"I'm scared to get close and I hate being alone.
I long for that feeling to not feel at all.
The higher I get, the lower I'll sink.
I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim."

"I don't get him." Minah said as she sat in the chair across from Sehun who was digiliently doing his work at his office desk.

Sehun looked up, "What is there to get? Jongin is a pretty simple guy." he stated, moving his gaze back to the sheets of papers on his desk that we needed to be looked over.

She sighed, "He is just different from anyone I have met."

"How so?" Sehun asked, not even bothering to look up. 

"First of all, he is touchy. Not like erted touchy but I can tell he likes skinship. Like being close to someone and wanting to hold them close. Something that I am not comfortable with at all. And second, he is bribing me to become a better person." Minah looked behind her to see if the door to his office was closed. "He wants me to stop selling my body and get a job at the cafe he works at. Otherwise he will kick me out of his place. It's frustrating. I don't know what to do." she said, lowering her voice in case anybody would happen to overhear her rambling.

"I don't even know why you told him about your little business in the first place. But that's just Jongin. He has been like that since we were kids. His mom was the kind of woman to show her affection. So he just learned it from her. You don't know how many times Jongin kissed me when we were little." Sehun mumbled the last part as he was embarrassed. But it was nice to reminisce about the good ol' times. "And don't worry about him kicking you out. He is not that mean." Becase he knows what it's like to be alone.

"If you want, you can come over to my place later tonight. Watch a movie and not even watch it?" He couldn't hold back the grin he had swept across his smug face. "Hayoung won't be back from Australia until Friday for the party. So I have the apartment to myself. What do you say?"

"You know Sehun, I thought about this. You are getting married soon. And I know it is to a girl we both distest. But I don't think I can sleep around with you anymore. We aren't the teenagers we use to be. You are becoming the CEO of your family's company while I'm doing everything in my power to not take over the hospital or any of the other companies my family owns. You can't be seen with a girl like me." Minah confessed with great difficulty. Sehun was always there for her. Whether she considered them friends or not, he holds a special place in her heart and she doesn't want to ruin it.

Sehun stop writing immediately. He didn't look at her but instead, just kept his head down. "Yeah... maybe you are right." he said with a monotone voice.

"I'm sorry but it's for the best." Minah apologized, sincerely. She rose from the chair and grabbed her jacket and purse that we hanging on the coat rack near the door. "I'll see you later though, right?" she managed to force out a smile. 

The feeling in both of their chests was heavy. It almost resembled a break up. Even though they were only stopping their friends with benefits title, it wasn't like they were never going to see each other again. They still had their nights at the club and when Tao and Sehun would join her for a couple of drinks at a restaurant.

"Of course, I'll see you around you loser. Now go and see your buddy Jongin. And tell him I say 'hey.'" Sehun chuckled. And only after Minah left his office did he lean back against his chair and groaned. He raised his hands to his temples and rubbed them gently. Why did this have to happen?

<*>

Mrs. Ahn walked across the living room to the stairwell where she went upstairs. And on the right side of the hallways, third door down was her precious daughters room. Her hand hesitated over the doorknob, comtemplating if she wanted to open it or not. It's been a month. A whole month that she walked into this huge house to not only have her daughter not there but to have her son too busy with the hospital that he never was home until she was asleep at night. With all her charity events and meetings she attended or all the lunches she had with her friends, she still felt lonely.

She always wondered what happened to her own daughter, the one who had loved her so dearly when she was little. The little girl with pigtails that bounced whenever she came running through the front door and straight into her mothers warm embrace. But when Minah entered middle school, something was off about her. She immediately shut herself in her room when she came home from school or god knows where she spent most afternoons when she wasn't. 

Was she being bullied? Was Mrs. Ahn's first thought but Minah was always open with her thoughts when she was younger. Mrs. Ahn clearly remembered when she took Minah to see a ballet performance when she was only 7 or 8 years old. She remembered how Minah wasn't sitting in her chair properly because she was too memorized by the movements of the dancers. And after the performance, Minah couldn't stop talking how she wanted to be like one of them. 

'You can't be a dancer, love.' Mrs. Ahn remembered that she stated to her daughter that she had a hospital to take over in the future. 

It was only after that ballet, that Minah started piano lessons as to control her creative side. Well, Mrs. Ahn thought that was where Mr. Lee, their chaffeur, was taking her. 

So when Mrs. Ahn finally opened the door into Minah's room, she couldn't help but let out a few tears.

<*>

Jongin strolled down the streets of Apgujeong when he was coming home from school. And as he passed stores that had large glass windows that showcased their merchandise, he stopped when he saw his reflection in one of them.

His shaggy dark brown hair was getting very long. It was getting to the point that he could possibly middle part it just so he could see. It was time for a hair cut.

He decided that the next hair salon he saw, he would walk right in there and ask for a hair cut. And as he walked for a few minutes, Jongin finally landed upon a small, quaint salon where it didn't seem too busy. When he entered the shop, a bell rang to let the owners know that somebody had come in.

"Welcome! What can I do for you today?" the female at the front desk greeted Jongin happily and also a bit too flirtaious for his liking.

But Jongin just grinned back, "Can I have a haircut please?" he repsonded.

<*>

After a few hours at the dance studio, Minah walked through the apartment door with her hair pulled up into a messy ponytail, her face was beat red, and her gym bag slung across her shoulder. 

The entire apartment was dark. Minah figured that Jongin must have been working or still at school. Her stomach grumbled with hunger when she put the keys into the bowl at was on the kitchen table. She was split between the decision of making dinner for herself but she didn't buy any of the food that is in the apartment and just going out to pick up some fast food. 

Too lazy to go back out, Minah decided just to wait until Jongin got home so she could ask him about the rule on the food. And so, Minah walked over to the couch and the television while she slumped on the couch in a position that would most likely give her back problems in a few years.

It was pretty late at night so there would most likely be something good to watch on television. She scrolled through the channels, it was all the weird variety shows they had these days. But those were Minah's guilty pleasure. Really anything on the television did Minah love. The corny romance shows or the hilraious talk shows. Anything.

One of those high school shows was on and the entire plot to the show was a girl who ended taking the place of her twin sister. It was really hard to follow because Minah didn't see any of the earlier episodes but she tried her best. While she was laughing along to one of the jokes that they told, the front opened and immediately closed.

Minah turned around to see Jongin with his hood over his head and a mask on as well. It looked like he had just come back from one of his performances that he does at clubs. "Where have you been?" Minah curiously asked.

Jongin's head shot up in the direction of the girl. He took out the earbuds that was blasting some English song. "Hmm?" he said because he didn't hear.

"Nothing..." Minah responded, turning her attention back onto the drama.

He removed the mask from his face. "Have you eaten?" Jongin walked over to her and placed himself on the other side of the couch.

"Nope. I was waiting for you. I didn't know if I could have some of the food in here. But I haven't been waiting long though." Minah said with her attention still on the show. 

She was too busy watching the drama that when Jongin removed his hood, anybody could clearly see his haircut. His dark brown hair was now dyed to silver blonde. The sides were shortened while the top was still longer but not long enough to