As soon as Sehun was out of sight, I found myself once again dumbstruck by his statement. 

I never said I hate you, Chae.

If he really didn’t hate me, then why did he turn the whole school against me? What’s his reason for starting all the bullying I had been suffering? Why couldn’t he just leave me alone? Too many questions were still hanging in the air. Sehun was a closed book. Figuring him out was no easy task.

My rumbling stomach forced me to make a trip to the cafeteria where I knew Eun Byul and the guys were hanging out. Albeit the very high chance of me running into the devil again there, there was no way I would risk my stomach making weird noises all day, urging me nonstop to get food into the system. I pushed the glass door open and my eyes automatically landed on the VIP sitting area. Well it wasn’t technically labelled VIP but the rest of the school just avoided the area as if it was reserved for only the school’s most popular kids. And today, Eun Byul was sitting amongst them, giggling joyfully. I thought I would just let her enjoy her time with the group and quietly got my lunch but the outlay of the space made it hard to make it to the front unnoticed. And true enough a second later, I heard someone call out my name. Without even looking I knew that it was Kris. I turned to their table where the group was seated and saw the tall guy waving at me while Eun Byul and the rest beamed brightly. So I dragged my feet to approach the bunch.

Kris patted the empty spot beside him “You guys done? Come sit with us.”

I smiled meekly at the guy “Let me go get my lunch real quick.”

“Oh, I see Sehun already at the front of the line. You might want to ask him to get your food too. Look at that crazy long line. By the time you get to the front, the break will be over.”  Tao pointed to the queue and I sighed.

“How is he so fast?” I grumbled. That guy probably only got here five minutes ago and how on earth was he already second in line.

“There’s something called cutting the line, you know.” Jong In joked, playfully wriggling his eyebrows.

Eun Byul rolled her eyes and sneered “Which not everyone can do without getting shoved out.” 

“That’s what we call skills.” Jong In bragged, puffing out his chest proudly. His words earned him a high five from Tao while the rest laughed in agreement.

“Go get your food.” Kris urged, cocking his head toward his friend.

“It’s fine. I’ll just eat later on.” I gave up and took a seat next to Kris. It was impossible to have enough time for a slow eater like me to finish my food even if I were to join the line now. And I refused to ask Oh Sehun for help I’d rather starve.

“You sure?” Eun Byul asked, concern filled her voice.

“Fine fine, I’ll get you something. What do you want to eat?” Jong In rose from his seat and offered but a second later he dropped back into his seat. “Oh, nevermind then.”

I followed his eyes and saw Oh Sehun walking over with two trays of food in his hands. Without sparing me any glance, he placed down one of the trays in front of me before he settled down on the empty spot beside Tao across from me. 

“I don’t know what you want so I just got the same thing.” He said before he started munching on his food.

I eyed the huge portion of food in front of me “But how am I supposed to finish all this?” 

“Just eat as much as you can. Nobody asks you to finish it. It’s a lot but definitely better than having only sandwich and milk for lunch. Unless you want to get as skinny as a beanpole.” He said, eyes fixed on his meal.

I huffed in annoyance. I looked around and caught Eun Byul and the rest of the guys with a knowing smile playing on their lips. I bet they found it funny whenever I got annoyed. I grabbed the spoon and began digging into my food.

“So Chae Rim-ah, we were talking to Eun Byul about our plan tonight. You coming with us to the party? It’s gonna be fun if you girls join us.” Kris turned to me. He had his elbow propped on the table and his face rested against his palm.

I glanced at Eun Byul, who was looking at me with eyes full of anticipation. It was easy to guess how the girl really wanted to go. Especially after being grounded for a week, the mention of party probably thrilled her. On the other hand, my first experience with party wasn’t exactly pleasant. And I certainly did not want to ever again undergo the crappy feeling in the aftermath of alcohol consumption. I was ready to decline their invitation when a voice cut me off.

“She is not going.”

“But Sehun, it’s gonna be fun with the girls around.” Tao whined.

The younger finally looked up from his food “Did you guys forget what happened last time she was at a party? I don’t have time to keep my eyes on her all night.”

“No alcohol for the girls, I promise.” Jong In tried to negotiate.

I sat there, chewing on my food absentmindedly, trying to take in the fact that they were arguing about something that should’ve been my own decision. But what pissed me off even more was Oh Sehun declaring my presence as a burden to him. Just because I was under eighteen and got drunk on the first party I attended didn’t mean that I wasn’t capable of taking care of myself. I slammed my spoon down, causing everyone in the table to turn their attention on me.

“I don’t need you to keep an eye on me and most importantly, you have no say in what I should or shouldn’t do.” I announced, returning Oh Sehun’s hard gaze with the same intensity before I turned to Kris and added “I’ll be there tonight, oppa.”

“Really? That’s great!” Tao exclaimed, drumming his hands on the table excitedly.

“Chae, I said you’re not going.” He repeated, his tone assertive and his piercing eyes intimidating.

But that didn’t falter me as I rose from my seat and rebuked “And you think I’ll listen to you?” 

Before I could witness his expression transform even scarier, I decided it was a good time to leave the scene. I just provoked Oh Sehun and therefore he had to be in an extremely bad mood right now. But I didn’t care. Who was he to control my life and decisions? I could and had the right to do anything I wanted. And tonight I would definitely prove him that I was a grown up and therefore perfectly capable of taking care of myself.

*************************************************************************************************************************

“Be careful, okay? Don’t come home too late.”

I grabbed a pair of heels off the shoe rack, stumbling a little when I tried putting them on in a hurry as I yelled across the living room “Don’t worry. I might even come home early.”

“Last time you said that you came home drunk.” I shook my head in embar