Jiho’s POV

I frowned to myself as I walked to the cafeteria alone. Sehun didn’t even notice me when he rushed past my class and Chanyeol didn’t bother speaking a word today. He didn’t even bother to answer the teacher. I sighed. What made him this way?

As I turned the corner, I could see a crowd of people blocking the entrance to the cafeteria. I decided to turn back around and maybe take a leisurely stroll around the school grounds. It sure would beat squeezing in a hot and crowded food hall.

Unfortunately, I spun around too fast and caught myself bumping straight into some guy’s chest. My books fell from my grip and onto the ground with a loud ‘thud’, and my nose hurt, managing to hit the metal part of the guy’s sling. Although I felt a little annoyed, I apologised to the guy anyway, figuring out it was largely my fault.

He bent down to help me pick my books up and passed them back to me. I looked up and he was smiling slightly, and a little shyly. He looked really cute, like baby cute. He scratched the back of his neck, probably feeling a little embarrassed himself. “Oh, you’re Jiho, right?” he suddenly asked as he got a closer look at me.

Slowly, I nodded. How did he even know me? “Yeah, is anything the matter?” I asked him.

“Nope,” he replied, reaching out for a hand shake. “I’m Kai, Sehun’s friend.”

I shook his hand. “I’m Jiho, but I know you already know that.” 

Kai chuckled. “Of course I do. Who doesn’t?” he replied matter-of-factly. When I shot him a curious look, he seemed taken aback. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“You mean Sehun didn’t tell you?” Kai asked. I shook my head, getting more and more impatient by the minute, but I wouldn’t allow myself to lose my temper in front of someone I didn’t even know. He sighed and averted my gaze.

“Tell me,” I demanded, not being able to control my curiosity. Yeah, I am a pretty impatient person.

Once again, he sighed and took a seat, motioning for me to take the one next to him, which I did. “I just assumed that since you and Sehun seemed okay now that maybe he’d have told you, or maybe you would’ve asked,” he droned on.

This time I furrowed my brows at him, making sure he’d get the hint. “About what?”

“Well, if my girlfriend had a cut like Sehun does on his lip I’d surely ask him what happened to it,” Kai murmured, looking away from me. Now that I noticed him not smiling, he looked so serious.

He did make a very valid point. Why hadn’t I asked Sehun what happened? Was I really that obsessed with me and Sehun that I totally forgot to just care about Sehun as an individual? I sighed, feeling so disappointed in myself. He had to become the one to comfort me that night, too.

“Do you know what happened?” I asked Kai, this time I made sure to make my voice gentle.

He smirked. “Yeah, and I’m not the only one you know here who knows about it,” he commented.

“Who’s the other one then?” I knew very well he was trying to avoid answering my question, but I had to find a way around it.

He looked straight at me, about to say it, when his gaze shifted towards the cafeteria doors. “Looks like the subjects of our topic have arrived,” he said casually, leaning back against his chair, putting his hands in his jeans pocket.

Following his gaze, I turned around to find Sehun walking into the cafeteria with Chanyeol. I pretty much guessed he was rushing after Chanyeol just now, which would explain why he didn’t see me. If he did go and talk to him though, I don’t understand why they both looked so gloomy. Sehun looked as if he was puzzled and Chanyeol just looked plain lost. It was a sort of funny sight- the two popular kids of the school looking like a mess together.

When Sehun spotted us, he walked over, and Chanyeol followed slowly behind him, looking a little timid. Sehun took a spot beside me and Chanyeol took the seat next to Kai, avoiding to look at either one of us. I sighed. I hated the tension in the atmosphere, but it was only growing by the minute.

Kai leaned forward to tap me on the shoulder. “I shouldn’t be the one explaining things to you,” he whispered in my ear and winked at me before he got up and walked away. Great. Why did he have to leave me alone with these two behaving like this?

“So… I never got to ask you this,” I spoke to Sehun. He still had on a worn out expression. “What exactly happened to your lip?”

At that instant, I noticed both of them jerking their heads to look to each other. Chanyeol had a surprised look on his face while Sehun just looked blank. “It’s nothing,” Sehun muttered, forcing a smile.

