Chapter 19:

Narrator's POV

Same Day. Monday after school.

Luhan parked on the parkway of Seulmi's house just like always, taking her home after school. Seulmi bid him a goodbye as always, pecking a kiss for him on the lips before stepping out of the same old car. But before she could close the door, Luhan interrupted her.

"Seulmi..." he called out.

She paused and raised her eyebrows, waiting for more words.

"Can we talk for a few minutes?"

She nodded her head with a small grin. "Sure. Come on in."

Seulmi shut the door of the car while Luhan hopped out.

~

Both of them entered the quiet atmosphere of Seulmi's house, walking in casually.

Seulmi led him to her room after settling their shoes beside the door.

"My mom is at work. She's back to her happy self again. Everything seems to be back to normal." Seulmi told him with a smile.

Luhan forced out a smile and both of them walked into her room.

Luhan couldn't get his mind off of that picture. All he wishes for now is that she tells him the truth. The truth that she remembers everything. Then, she wouldn't be lying to him anymore. But he didn't know what he was up for.

"So what did you want to talk about, Han?" She asked, sitting on the edge of her bed while Luhan was standing.

"...Umm.. Uhh..." Luhan couldn't find the right words. "Where were you on Sunday?"

"I took a walk in the park after eating lunch." she answered. *crap*

"Who were you with?"

Seulmi got the message now. She has to cover up her story.

"Uhh... Joy..."

"But didn't Youngjae take Joy out for a movie on Sunday. He posted a couple picture on Twitter."

*Crap~ He's on to me* she thought in her mind, nervous.

"Uhh... Then..." Seulmi couldn't think of any more to say.

"Seulmi... Who were you with?"

"No one, Han."

"Seulmi, tell me the truth."

"Luhan, I was with no one!"

Luhan gave up on the topic. "Fine. Then how's Kai, huh? How's your memory?"

Seulmi paused, "What about him?"

"Do you remember him?"

She couldn't answer him. "Can we just talk later? I have a lot of home-" she attempted to leave the room, but Luhan grabbed her hand and stopped her.

Unexpectedly, Luhan raised his voice. "Seulmi~ answer my question!"

Seulmi was taken back at the sudden intensity of their conversation. She grew in nervousness, not knowing how to answer.

"What do think I did? Why are you asking me so many questions?"

"Seulmi, just answer me!"

Seulmi was slightly sweating, she didn't want to lie to him again.

"Luhan... Please, talk about this later."

"No. We can't. I have to know the truth."

Seulmi breathed heavily and Luhan asked once more.

"Did you regain your memory, Seulmi? Tell me the truth!" Luhan became impatient.

Seulmi gulped, spitting out her answer. "No..."

Luhan got his answer, the most disappointing 'no' he has ever heard, since he knew that she was lying to him. He knew the truth and the plain truth. Luhan let go of her hand and sat on the edge of her bed, gripping at his hair, facing the ground.

She lied to him. And he finally realized for sure.

He felt a fire burn his chest. "Why" was flying around his head like a bee. *How could she lie to me about such an important thing? How could she destroy our trust just like that? Did she even plan on telling me?*

Luhan then stood up with watery eyes and disappointment. "Why are you lying to me, Seul?"

Seulmi became more and more nervous. "What are you talking about?"

Luhan gave up with words and brought out his phone with the picture Chen sent to Lay of Seulmi and Kai hugging in the park. He held it out in front of her, causing her to freeze, speechless.

"W- where did you get that picture?" Seulmi stuttered.

"Seul- I..." he sighed and covered his eyes. "WHY?" He raised his voice. "Why did you lie to me?"

Seulmi shut her eyes closed, hiding her shame and guilt that burned inside her. "I'm so sorry, Han. I'm so-"

"Seul... Seul, do you not trust me?" His voice was shaky, stuttering almost.

With those words, Seulmi's eyes let out a few drops of tears full of guilt.

"Han, I- I trust you, I just..." she gasped for air, gasping for strength, but couldn't find any. "I just-"

"I told you that I would help you... I told you that you could trust me. The first time I saw this picture... I - I denied everything I saw! You know why? Because I believed in my heart that you would never lie to me... You would never do this to me..." His voice shook even more. "What made you do this? Why did you have to go so far? Lo- losing your memory, Seulmi. Really?? I thought that you were seriously injured because of what you told me. I thought for moment that you wouldn't even remember me... I gave you all of me, Seulmi~ But you lie to me about something I would've fought for... Your memory... Your happy memories."

