Sehun knew it was wrong, but he did it anyway.

It was that one evening after their dance class. Saera had to pull extra hours with the tutoring (not that it really mattered anyway since she wasn’t even looking forward to see him to begin with) and Jongin had to babysit his niece. There was this heavy need to hang out and no one was there to accompany him, and Sehun felt like combusting.

So he asked Seulgi out.

It was a simple invitation, yet Sehun could feel the sense of betrayal eating at his insides. “Hey Seulgi, do you wanna hang out after?”

He was half-hoping that she would say no, that she would unconsciously put an end to all this ridiculousness. But of course, Seulgi was being nice. She said yes, with a smile on her face.

Sehun took her to the nearest ice cream place just a block away from the dance studio. Nobody knew about this- not Saera, not even Jongin (for Jongin would blow his head up for even thinking of asking Seulgi out). Sehun found out that her favourite ice cream flavours were chocolate and almond fudge. He found out that she’s very well acquainted with the guitar, and that she spoke fluent Japanese. All these little things that make up who she was, and Sehun couldn’t help but be into her.

He also forgot that Saera’s favourite ice cream flavours are strawberry and caramel. She has been learning to play the piano all her life at the local church, and her English skills are exceptional. All these little things make up who she is, and Sehun has grown and learned to love them just as much. Maybe he just forgot. Maybe.

Saera sits at the dining table with her laptop, scrolling through pages and pages of a downloaded document for her essay.

Her brother runs out of his bedroom like a brewing thunder he is. She merely watches from her spot, too tired to even say a word to her teenage brother anymore.

Siwoo is two years younger than she is, and has just graduated from high school. All her life, she always thought Siwoo was a bit different from the rest of her family.

To her, Siwoo wasn’t domesticated- Siwoo’s wild and rebellious and thunderous. His refusal to enter college has moved both her parents from shock to despair to resignation. She hates to say and acknowledge this, but Saera knows that everyone has given up on Siwoo. Because of her younger brother, she has always been the one shouldering her parents’ expectations for the both of them. She has always been the responsible one, the smart one, the sensible one. And that makes her tired.

Throughout the last three years, Sehun was the only one that kept her sane. He made her forget all her family problems. He made her forget about the sorry excuse that is her brother. He made her forget that her parents are in constant debt and because of that, Saera never has the chance to take up driving lessons or go on holiday trips anywhere. She has always been secretly angry at how unfair her parents are in general but Sehun made her forget.

“Where did Siwoo go to?” Her mother walked out of her room and into the cramped living room, asking in astonishment. Judging from her distraught, Saera assumes that her mother took a double shift at the hospital again for extra money.

“I don’t know. The cyber café, I guess,” She shrugs nonchalantly, sipping at her instant hot chocolate drink.

“What do I do with that boy…” Saera hears her mother sigh and she exhales in protest. I don’t know umma, how about sending that wretch to the army or something?

Saera knows better than to say that out loud. Her parents have gone through many disappointments because of Siwoo and they don’t need to go through another one by knowing that their only daughter wished for nothing but a life of the military for their son.

“Umma,” She calls out for her mother before searching her bag for the wad of bills tucked neatly in one of her pockets.

“I-um… here,” She stuffs it right into her mother’s open palm, pressing hard.

“What? Saera, you don’t have to…”

Saera shakes her head. “I do, so you don’t have to work long hours at the hospital, you know. I earn money myself too, umma,”

Every time a pay check comes, Saera makes it a point to save a portion for her parents. She knows that Luhan has a slight insight of the things happening at home, but she keeps mum about it when she realises that her pay has increased from when she first started three months back. After all, it’s free money.

“But you have to study and then there’s church and-”

“Umma, it’s okay. I can manage, don’t worry. It’s you who needs a rest,”

Saera tries to ignore the way her mother sighs in defeat. It’s so easy to give up now, to let life take its course but she cannot afford to do that. She can’t give up now- not with a busy father, tired mother and an ungrateful brother.

Saera’s parents met in an army basecamp- he got shot in the leg and she was the one who took care of him. Destined not to serve the country anymore, he quit the army and six months later, they got married. He got a decent job at the local bank while Saera’s mother became a nurse at a hospital nearby.

What started out as happy beginnings began to turn sour as time progressed. Saera and soon Siwoo were born and the costs to maintain a family of four began to increase. Both parents began to notice the shortage of money in their bank balances and soon enough, they alongside their children were forced to tighten their belts just to get by.

Saera didn’t need to be told to understand that her parents wanted- no, needed her to work just so she could pay for her meals and expenses at school, and she has gotten way past the anger over it. She feels mostly numb, and tired.

“I hope Sehunnie has been treating you right. I hope he comes around more like he used to,”

Saera almost laughs at the mention of Sehun. It’s undeniably funny- it has been pretty obvious she has been nursing a broken heart and her parents are too ignorant to notice. Oh, how she wishes her mother knows how pretty ed up her life is after Sehun. Then again, she wishes for many things selfishly- attention, money, peace, a fair life…

“I’ll go to sleep now, umma. I’m pretty tired. I have an early morning tomorrow,”

“Goodnight, Saera. I love you,”

“What do you