“Wh-what do you mean you want a break?” Sehun watched as the girl he used to love (or thought so) caving in slowly. Her voice had a tiny quiver and her lips were trembling before she pressed them into a tight line and Sehun felt sorry almost instantaneously.

“I just… I don’t know- I don’t want to be in this relationship anymore,” He choked out, stammering whilst trying his best to avoid meeting her in the eye.

“But wh-why? Sehun, what did I do wrong?”

Everything. That was what his heart was saying, but who was him to say that anyway? Sehun got bored of her and he found someone else. How was she a much worse person than he was?

“It’s not you, it’s me,”

Sehun balled his fists when he heard nothing but a mocking scoff, daring himself to lift his eyes. He only saw Saera, his Saera, staring daggers into him, with eyes full of betrayal, and Sehun was starting to feel regret eating its way into his insides.

“You should try coming up with better excuses next time,” She choked out, tearing her eyes away from his view.

Her long, cascading hair fell into her face as she looked away, refusing to let him see her. Sehun knew she was trying her best not to cry in front of him and everyone else at the café.

“Saera, listen to me-” He tried reaching for her hand only to have it pulled away from his grasp.

“D-don’t touch me,” She cried out, wiping her tears away.

“Let me explain, Saera- please-”

“Please don’t talk to me,”

Sehun was helpless when she got up abruptly and left. Had he enough strength to get up and chase her and never let her go, maybe things will not turn out this way.

He hated the bitter taste of regret every time he thought of what happened, but he deduced that there are just some things he just has to live by, and his breakup is one of them.

Two days after his mother’s birthday and Sehun still couldn’t stop thinking about Saera. The mere thought of her sends him into a dreamy smile, a melting pot of goo and a whole of other disgusting things.

Jongin practically gave up trying to fork it out of him (though he suspects it has something to do with Saera) and Suho and Chanyeol don’t even bother trying to get his fullest attention back at the café. They’ve deduced that Sehun’s officially smitten, and that might take a while before he recovers.

He’s sitting in front of the television at the living room, watching a rerun of some sappy soap opera (which also happens to be Saera’s ultimate guilty pleasure) when he hears his mother’s thunderous steps from the floor above. Sehun knows better than crossing her path and question her wrath if he wants to see the light of day tomorrow. He keeps mum about it, choosing to focus on the show instead.

“Oh Sehun!” Sehun merely rolls at the call of his name, scratching the back of his head.

“Yes?”

“Oh Sehun! You come here this instant!”

He sighs loudly, wondering what in the world that seemed to upset his mother so greatly that he was dragged into this hellhole with it as well. He is about to climb the stairs to his room but halts when he notices that she’s already halfway down, with a bunch of papers in her left hand.

Papers that are Sehun’s test results.

Sehun officially hates himself for carelessly putting them on his study table when he perfectly knows that his mother has the tendency to host impromptu spring cleans in his room whenever she feels like it. He hates himself for not realising that particular mishap even after 20 years of living.

“Care to explain this?” She waves the wads of paper in front of his crestfallen face and Sehun just stares at it in ultimate disdain, hating the way the big fat F scrawled on it is mocking him in snarky glee.

“Till when are you going to hide this, hmm?” His mother questions again, poking around for an answer, anything from his mouth.

Sehun still keeps quiet, hands falling to his sides. He honestly has no answer for his mother- he doesn’t know where to begin.

“Tell me, Sehun, why are you failing math?!”

His mother’s sudden shout has him shuddering. No matter how big of a man he is, Sehun will always be the little boy in the family- he will always be the one most scared of his angry parents. He shoves a hand awkwardly in his pocket while the other pushes his hair back, eyes darting everywhere but his mother’s own pair.

“Oh Sehun, do you want me to call your father?” He hates it when his mother brings his father into these matters. His father is not any easier to handle than his own mother, and he definitely isn’t ready to deal with the both of them at the same time.

“… I’m failing because I hate math,” He mumbles under his breath, staring at his feet.

“What did you say?” His mother threatens him again, tone dangerous with underlying rage.

“I said I’m failing because I ing hate math, umma,” He spits his words out like venom, feeling all his emotions pressing onto him really hard. He’s starting to feel restless and suffocated and if he doesn’t release any of the tension now, Sehun knows he’s going to blow up anytime soon.

The instant he says those words, Sehun feels a tight hand flinging across his face. His left cheek is tingling with stinging pain and it takes more than just self control for him to refrain bursting right there in front of his mother.

“…After all we’ve done for you… ungrateful child… how dare you say that?!” Sehun blocks his mother’s shouts, hearing only bits and pieces of her screams. His hands are already in fists, gripping tightly onto his sweatpants. His breaths are becoming short, and Sehun feels a dull ache in his chest, and suddenly everything becomes overwhelming.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Before he knows it, Sehun storms out of the house with a thin jacket and his mobile phone, slipping into a pair of old sneakers and walks away from his house and the street. He could practically hear his mother screaming for his name, but Sehun couldn’t care less anymore. Sometimes, things get really, really unbearable and he doesn’t know how to take it.

So he does that one thing that might just help him.

Saera was cleaning up the simple dinner she had with her parents earlier when her mobile phone rung. Her heart made disgustingly cute skips when she sees his name on her screen. Oh Sehun. She couldn’t stop thinking about him and his handsome face and the smell of his aftershave and it seemed like things are somewhat falling together nicely when his name appeared again, making her heart flutter nervously.

“H-hello?”

“Saera…? Saera, are you there?”

Something is off with his voice. Sehun sounds desperate and troubled, and she’s sure she’s not imagining it when she hears a sob too.

“Sehun, is everything alright?”

“N-no…? I… can you help me? Please?”

Her heart clenches at the sound of him trembling over the phone. She quickly rushes towards the door, abandon