I was so engrossed in my own world with KyungSoo and SuHo that I had forgotten about my promised plan with ChanYeol. It was about three in the morning when I heard the front door open and close quietly. As I sat out in the resting area of the third floor, ChanYeol didn't even care to notice me and went to his own room. There was nothing that I could have done to make him feel better, for I knew that he waited at the mall in the cold with hopes of my arrival, but I never did go.

      "ChanYeol?" I knocked quietly on his door, "I'm sorry that I couldn't go."

      There was no response from him and that left me embarrassed and I felt even more guilty.

      "Please just listen to me, I had somewhere to be-"

      "I did to," he said through his closed door, "I could have gone with my band to perform in HongDae, but I didn't. I waited for you but you never came."

      "I'm sorry. I had some business to take care of and then I came home to KyungSoo and-"

      "You know? I was going to bring you to a place where I could set up a date for you and him.. but it seems that I don't need to try and help anymore. You two are always together."

      "Chan-"

      ChanYeol swung his door open and grabbed my hand, rushing the two of us down the stairs and out to the backyard. There, he placed me on the wall and held my face in his hands.

      "HaNeul, I loved you first," he said with teary eyes, "Why can't you just like me again?"

      "Th-that's not true," I said firmly, "It was always KyungSoo-"

      "So, if I had loved you just like KyungSoo did, does that mean you would love me?"

      "No, that's different-"

      ChanYeol placed his lips onto my cold ones and begged to go deeper. Scenes from my past started flashing through my mind and I began to break out in cold sweat. I could remember the low tone of the man's voice as he pulled me closer and I wanted to vomit. I refused him with my hands but I could barely move him due to my weak strength. His hands stayed around my shoulders and brought me closer to him. No longer able to keep my cool, I bit his lip and finally broke free of the harassment.

      "You'll turn around to see me one day," he said as he wiped off the little bit of blood that came out of his bottom lip, "KyungSoo doesn't deserve you-"

      "And after what you did, you think you deserve me?" I let my tears run down my face, "KyungSoo had never done anything so irrational."

      Like that, I rushed into the house and hid underneath my covers. There was no reason for him to do something like that.

      The next morning, I found myself unable to look at him. We sat across from each other as we chowed through KyungSoo's delicious breakfast and I could feel that he glanced at me every now and then. When everyone went out for their daily jobs, I stayed inside did my own, which was writing. There was so much to be done since I had been sick for a while. This kept me preoccupied until the time that ChanYeol would be home from his usual band practice. It wasn't normal for me to be feeling awkward for me and I needed to get it off my chest.

      It was almost three o'clock when I heard the front door click open. As I closed my notebooks, the harsh thump blew my papers to the ground but I wasn't concentrated on it at all. My first goal was to see if that had been ChanYeol at the door and so, I ran down the spiral stair cases and met unfamiliar faces in the vast hallway before the front door. One was tall and had a very thin jaw line whilst the other was short and reminded me of a deer. They were dressed from head to toe in deep-blue, satin suits and their shoes were so clean that I could see the reflection of the floors. The taller one had sunglasses that were much too big for his cheekbones but it fit due to his nose bridge, and the shorter greeted me with sparkling eyes.

      "Who are you?" I asked calmly.

      "The question is, Who are you?" The taller man's monotone voice started off rudely but I noticed that may have been the way he spoke all the time, "We used to live here."

      "Yeah, with ten other guys," the shorter one nodded brightly, "We don't want to scare you."

      "We just happened to stop by."

      My facial expressions probably showed that I was a bit terrified but I was surprised that I hadn't run away, "What are your names?"

      "I'm LuHan and this is Kris."

      "What's your name?" Kris asked as he took off his glasses to reveal those fiercely shaped eyes.

      "HaNeul-"

      "Ah! HaNeul!" LuHan put his hands together and seemed much more excited than earlier, "You're who he always talked about."

      "I can't believe he really found you," Kris folded his forearms into his chest, "And he even brought you here to live with the rest of them."

      "I'm sure you've met everyone already, right?"

      "Yeah.."

      LuHan nodded and placed a hand on the front door to help himself balance while he took off his dress shoes, "Mind if we wait for them?"

      "Why not?" I gladly let them into the house, for they used to be old friends anyway, "Water?"

      "No, thank you," Kris shook his head, "Coffee is more like my style."

      "I'm sorry, I don't think we have any-"

      "Top left cupboard," LuHan pointed behind me, "There's a coffee maker in the lower one."

      I was completely shocked after I had slid the cupboards open. There it was, Coffee beans and a coffee maker. These two had known the house better than I had.