Seulmi broke down in guilt and regret. She covered her nose and mouth, crying hard as she saw Luhan in front of her, crying, hurt as well.

"I- I know you tried, Han. I knew that you gave it all you had to help me remember those times I had with Jongin, but the thing is..... All I've ever wanted was to forget him. To make him disappear from my mind. I- I thought that if I started believing in my own lies, it would help me forget him..." she explained, finding it hard to talk through her loss of breath and heavy heart.

"...I knew your pain, Seulmi. I shared your pain. And you even told before, that I would help you heal from your wounds. Am- am I just not enough? Are my efforts not enough?"

Seulmi shook her head, facing down.

"Then what is it? What do I need to do, Seul? I'll do anything. Anything to make you happy now. If it means for you lie to me again! I'll get hurt for you, just as long as I see you happy-"

"Luhan stop! Please~ Stop..." she sobbed.

Luhan caressed her cheeks, wiping the tears and staring into her eyes. "Seul, I'll do everything... EVERYTHING~"

Seulmi gently pushed his hands away from her face, facing the other way. "You can't do ANYTHING~ Han! You can't~!" She shouted.

"Why not?!"

"Because I loved him!"

Luhan paused. *Love? Love as in what? A best friend? A sibling?.... A lover?*

"Yes~ Luhan! I loved him! I loved him as a lover! I loved him so much, it hurt me when he left me! Forgetting him is the only way I could ever give you back the love you deserve! That's why I lied-" After hearing herself, she totally stopped with widened eyes, covering .

But Luhan's tears fell endlessly, eyes turning red and breath shaky. He gasped her air.

"Seul..." he felt as if he couldn't breathe."D- Do you not love me?"

She painfully watched more tears fall from his eyes and she felt the heaviest weight against her chest.

Before she could even answer, Luhan wiped his tears and stormed out of her room, leaving Seulmi frozen, regretting every single thing she said. Once she got back to her senses, she didn't hesitate to go after Luhan, who was more hurt than she was. But once she reached the driveway, he was already speeding off.

She sobbed harder, knowing that she let him escape without telling him what she meant, what she truly felt for him.

~

Wednesday. 2 Days after the fight.

Seulmi was about to lose her mind from worry and so was Jongin. Not Luhan nor Jinah were showing up to school. Seulmi even went as far as asking the teacher if Luhan possibly asked for makeup work, to do lessons at home instead of at school for a few days. (These things happen often if a student is home, really sick unable to go to school, or going on vacation during a schooling period) Their first teacher of the day told Seulmi that Luhan picked up a few lessons to study at home.

"There seems to be an issue going on at home, so I let him have the rest of the week's lessons." Mrs. Jang told her.

Seulmi began to worry for Luhan, thinking how much he must be hurting right now.

After school, she planned in taking the bus again, but fortunately, Joy stopped her and lended her a ride.

"We should never take the bus again." Joy giggled.

Seulmi found no reason to smile back, instead she just thanked her for the offer.

Joy led Seulmi to a white, shiny car. Joy sat in the passenger seat and Seulmi sat in the back.

"Youngjae is driving us, but don't worry, I let him know that you're with us today."

A few minutes later, Youngjae hopped into the car and greeted Seulmi. Seulmi just slightly grinned back. Once they were on the street, the only two people that were talking were the couple, cutely arguing over something silly. It was only after a few minutes that Joy realized Seulmi's silence. She peered behind her seat, finding Seulmi staring down, silent.

"Hey Seulmi... Are you alright?" Joy asked.

Seulmi slowly looked up and only nodded.

Joy was concerned for Seulmi. She knew that something was going on between her and Luhan because Luhan is the only one who could make Seulmi this upset.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Joy asked politely.

Seulmi remembered how Luhan told her that telling a couple close people about your problems can help ease the pain. So Seulmi gave in.

A few minutes after, Seulmi was done explaining everything.

"... I understand..." Joy told her, with a comforting voice.

Seulmi sighed heavily and by then, Youngjae arrived at her driveway.

"Thanks for the ride, Joy and Youngjae. I really appreciate it." Seulmi thanked them and forced out a smile.

