//PT1

He broke your heart. 

You suppose you always knew that he would, but like a moth attracted to a flame, you were too fooled by the pretty lights to concern yourself with getting scorched. 

Oh Sehun was perfect, too perfect to be real. He got perfect grades, he was hot beyond imagination, he was on the basketball team, he was class president, and everybody loved him. 

Never once did you question the legitimacy of your relationship. All you knew was that after years of crushing on him, one day, out of the blue, he asked you out. 

Of course you were overjoyed. You didn't hesitate to say yes, you were too caught up in it all to notice how distant he was. 

Breaking up was inevitable, but somehow it still took you by surprise. 

You loved him despite everything he put you through. Enough to cry in front of him when he announced that the two of you were over. 

He hurt you. He hurt you so much. It was bad enough that your love was unrequited, but it hurt even more when you recalled the times he lied to you. Every 'you look beautiful' was a lie. Everything was a ing lie. 

So you did what any other girl would do. You distracted yourself by ing his best friend. 

Baekhyun was every bit as gifted as Sehun, but drastically different. You didn't even understand how they became best friends in the first place. Sehun was humble, Baekhyun was arrogant. Baekhyun was known for his sense of humour; Sehun's made no sense. Baekhyun got laid 24/7, you weren't even sure if Sehun had lost his ity. Baekhyun was notorious and respected; Sehun was popular and well loved. 

It was easy to get him to you. He had an entire line of girls waiting before him, you just had to cut in and be the next one. So, you did what you had to. Your skirts got a little shorter, your shirts tighter. You hung around Baekhyun more often. 

Being a high school boy, he definitely noticed. Before long, the two of you were making out in the backseat of his convertible. One thing was for sure--Baekhyun was good at what he did. 

You knew being affiliated with Baekhyun was a dangerous thing. He was a delinquent, he would often show up to school with a black eye or a broken nose. He was also lethally attractive; one smirk could bring a girl to her knees, and you were barely an exception. He was a smooth talker. He could you over so bad, but you would still come back to him after he whispered the lies into your ear. 

It was casual. You knew he didn't love you, and you were sure you didn't love him. You began dating, but only for show. He would often be seen with another girl on his arm, and you didn't care. 

Behind closed doors, of course, your relationship was loveless. He was only interested in your body, and you were only using him to forget about Sehun. 

One night, he found you crying on your doorstep. It was Sehun. He had found a new girl and he loved her. For real. He sat beside you and let you sob into his shirt. You cried until you couldn't cry anymore. 

"Do you love him?" He asked. 

You leaned against him, completely exhausted.

"I wish I didn't," you said, "loving him is so tiring."

"Stay the away from people who make you feel like you are hard to love," he whispered into your hair.

Never before have the two of you ever conducted meaningful conversation. Usually it was just "wanna ?" And that was that. 

But here you were, talking to him about love; as if the the two of you knew anything about it. That night, he made you laugh until your stomach hurt, and he made you feel special; as if you were the only girl he did this for. 

And you knew that you weren't. He was a player, and you were being played. 

But that night, when he kissed you, you felt something in your stomach that you never felt before. 

You felt butterflies. 

//PT2

They didn't go away. Every time he touched you, either by accident or on purpose, you felt like your skin was on fire.  

You writhed in silent torture. You didn't want to experience the same unrequited love you had with Sehun. 

It was late at night when you said it. 

"Let's break up."

He was kissing your neck. His hand traveled up your shirt. 

"What?" He murmured. 

You stopped him, putting distance between the two of you. 

"Let's break up."

He stared at you in disbelief. He was obviously the one to dump the girl, not vice versa. 

"Why?"

"I mean...we don't love each other. What's the point? We're just buddies."

His eyebrows raised. 

"You don't like being buddies?"

"It gets boring after a while."

Baekhyun stood up. 

"You still love him."

His back was facing you. His tone was void of emotion. 

"You're still in love with Oh Sehun."

Tears crept from your eyes despite how hard you tried to keep them in. 

"Let's end it then," you whispered.

"Fine by me. I've got a million other girls to chose from."

