heard behind him. He turned around and saw Sehun coming in from the back door; most likely he had brought out the garbage or something like that. Luhan nervously placed his hand in his back pocket; he didn’t know whether to smile or not.

“Hi...” he greeted stiffly. He sounded as if he had it programmed on beforehand inside him. Sehun chuckled at him.

Sehun laughed. “What’s with you? Have you lost your voice or something?”

Luhan cleared his throat. “No. I’m... I wanted...” He wasn’t sure how to formulate his not-so-thought-out sentence. Sehun walked behind the counter, without breaking eye contact with his friend who still didn’t seem able to find a single word.

“You wanted what? To apologise? Or are you here to mock me and tell me to burn in hell?” Sehun asked. His tone was light and amused, but Luhan felt uneasy either way.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said. Sehun nodded his head slightly, perching his lips together as though he tried to hold in a fit of laughter. Luhan frowned. “What? I really am.”

“I believe you. It’s weird hearing it from you, that’s all,” Sehun replied. “Did you do a lot of thinking yesterday?” he added while