      "We have a lot to tell you." LuHan started laughing as they made themselves comfortable on the couches.

      As I began to feel more comfortable around them, I allowed myself to be squeezed in between the two men and listened to their stories in both ears. I learned more about Tao, and how he always lived in his own world, thinking he was the best. Though it made him sound conceited, I knew he had good intentions. They also spoke of a time when SuHo was trying to feed vitamins to them due to their low nutrition and how BaekHyun and Chen used to be a duet called BaekChen. There was a lot being told but I couldn't help but wait for KyungSoo's reveal. I wanted to know more about him.

      "KyungSoo has always been obsessive over his job and he barely stayed at home," LuHan started, "But then, we figured out that he only went to work from ten in the morning until two o'clock in the afternoon. That's when we started getting curious about where he would go after his work hours."

      Kris nodded, "Cause we're a curious bunch, we followed him and found that he had been trying to look for you the whole time. There was not one day he didn't try."

      "You're one lucky girl."

      I thanked them in a quiet tone as I began to think to myself. He never had time for himself because he had always been searching for me. It made me wonder what wonderful things he could have been doing in the three years time of his adult hood.

      "Now, ChanYeol hadn't always been a nerd for music."

      "LuHan-"

      "No, no, everyone has to hear it." LuHan cleared his throat, "I heard that back in high school, his first love rejected him and that really hit him hard."

      "To the point where his only escape was music," Kris shrugged, "Everyday, he would wake up and produce music in his room and when night would fall, he'd put his headphones back in and go to bed."

      "To this day, I still don't know why the girl rejected him-"

      "What are you two doing here?"

      We turned our heads around to see that ChanYeol had dropped his instruments on the ground. His expression was even worse than last night and I could barely take to see him like that.

      "We just stopped by-"

      "You two don't belong here anymore!" ChanYeol raised his voice and pointed out the door, "Get out!"

      "ChanYeol-"

      "Get out! Get out!"

      I bowed to them as they quickly left with regretful expressions. I watched as they climbed into their waxed cars and drove out of the long driveway.

      "You didn't have to be like that," I said as I shut the blinds, "They were only visiting."

      "You don't know anything," he voice began to falter beneath returning memories, "You know nothing."

      I pushed him towards the wall and slapped him good. I couldn't take it anymore, "All of you are always telling me: you don't know anything. Well then, why don't you tell me?"

      ChanYeol hung his head above his chest and didn't speak a word. The more that silence struck him, the more red my hand-print became.

      "Fill me in on this stuff so that when the time comes, I will know what to do and how to act. I thought that since you all were once friends, you could just say a simple hi. I don't care if something major happened between you twelve, make up and live your life. Why the hell are you all being babies?"

      After a while, ChanYeol brought his hand up to the raw part of his cheek and rubbed it slowly. I could see that he was trying to hide some tears that were beginning to drop down his white skin and I admit, I felt guilty.

      "We were once friends," he repeated, "That was two years ago."

      I let him take his precious time, for he had his thoughts caught up in his pain-filled mind.

      "When we were all going through a rough time, trying to find jobs, trying to pay for this house, and trying to love one another as real brothers, those two left hand in hand. After that, we went downhill for several months. We were almost out on the streets, HaNeul. Then one day, we saw the two on the big screens. They were smiling in wealth while we were stuck at the bottom." he wiped away his uncontrollable tears, "They never came to visit and never brought any gifts... But what hurts most is that they never said goodbye."

      I comforted him with my small hand on his shoulder.

      "That's why I can't stand to have them here, in a house that the ten of us worked so hard on. We laughed here, told stories here, and we cried here. They don't deserve it."

      "From what I've heard and seen, all of you still love them very much but you're only afraid of them leaving once again. But ChanYeol, did you ever think that maybe it was for the best?"

      "How?"

      "They didn't get the easy way out either. There is no way that they just woke up one day with satin suits and a waxed car. They worked their way up, just like the rest of you did. When it comes to friends, there is no level of hierarchy because you've all worked hard and together. Even though they were far away, they were working for a day that they could meet you guys again with smiling faces and just the right amount of love to live as twelve."

      "Love.. to live as twelve..."

      I turned around to see the other nine who had been hearing the whole thing. I hadn't realized someone had been there. Their faces were full of hatred and tears but it was slowly turning to forgiving expressions.

      "That's right," I walked up to Tao and Lay who were crying the most, "Distance can't keep friends apart and it definitely cannot cover up the hard work and love everyone has put in."