You stood up calmly, your tears not relenting. He didn't stop you as you exited the door. You didn't look back. Not once. 

//PT3

You were working a late shift waitressing when you received the call. 

He hadn't called you in months, since last November. It was February, now. 

"Hello?"

Silence. 

"Hello? Baekhyun?"

"(Y/N)."

You rolled your eyes, growing irritated.

"Yes? What do you want?"

"I-I need you--"

You tsked. 

"Little too late now."

"N-no--I--I'm bleeding all over the floor--"

"What?"

A few minutes later, you stood before his door. You still had a set of spare keys. Although he was a delinquent, his family was crazy rich. 

The front door swung open unlocked. A trail of blood led you to the living room. There, you saw Baekhyun in the worst state you've ever seen him in. He was bleeding profusely from his side, all over his parents' plush white carpet. His cheek was bruised, his lip split. His chest rose and fell weakly. His eyes were closed. 

"Baekhyun, what happened to you?" 

He opened his eyes, but they were disoriented. 

"Street...fight."

"What? Why the were you in a street fight?"

"Some er tried to steal a homeless guy's coin jar."

You fell silent. Carefully, you sat next to him. 

"Why didn't you call the ambulance?"

"--No--need--"

"Bull. You're bleeding all over the white carpet. I'm gonna call them."

You reached for your phone; he didn't even have enough strength to object. 

As you told the dispatcher the relevant details, you could feel Baekhyun's gaze. There was something in his eyes that you couldn't read. 

"They're arriving in 10 minutes," you said after hanging up. 

"Thank you," he rasped. 

As you stood up to leave, he caught your arm. His touch was like fire on your skin. 

"Stay."

You sat back down. He didn't let go of you until the ambulance came. 

//PT4

Baekhyun ended up with 3 broken ribs, a mild concussion, and stitches on his side.  He was hospitalized for three days. 

You decided that you liked him best when he was alone. When he was with his gang, he was meaner. Ruder. More ruthless. More arrogant. Alone, he was still all those things, but at a much smaller magnitude. 

"Morning sleeping beauty," you said. 

It was noon and Baekhyun was still asleep. It was the first day since he was discharged. He didn't want his friends to see him in such a weak state; so here he was, lying in bed. His parents had gone overseas for a business trip. You were the only person he could talk to for the two weeks it took for him to heal. He had lost weight. Hurting while breathing, he had claimed, killed his appetite. He barely consumed anything. 

He grunted in greeting. 

You settled down beside him, cradling a grilled cheese. 

"Yo, you have to eat something," you said. 

He opened his eyes wearily. 

"I hate grilled cheese sandwiches."

"No you don't."

You had inquired about Baekhyun's dietary preferences to his friends. It was incredibly awkward, especially due to the fact that his 'gang' consisted of Sehun, who was now never seen without his girlfriend. Her name was Yoo-Rah, and you only vaguely recalled seeing her around. She was pretty, but not striking. You liked her. She was snarky and unaffectionate. Sehun was head over heels for her. Although she didn't explicitly display it, you could tell that she liked him too. A lot. 

You felt awkward, but that was the extent of your discomfort. You didn't feel sad, angry, or even jealous. On the contrary, you were happy for them. 

You set the grilled cheese on Baekhyun's chest.

"Eat it."

He groaned, refusing. 

"Eat it!" You persisted. 

"Feed me," he said. 

You looked at him like he was crazy.

"You're eighteen." 

He pouted.

"You can still feed eighteen year olds. It's not illegal," he said. 

Begrudgingly, you ripped the sandwich in little pieces and fed it to him. 

He ate it willingly, occasionally playfully nipping at your fingers. You've only rarely seen the really playful side of Baekhyun. He was in a good mood.  

"So," you said, after he was finished with the sandwich, "you've been ing anyone new?" 

He leaned back against his pillow and his hair flopped into his face. His hair was one of your favourite aspects of him. Thick, soft, and windblown all the time. Of course his fingers were also unforgettable: long, thin, and pretty. 

"Nah," he said, "taking a break."

You were genuinely a bit surprised. He'd been a player since he was a freshman. 

"Why?"

