A/N: WARNING: If you watch The Vampire Diaries, spoilers are ahead!

BONUS .02

He finally told me the truth.

It was a summer night. I'd spent the majority of my day with Taeyeon, Tiffany and Hyoyeon since the boys had decided a boys-only day trip to Incheon was desperately in need. Almost as a routine, I concluded that a Monday night-in with Luhan also sounded like a good idea.

We, the two of us, sat in his room, on his bed, watching The Vampire Diaries on his Macbook because Kris had said it was one of the best shows he’d ever seen.

I’d been reluctant, since supernatural romances tended to either put me off love or make me envious — but had given in, nonetheless, because…well, Kris was a respected oppa and I couldn’t say no to him.

Not very often, at least.

—

“This…is…so stupid,” I uttered as we both stared at the laptop screen, our bodies wrapped warmly in Disney themed blankets. Luhan made a noise of agreement, though we continued to watch the show. In fact, we'd been watching it for the quite a while now and were already on the fourth season. “I mean — everyone loves this Klaus guy but he’s a serial killer! He’s a sadist. I mean, he compelled Stefan to switch off his humanity, he slaughtered Katherine’s entire family, he killed Jenna…and more! What kind of monster does that?”

There was silence and when I turned to look at Luhan, he had an amused smirk on his face that almost didn’t suit him. 

“What?”

“You’re really into this, aren’t you?” he asked, to which I blushed and shook my head.

“A-aniya~” I chuckled nervously, sliding my eyes back to the screen. “It’s just — frustrating. I was reading forums online dedicated to Klaus and people are crazy about him! How? I hate him.”

“Girls like bad boys,” he explained. “You can’t help but love Klaus because although he hurts people, he kind of has a cause and he’s broken. Girls want to fix him — it’s how it works. People always want to fix what’s broken and, sometimes, what’s not broken but, nevertheless, doesn’t match their preferences.”

I shook my head, turned to look at him, and retorted with: “He kills for sport. There’s nothing attractive about it. There’s never a good reason for killing someone.” I thought about my words then quickly corrected myself: “Okay, no, there’s never a reason for murder to be allowed to go by unpunished. Punishment should always ensue — if, at the very least, to allow the person to think about their wrongdoings and salvage their humanity.”

And I couldn’t help but apply that belief to Sehun’s situation. I loved him to death and he was one of my best friends but he did, after all, kill someone and should suffer the consequences.

I finally accepted that.

Luhan’s doe eyes went a dull colour and he looked away.

“Sometimes, it’s not the person’s fault. Maybe if Mikael was a real father and didn’t verbally, emotionally and physical abuse his own son — step or otherwise — then Klaus wouldn’t be the way he is today. Maybe all he wanted was a little love, some affection instead of the constant hatred Mikael showed him. Maybe if Mikael didn’t value his daughter over his son and didn’t try to poison and kill him every chance he got, Klaus wouldn’t have been driven to watching him burn instead of trying to save him!”

I wasn’t aware of how low my jaw had dropped or how wide my eyes had stretched. The only thing I was aware of was of how slowly — which was odd in its own right — my heart was beating. One could possibly think I was dead, from how spaced out my heartbeats were.

Luhan was breathing heavily, sweat lining his forehead despite the fact that midway through his rant, he’d torn off his blanket and had gotten to his feet. I continued to stare up at him, unable to formulate a coherent sentence.

“I…I didn’t — I’m sorry,” he finally stammered, rushing his hands through his feathery hair. “Maybe— maybe you should go now. I think I need some space — some air.”

“L-Luhan oppa…” I mumbled, finding the courage to rise to my feet and stand before him. He staggered back, almost falling onto Minseok’s empty bed. “What…what happened that day? Won’t you finally tell me the truth?”

“I was just — it’s nothing. I was just talking about the show,” he lied — and I knew he was lying, too. Even if it wasn’t painfully obvious, we both knew the plot of the show and the scenario he’d just described was most certainly not in accordance to it.

“Kunde, oppa,” I started, slowly reaching out to him, “That wasn’t part of the plot.” He flinched from my touch and looked down, ashamed. “Oppa, please. Talk to me — I want to know you. I want to know your past.”

“I don’t want you to hate me,” he whispered, his voice wavering. “You’re so— and I’m just— I couldn’t bear it if you hated me.” I somehow managed to smile at his words and reached up to his cheek.

“Oppa, I could never hate you,” I reassured him, keeping my voice soft. “Your past doesn’t define you — your present and your actions, now, do.” He took a deep breath and lifted his eyes to meet mine. “Just take your time — you have my full, undivided attention.”

We sat down on his bed, wrapped ourselves back up in the blankets and I waited in silence for him to unveil the truth behind all those rumours surrounding his past.

It was a long time before he opened his mouth again.

But, eventually, he did. He had to — I was no longer content with being kept in the dark. As much as I valued our friendship, I’d learnt from experience that not being selfish, even a little, at least sometimes, would only result in my own pain. For once, I had to think of myself and what it meant for me to be around someone whom I knew next to nothing about.

I had to be a little selfish, every once in a while.

“My father and I had a complicated relationship. By complicated, I mean he treated me like but always found a way to regain my trust by apologising with sweets and gifts. He forbade me from playing with Hua Ling or bathing with her because he said it would turn me into a ert and a e. He didn't let me play sports that were dominated by the female gender in case it ‘turned’ me gay. If I ate too much food, he’d force me to throw it back up because he said my face and body were the only things that gave my existence any wort