He softly whispered, “Do you know what the opposite of love is?” I slowly shook my head.

        “It’s fear.”

   I quickly stepped back, uncomfortable and slightly scared of not only how close he was physically, but also how close he hit home. 

      I cleared my throat. "I think the sun is setting so um.. should we head back?" I looked awkwardly down at the ground. Sehun rubbed the back of his head and cleared his throat as well, "Um.. yeah we should." 

     We walked down the hill in awkward silence and all I could keep thinking about was him. Park Chanyeol. The guy who showed me love and made me lose it. Because of him, I could not love. Because of fear, I could not open up. 

     We reached the bottom of the hill and walked to the subway station. It was bustling and crowded with people trying to go home after work. Sehun suddenly grabbed my hand. It was warm and soft, just like when he had held it during dance class. I looked up at him surprised.

    "I don't want you getting knocked over by people," he explained. I nodded, staring at our hands, surprised at how they fit together perfectly, as if they were made for one another. We entered the subway and he didn't let go of my hand, not even once. 

    "I'll walk you home," he offered as we exited the station. 

    "I'm fine," I shook my head, "Thanks for offering."

     "I don't want you getting kidnapped," he said in a jokingly manner. 

      I shrugged, "I guess so." 

      "You must like holding my hand." he said, a smirk forming on his lips as he lifted up our hands which were still clasped together.

      "Oh!" I yanked my hand out, embarassed. I had totally forgotten that we were still holding hands. This sly guy, I thought as I looked at his cocky face. 

     "It's okay. Even though you're clingy, this great Oh Sehun will still walk you home." he said arrogantly and started walking. 

    "Hah, this great Oh Sehun is going the wrong way," I smiled and walked off. He quickly followed behind with a small embarassed smile. 

    "Well, thanks for bringing me home," I said as we stopped infront of my house.

    "No, thanks for accompanying me today." he smiled and the door suddenly shot open. With a very furious looking Jongin. 

    Sehun quickly glanced at Jongin with an unreadable look on his face. It was a small glance within a split second, but I caught it. He said, "Well, I got to go. See you around." he waved and ran off. I turned around to see Jongin's angry face, ready to scold me like an exasperated mom. 

    "I told you not to hang around Sehun," he said in a quiet voice. It was ten times scarier than when he was shouting at me. 

    "I'm sorry, but he seems like a nice guy, " I explained, "shouldn't you tell me why? It's unfair that you're forbidding me to meet someone when I don't even know why." But Jongin quickly shook his head. 

    "If I explain to you, I'll get reminded of.. things.. and-" he sighed, "Just trust me on this one." I nodded as if I understood, eager to get away and walked into my room. Even if I tried taking Jongin's advice, I don't think I can, because something about Sehun draws me in. And I don't know if I can stop.

    I changed into sweats and a tshirt and found Jongin and Suzy making dinner in the kitchen. They were talking quietly in an almost secret manner so I crept up towards them.

   "We need to do something about Sora." Suzy said. Then they talked some more and I crept up even closer. 

    "After what happened with Chanyeol, she hasn't been herself." Jongin said, "She's usually introverted, but nowadays, I think it's getting worse." I felt my cheeks heating up in anger and walked up, not being able to handle this anymore.

    "Why are you guys talking about me? I'm not some hospital patient you know. And what? I'm getting worse? At what? I know I like staying in my room, but there's nothing wrong with that." the words came spitting of my mouth as my face got redder and redder. I was furious- at the fact that they were judging my life and the way I lived. But most of all, I was angry because they mentioned Chanyeol. They knew what he did to me yet they could still utter his name. 

    "Sora, I'm sorry," Suzy said, her bottom lip quivering with tears in her eyes. I turned around and locked myself inside my room. My anger at Suzy and Jongin was still there, but I had calmed down. I realized I was more angry at myself, for letting myself love Chanyeol and for letting him affect me this way. I buried my face into my pillow, feeling it getting damp as silent tears rolled down my cheeks. I thought I had cried out all the tears I had, but I guess there's still more. Even though my life was boring, it's better than going back to heartbreak, I thought and laid there, trying to ignore the knocking on my door. 

      The next day, I woke up with puffy eyes and tangled hair. Great, just great. I slowly shuffled out the door and Jongin was there, right infront of my room. "I'm really sorry!" he exclaimed, pulling me into a tight headlock. "I'm really, really sorry!"

     I gasped for air, "It's alright," I said in a strangled voice, "Just let me go." 

    "Hehe, oops sorry." he said bashfully and led me over to the kitchen. "Eat some of this omelette I made for you. It's a peace treaty." 

    I smiled, my anger long gone and shoved some of it into my mouth. Ever since we were in middle school, we would exchange peace treaties everytime we fought. "Anyways, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to my old high school. The school wants me to pick up some old trophies our dance team won." 

    "Sure, I want to see your old school," I said and after I finished the breakfast, we headed out. Jongin's high school was huge and covered in bricks. We walked up the concrete steps under the hot summer sun. "Do you want to explore the school while I pick the trophies up from the office? We can meet up at the front of the school in 5 minutes." he said. I nodded and we parted ways.

    I looked around curiously as I walked down the hallways. The floors were glossy white and there were bulletin boards and glass cases filled with trophies. My hand slightly trailed along the white walls as I explored the school. 

    I suddenly stopped at the sight of something. What is this? My trembling hand came up to touch the glass case infront of me. There was a picture. A picture of Jongin and Sehun with their arms around each other, looking so happy and close, holding a huge dance trophy.