That night, what was meant to be a 15 minute break, became an hour long. But even then, what had needed to have ended there, was continued later that night. Seohyun was almost dragged to their dorm right after practice, for another round of interrogation. 

"It's just a hat", the younger would repeatedly say. But she knew her unnis better than to just leave it at that. "If this was a simple matter like you finding his hat because he dropped it, we wouldn't be here right now Seohyun-ah", Taeyeon explained. They knew her. All of them did. As kind as Seohyun was, she was also bad at lying. They had seen it. She had wanted to lie but couldn't. Cute wasn't she?

In the end, she told them. Not that it was a big deal. But what can you do being amidst a group of overprotective, enthusiastic girls? They ushered her to tell them the story from the very beginning - whatever that was - and she obligingly obeyed. She had started from when she had first seen him in the practice room, how frequent that became, the incidents that followed after Chanyeol's collapse, and then their deal. 

She stopped when she realized how strange they began eyeing her. They wiggled their eyebrows teasingly at her, while silently hitting each other in frivolous excitement. She had also deliberately omitted the part when she and Kris sang together a few nights ago. Like the others, it wasn't a big deal. But...

She didn't know why she decided to leave that part out. But having seen their expressions that very moment gave her all the more reason to keep silent. 

"Seohyun-ah."

Hyoyeon's serious tone echoed the room, silencing the other girls from their excitement. The others looked at her with confusion, which she also felt about herself. She thought she would be the first to be happy if ever their little maknae were to perhaps, develop feelings for someone. Afterall, she was their maknae. Their maknae who in the past, preferred sweet potatoes over men, and hadn't the slightest interest in them. 

She didn't know whether that changed or not, or whether something was going on between the two. However, she knew one thing was for sure.

She was their maknae. And out of all eight of them, she felt the most responsible and protective of her. 

A fact, they all knew. "I don't know much about him, and I don't think you do either. Seohyun-ah, i'm not trying to say anything negative about him, but if you-

"Unni", Seohyun interrupted. Now she realized where this was going. Not that she hadn't before, but she didn't feel like hearing a lecture. "I owe him an apology. That's all"

She then looked at the others and repeated. "That's all."

-----

Seohyun walked slowly on the stage, and looked straight towards the endless rows of red seats that went as high as the ceiling. She still couldn't believe it. It was a stage like no other yet it felt so peculiar and different. She paid no attention to the staff members whizzing behind her, and the commotion that filled the auditorium. It was overwhelming. She was going to perform. Here. 

"Hey", Kyuhyun tapped her shoulder and stood right beside her - gaze also fixed towards their empty audience. "Did you read your script?"

Seohyun nodded. "I read it about four times I think". Kyuhyun let out a small chuckle. That was so like her. 

Practice was more tiring than she thought it would be. Of course, it was completely different from any concert practices she had ever attended which was no surprise. But with line recitations, vocal training, and just the musical itself, it made her completely exhausted. What was more was that she had to practice for the music festival later on in the day. The week passed by like that, with she and Kyuhyun driving together to practice, and then travelling back to the company for another session of practicing. 

"Seohyun-ah, that part was meant to be sung lower", Taeyeon pointed out. 

The younger nodded apologetically. What was worse than exhaustion was getting both her musical practices and her concert practices mixed up. She started to become frustrated and exhaled. "Sorry unni, i'll try that again"

"No", Taeyeon firmly protested. "Go home for today. Rest for a bit. We'll continue tomorrow alright?"

Seohyun nodded and silently left the room. They all knew how much she had to do and felt bad that they couldn't do anything about it. "She's a little angry and tired right now. She'll be fine after a night's rest", Tiffany assured her.

Taeyeon nodded and clapped. "Let's try it again"

Seohyun heard their voices echo the hallways as she left the practice room. She tried not to think about the guilt she felt, or the anger that began to gather up within her and decided to go up a floor. She sighed as she entered the elevator, and pressed for the fourth floor. "It's the second week."

Their deal was almost completed. The deal between she and Kris. She walked towards the practice room, and scribbled a little note on the post-it before setting the carton down. She hadn't seen him in a while. She peeped into his usual practice room, even though she knew what she was expecting to see. 

Empty. Of course. 

She stood up and was about to walk back when she suddenly stopped in surprise, completely stunned to see Kris right infront of her. 

She stopped instantly, and stared at him for a bit. She hadn't seen him since the meeting and didn't know what to say. She seemed to have remembered something at that instant, and immediately opened her bag to search for it. She stretched out the object in her hand towards him and smiled. 

"K-Kris-sshi, sorry. I forgot to give this to you-"

But she was cut off when he just snatched it from her fingers. She flinched a little, and backed away a bit when she saw his expression. He stared at her deeply, his expression unreadable and unsettling. Something she was never greeted with before.

Without a word, he suddenly bowed and started to open the door behind her when he suddenly spoke. "You can stop. You don't need to deliver anything to me anymore"

She turned to look at him, completely confused. But he didn't seem he had been waiting for her reply. Nor did he look like he needed one. "Wait", she stopped him from entering by his sleeve and continued. "Why? It's only the second week and-

She heard a light sigh from above her, as he shrugged her hand off. "You can get sick of drinking chocolate milk everyday. You should stop now. I don't need it anymore"

Seohyun felt the need to argue her point but was suddenly too drained to even lift her head to face him. She nodded slowly and strode off. Her steps remained light as she walked towards the elevator, but her anger was solely focused on the fist of her hand, that clutched furiously onto the strap of her bag.

This was not how she wanted to be forgiven. If anything, it was not fair. She wouldn't stand for it.

But then again, she felt she couldn't stand at all at that moment. She clutched the railing in the elevator and exhaled a great deal. Apart from physical exhaustion, she felt angry and miserable. And now, she felt even worse. 

"You're the one who made the deal. How could you say you're sick of it?" she wanted to counter back. She didn't understand, and she refused to listen to his reasoning.

He was a person she felt she could never understand. What's more is that his character seemed to change on a day-to-day basis. She shook her head and weakly opened the door to the company van. "Oppa", she called for her manager's attention and bowed slightly. "Sorry oppa but can you drive me to my parents' house? I think i'll visit home for a bit"

Hey guys! Just an update from the previous chapter. I'm really glad I get feedback from you guys and I seem to say this every time. But really, it's you guys that well, keep me going. As cheesy as that may sound, your feedback is what motivates me. And the best part about it is, is that you don't always have to. But some of you choose to and i'm so grateful for that. 

Love you guys a bunch. I'll be writing up the next chapter soon. Have a good day everybody!