Youngjae and Joy glanced at each other as she hopped out of the car, closing the door. Before Seulmi could close the door to her house, Joy called out her name, catching her attention.

"Seulmi~ Call me anytime! If you need anything, I'll be here!" Joy yelled out of her window.

Seulmi just nodded and closed her door.

~

Luhan was, of course, home. He was just as lifeless as Seulmi. Both of them wished that their argument never happened. However Luhan was the one who was hurt the most and Seulmi just wished he never found out about her lying.

Luhan stared down at his desk, seeing an open textbook and a blank piece of paper. He didn't feel like working and his eating decreased. Everything reminded him of Seulmi, absolutely everything. He didn't even think about his lessons, much tk everyone's surprise because he's a top student. He just heavily sighed and rubbed his face vigorously.

His aunt entered his room after a knock, checking up on him.

"Han? Are you hungry? Do you want to eat a bit? Maybe even just a little sandwichn" She offered, but Luhan didn't even look at her, shaking his head.

She sighed. "Why don't you go out for fresh air, Han? Maybe that will help a bit." Luhan’s aunt suggested.

Luhan glanced at her and nodded his head. She handed him a jacket that hung on the coat rack and her was soon out the door. Luhan headed for the nearest bus stop, which was only a couple blocks away from his house. No one stood beside it, seems like it was a slow day. Luhan sat down on the bench of the bus stop, beside a slightly busy street. He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jackets and sat there blankly.

Again, all he thought of was his girlfriend, his girlfriend that he gave his everything to and yet she still had feelings for Kai. His girlfriend that he thought never loved him. Luhan thought he knew the truth and the full truth, but not quite yet.

Coincidentally, Joy was walking down that same street to fulfill a chore for her mother. She was alone until her gaze fell upon Luhan. She suddenly felt sympathy for him because of what she accidentally heard from Sumin and Seulmi one night, but she also felt anger once she remembered Seulmi’s condition at the moment. She approached him, sitting beside him on the bench.

“Yahh… Lu Han~” She called out to him, stomping over to him.

Luhan looked up as Joy sat down beside him.

“I know you’re angry at Seulmi right now, but she’s hurt too!” Joy told him in a concerned tone, “You didn’t hear her out!”

Luhan looked down again, “I don’t need to hear her out. She said everything she needed to say.”

“She loves you Luhan…”

“No.” Luhan instantly objected, “She loves Kai.”

“Luhan you don’t understand her situation.”

“She still has feelings for him even after I gave her all I had. I never hid anything from her. She’s the only girl I laid my eyes on for more than a year now. I thought that ever since we started dating, I would be the only one she loved as a lover. But no… it was Kai.”

“She tried her best to forget those feelings, Luhan. Trust me. You’re the only person she thinks about nowadays. When you didn’t show up to school, al she thought about was your well-being, your health. She couldn’t even focus on what anyone was saying to her. She always wondered if you were eating properly, sleeping well, if you were alright. You’re all she ever thinks about now! She never even looked at Kai.”

“She confessed everything to me, Joy. No one can take those words back. She loves him.”

“Luhan! You’re so freaking hard to talk to!”

“Then stop talking to me!” Steam was practically coming out of Luhan’s ears. He tried to act calm, but just didn’t have the confidence to argue anymore. He attempted leave the scene.

Luhan stormed away until he was stopped by Joy. With his back towards her, she yelled to him.

“If it wasn’t for her love for Kai, you two wouldn’t even be together!” She yelled.

Luhan paused, not understanding, not processing in her head, what Joy just told him. He turned back to her, who stood up from the bench.

“What?” He asked, dumbfounded.

Joy huffed, “She only wanted to date you because she wanted to make Kai jealous. But she doesn’t care about him anymore, Luhan. Trust me! She loves you without any other objective! She loves you fully now! I see it! She-“

“She used me?” Luhan couldn’t hear anything else after what he just found out.

“Luhan that’s not the point!”

“That’s all I needed to hear. Thank you, Joy.”

“NO! Luhan~! Listen-“

Luhan was already too far away from her as he stormed away gain.

*Crap* Joy cursed in her head. *What have I done?*

~

This chapter was short in my opinion, but it was intense for the two main characters. UGGHHh I feel so useless in writing. I bet you guys can't even feel the emotion of the arguments or even what the characters felt. Ugghh... I'm so sorry, chingus! My writing is just not goot at all.

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