"Not as fun. Maybe I'm getting old."

You snorted. 

"Well, truthfully," he said, "it's probably because nobody was good as you." 

You raised an eyebrow, offended. 

"Are you calling me a ?"

Baekhyun chuckled a bit. 

"No. That's demeaning. I respect all the girls I . I'm just saying out of all them you were the best. I don't even know why, because Min-ah's lips are huge and her are even bigger. It's just, when I make out with you I get this weird feeling in my stomach? Like I'm gonna barf, but in a good way. It makes no sense. Maybe it's just because we made out too hard." 

Your heartbeat accelerated. Butterflies. He felt them too, but he was so in denial that he was ever able to fall for a girl he thought it was something else. 

"Why are you looking at me like that?" 

His harsh tone snapped you back to reality. 

"It's not butterflies or whatever you think it is." 

You chuckled a little. 

"Yeah. Of course not." 

"Seriously. It's not. Love is so trivial I won't ever fall victim."

"Sure. If you say so." 

He looked at you with such seriousness that you guffawed, which in turn made him lose his poker face. 

"Will you come tomorrow?" He asked. 

"Do you want me to?"

Baekhyun smiled lopsidedly.

"You're better than nothing."

You rolled your eyes. 

"If I mean so little to you, I won't come."

"You're better than most people."

You gave him a look. 

"Fine," he said reluctantly, "you're better than pretty much everyone."

There it went again, your heart. 

//PT5

When Baekhyun came back to school, he was welcomed raucously by his gang. It consisted of Do Kyungsoo, Kim Jongin, Kim Junmyeon, and Oh Sehun. They were all known for their lethal attractiveness and charisma. 

"So good to have you back, man!" Jongin exclaimed, clapping him on the back. 

"Yeah, bro, we missed you!" Kyungsoo added. 

"Welcome back!" 

"How are those ribs?"

You watched them contentedly from a short distance, until you were joined by somebody else. 

Yoo-Rah. 

"You're in love with one of them, aren't you?" She said. 

"If you're worried it's Sehun, then don't be. It's not."

"I know it's not Sehun. I can tell by the way you look at him."

"Can you, now?"

"It's Baekhyun, isn't it? Byun Baekhyun the heartbreaker?"

"You've never seen me look at him."

"Oh no, that's not why I think you're in love with him. It's the way he looks at you."

"What?"

"Ever since you two 'broke up' in November. Every time he looks at you, it's like you're the only person he sees."

"Bull. He's a player, Yoo-Rah."

"Who said players can't have feelings?" 

Yoo-Rah offered you a small smile. 

"You've got him wrapped around your finger. The only problem is, neither of you realize."

She pushed you a little toward him. 

"Go. Make him realize." 

You turned back to her in panic, but Baekhyun and the rest of them had already seen you. 

"What?" You mouthed, "how?" 

Yoo-Rah just shrugged. You turned back to the see the entire assembly of hot guys observing you amusedly. Your face grew hot. 

"Baekhyun," you said, "can I talk to you for a sec?" 

He smirked    .

"Sure."

You dragged him by the arm to the nearest broom closet, and you locked the door. 

"What?" Baekhyun said, "you wanna make out?"

"Yes," you said. 

That was all it took for your lips to be lit on fire. Baekhyun kissed like the world was ending. He tasted like the stars and the moon and the entire universe. When kissing him, you felt weightless, breathless, and extreme body temperature changes. 

But suddenly, he broke away. 

"What's wrong?" You asked. 

"I can't ing do this anymore," he said. 

"What?"

"Every time I kiss you, I can't stop thinking of how it's Sehun you wish you were really kissing."

"Baek, I--"

"And it s me up, you know? Because I'm in love with you and I was too ing stupid to realize and now it's too late and you're in love with someone else and I--"

You cut him off with your lips. 

"I've stopped loving Sehun for a long time," you said, "and guess what? I'm tenderly, totally, and tragically in love with you." 

Baekhyun stared at you, unblinking, for possibly a full minute. 

"Holy ," he whispered. 

Then, he kissed you like it was the first time either of you had ever kissed. 

And in a way, it was. 

...