I glared at him. “No, tell me!” I demanded, crossing my arms. I wasn’t in the mood for games. Especially since it involved both Sehun and Chanyeol. They were both my close friends for god’s sake. Who would want to hurt Sehun?

Right then, Chanyeol smiled sheepishly at me and began scratching the back of his neck. I had to admit, he looked cute. I just realised how precious his smile was. It made me calm down. “Ah, Jiho-ah, um…” he stuttered, still grinning. “Sorry that was my fault.”

I guessed he expected me to be all angry at him, but I wasn’t. I was just confused. “Aren’t you guys best friends?” I enquired.

“It was nothing, trust me,” Sehun chimed in, sounding a little better now.

Chanyeol stared at me and sighed. He knew I wanted answers no matter what. “Jiho-ah, I got angry at him that day for insulting you,” he admitted, looking to the ground. He was fiddling with his fingers. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your boyfriend.”

At that, my eyes grew wide. I looked from Chanyeol to Sehun, and then back to Chanyeol. “What… what are you talking about?” I asked.

Cocking his head to the side, Chanyeol replied with, “aren’t you guys together?”

Chanyeol’s POV

I sure hoped she wasn’t going to get angry at me and ignore me. If I were to admit that I was the one that harmed her precious Oh Sehun, would she blame me and ignore me forever? I knew I had to tell her regardless. Although, I was quite surprised that Sehun hadn’t gone round to tell her himself. What’s weird was that she never even asked about it, either. You definitely are something else, Park Jiho.

“Aren’t you guys best friends?”

I was going to answer her, but Sehun beat me to it. “It was nothing, trust me.”

No, it definitely was not nothing, but I figured I’d go along with it and spare her the guilt. Just by talking to her a few times, I could tell she cared a lot about how others felt, especially if it involved her. I knew that if I told her every detail she’d feel horrible about it.

I sighed as I looked up at her. “Jiho-ah, I got angry at him that day for insulting you,” I said, managing not to stutter. I realised I was looking deep into her eyes and I was going to melt under her gaze if I didn’t look away. Damn it, Chanyeol. Don’t get nervous now. “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your boyfriend.”

It hurt to say those words, but they were the truth, weren’t they? I guess I would have to get used to it. Oh Sehun… Park Jiho’s boyfriend. Park Chanyeol… Park Jiho’s… friend. Was it bad that I felt a great need to steal her away from him? It was as though my mind was going through an internal conflict. I wanted her so bad, but I knew it would be wrong to steal her. Especially since Sehun had been my best friend for a long time.

“What… what are you talking about?” Her voice snapped me up from my reverie. Was she trying to hide it or was she really clueless?

By this point, I was a little confused. “Aren’t you guys together?” I asked. Why else would Oh Sehun suddenly treat her so differently and be so happy? She was obviously the cause of it and by the way the looked at each other, I could see that it was a sort of loving gaze. I controlled myself from scowling at the sight and looked away instead.

Soon, Jiho burst out laughing. “No we’re not!” she exclaimed, beaming at me.

Wait… really? Were they really not together? If they weren’t then this would mean that I could have a chance at it too…

“Yeah, exactly,” Sehun joined in, although his voice was on her other extreme end- dead and cold. He looked so distant and it took me back to our conversation on the rooftop just a few minutes ago. I shouldn’t have told him how I felt, and now I regretted it. It just seemed to make him worry more, but would it be bad to say that the only thing that mattered now was that I had a chance with Jiho?

“You should stop thinking so much,” Jiho told me, tutting and crossing her legs.

I rolled my eyes and looked straight into her eyes. “How can I when it comes to you?”

She leaned back against the chair, surprised by my reply. I couldn’t blame her, because I didn’t expect myself to say that either. Just yesterday I told myself not to bother about her yet now? What was I doing? I was going right back into her. I couldn’t control myself. Not in Jiho’s case.

Jiho laughed awkwardly and looked to Sehun, who unfortunately didn’t have the mood for jokes. He had his arms crossed and was staring coldly at the other side of the cafeteria.

I’m sorry, Sehun. I really don’t think I can control myself…

A/N: sorry this is a rather mediocre chapter... I might update again later! +if there's anything you wanna see for the coming chapters, please comment! :D love you guys