[Sera]

Can I not head to school for all eternity?

I don’t think I can keep up the false facade of wanting to see her each time a new school day arrives.

I just can’t, not any longer.

Not when all I see these days were aloof expressions on that face. She seemed to have changed completely; not appearance-wise, but in terms of personality.

Where has the Kim Jieun that I know gone?

If you treasure your friendship with this friend of yours, you have to cherish her. Find it in yourself to speak up first. And remember, always believe that behind every action of anyone, there are reasons that justify what they did.

My mother’s words always resounded in my head, resurfacing time and time again whenever I feel extremely frustrated at her indifference towards me. Her gentle voice would calm me down, the firmness in her tone urging me to keep trying.

Omma, I tried. I’ve really tried.

But how do one keep trying when the other party refuses to cooperate, and when the other party seems to be another person altogether?

“M-Morning, Se–”

“Just get inside.” I deadpanned, my eyes immediately narrowing the moment they registered the identity of the boy pacing outside my door. “I wish to get to school on time, Jongdae-oppa.”

“Yixing-hyung is going to murder me.” He buried his face in his hands, but he stepped into my room nonetheless, taking a seat at the edge of my bed. I leaned against the closed door, my arms folded across my chest. He took it as a sign to start talking, which he did after inhaling deeply.

Sheesh, someone’s awfully nervous this morning.

“I-It’s Jieun.” He his lips, a sign of nervousness; a first that I’ve ever seen in the always-cheeky, always-confident Kim Jongdae. “She’s… different somehow.”

I fixated my eyes on him, his words striking a chord in my mind as they’ve been the exact same words that been swirling in my head ever since I laid eyes on her after her disappearance.

“It’s as though she changed into an entirely different person.” Desperation swum in his eyes, his hands wringing themselves on his lap. “Something keeps bugging me and it was then did I come to think that the Jieun with us doesn’t seem to be our Jieun.”

I unfolded my arms and stepped towards him. He gazed up at me, a heartbroken expression on his face and it was then did I realise the depth of an emotion that the boy had fallen into.

“She… She’s not the Jieun that I… that I…” Jongdae-oppa closed his eyes. “She’s not the Jieun that I’ve come to have feelings for.”

A smile crept onto my face as I kneeled in front of him, taking his hands into mine.

“You’ve finally admitted, oppa, that you do have feelings for Jieun.”

A blush appeared on his cheeks, slowly spreading to his ears and the rest of his face. I never knew this troll was so teasable, heh heh.

“Alright, back to the topic.” I put on a serious tone. “I agree with you, that that girl seems to have changed and she’s nothing like the Jieun I met at the start of the school year.”

He nodded, hands trembling in mine. At that moment, the older boy seemed so vulnerable, so fragile. He may have feelings for my best friend, but when it comes down to the hierarchy of relationship, I’m definitely on a higher level.

So if I’m okay, he will be fine too.

“But oppa ah, omma told me that behind any action of anyone, there are reasons for justification. Thus, I trust Jieun and I am certain that everything will come to light one day.”

My hand left his to ruffle his hair and a tongue cluck of disapproval soon echoed in the quietude of my room. “I just styled my hair…” I chuckled, and the mock frown on his face soon turned into a small smile.

“Sera, you’ve grown so much more mature in the years you went missing. Where was that little girl Sehun used to boast about?” At the mention of my brother, I perked up and glowered at him. He laughed, his hand ruffling my hair instead. “And yes, I’ll wait patiently for that day to arrive.”

[Yixing]

My eyes instantly narrowed as a familiar girl stepped out of the mansion, with another boy that isn’t me, his arm swung over her shoulder. They were all-smiles, chortling at something I didn’t manage to hear.

“Aren’t you a little too close to my girlfriend, Jongdae-sshi?” I shot the pair a glare, pushing my murderous aura towards them. They must have caught on to my displeasure as Sera stiffened, though the boy still dared to pull her closer to him.

“Woah woah woah, no need to get so worked up.” They walked over to me as I pushed myself off Luhan-hyung’s car. The rest of the boys were still in the mansion, forever taking longer than needed to get ready for school; though Baekhyun, Suho, and Xiumin-hyung soon appeared through the door, yawning.

“She’s my sister too, but I shall take my leave now lest a bloodbath happens and I suppose it wouldn’t be too pretty. So, thanks Sera.” I watched in utter shock as Jongdae leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before dashing off to his same-aged friend’s car. Baekhyun’s Audi R8 Coupé sped off almost immediately, a whirlwind of dust left behind.

“Why you!” I shook a fist at the car, knowing full well that the boy was able to hear me. “Kim Jongdae, I’ll remember this.”

A soft snicker came from beside me. “Oppa, chill. You know Jongdae-oppa loves to joke.”

“He shouldn’t be play this kind of joke on another girl if he wants to get himself a girlfriend.” I muttered ominously and the girl caught on to the underlying meaning in my words.

“You heard it all, huh…”

I nodded. “Don’t worry though, the rest of the boys didn’t. They were too busy teasing Kyungsoo.”

Her head tilted to the side, a puzzled look on her face. My fingers tingled and I allowed them to push the loose strands of hair that obscured her eyes behind her ears. “Kyungsoo? What happened to him?”

A smirk played across my lips. “That boy received a confession yesterday.”

She stared at me, incredulity gradually seeping into her and it wasn’t long before her jaws slacked, her eyes widening.

“Apparently it’s from the same girl from last year; she’s tall and the subject of envy from most girls in his year. That heartless boy rejected her again,” A frown formed on her face at the mention of his rejection. “So the boys were making fun of him because according to Zitao, he took longer to reject her this time round.”

“Kyungsoo-oppa was considering, wasn’t he?” Sera’s eyes lit up hopefully, her hands clapping gleefully. “Oh how I wish he would just say yes, sheesh. And I’m sorry for not noticing this...”

“It’s alright, you were too frustrated in your problem but I don’t blame you.” I her cheek with my thumb.

“Thank you.” Her lips brushed against mine and I instinctively shut my eyes, waiting for them to meet with mine. Instead, a mocking giggle came and I knew she had pranked me. Opening my eyes, I saw her standing by an opened car door, a smirk on her face. Standing at the driver’s door, Luhan-hyung had a smug grin on.

“Oh Sera!”