The next day, you wake up a lot later than you are supposed to with your used tissues all around you. Soonkyu is already no longer in the room. Due to the time difference and the jet lag, you had gone to sleep at four in the morning, busy talking to Sehun since he had already woken up by then. You check the time and see that it's already a quarter to eight. Breakfast was at seven and you're all meant to congregate at 8:15AM at the lobby to go to your first sight. Actually, you really wouldn't have woken up if it wasn't for someone constantly pressing on the door bell.

You jump out of bed and run to the door, hair in a mess and possibly looking like . The annoying door bell music stops when you throw open the door. Mr. Byun is staring at you, taking in your ghastly appearance.

"You're late."

"I'm late," you say at the same time as he does. You groan and open the door wider because it's just something you do when Sehun comes over. Mr. Byun understands the action and enters your room just as you turn and run to your luggage anxiously.

"I brought food for you," Mr. Byun tells you. "To eat with your medicine."

"Thanks," you are distracted and still unable to process anything.

You're pawing through your clothes when Mr. Byun asks, "Which one is your bed?" You point to the one with lots of tissues on it and he makes a face. "You're disgusting."

"That's very nice of you, Mr. Byun," you mutter grumpily. You grab your clothes and run past him, who has already settled on your "disgusting" bed to wait for you. You inform him, "Hurry me if I don't come out in 15 minutes." He agrees to the request.

So you speed-shower, trying to get everything done as quickly as possible. You are actually washed up in less than 15 minutes. You leave the bathroom and pass by Mr. Byun, who is still sitting on your bed. You get your contact lenses and wear them in a rush, not forgetting your moisturiser and sunblock too. You don't have time for make-up, but that's fine. You don't wear a lot of make-up everyday anyway so you won't look as different as usual. By 8:07AM, you're all dressed and ready. 

"I'm done," you face Mr. Byun as you wear a beanie over your wet hair. You're wearing a turtle neck, so you didn't think you would need your scarf. You've already got your boots and coat on. "Let's go."

"Your bag," Mr. Byun looks at your bag pack by your luggage. "And your medicine."

"Right," you remember and rush to get everything.

Once you're sure you have everything, you and Mr. Byun leave the room. While waiting for the lift, you realise that your phone isn't with you. But then Mr. Byun extends his hand and you see him holding onto your cell. You thank him, but he doesn't say anything except nod his head. You're taking a bite of the croissant Mr. Byun had gotten you as you check your notifications. Just as you reach the lobby and stand together with the others, you see that there had been an answered call from Sehun through your kakaotalk chat.

There was a call between the two of you last night when you're back in the hotel room after Mr. Kim and Mr. Byun had sent you back personally. But after that, you had been texting him, so the call history should have been bumped up by your messages. You check the time of the call and see that it was answered at 7:51AM while you were in the shower. Sehun had even spammed you with messages after that with:

> .......

> I think

> I might have blown our cover..

>

> ...

Mr. Yoo is already giving you guys a briefing on what you're going to do today. First you are going to Versailles Palace where you will spend almost four hours there exploring. After that, you are going to have lunch and then you will visit Notre Dame cathedral, even going inside to take a look at its interior structure. You have to remind yourself that you're here to learn as much as you're here to sightsee. You will be in the cathedral for about two hours before you see Hôtel des Invalides which will mark the last sight of the day. You will have dinner together before going back to the hotel for a debrief. Then you are free to go for the evening.

You're still thinking about what Sehun had meant about blowing your cover. You glance at Mr. Byun, who is listening attentively to the head teacher. His lips are set in a firm line and his arms are crossed as if he is angry.

"I want you guys to sit in your groups in the bus so you can be familiar with each other," Mr. Yoo tells everyone.

All of you start walking out of the lobby and to the bus that is waiting outside. You find an empty spot and sit by the window, waiting for your group members to sit around you. Mr. Byun enters right after you. He sees you sitting alone, but he shifts his gaze to the seat behind you. Just as he walks by you, you grab his wrist. He stares at you with an expressionless face. He doesn't say anything as he sits down next to you. The other two boys settle in the seats behind you. You want to talk to Mr. Byun about the call that he might have answered, but he immediately goes into teacher mode and introduces himself to your small group.

It takes an hour to get to the first sight from your hotel and the bus is quiet with most people sleeping. Mr. Byun had let the two boys off and granted them sleep. Now that you can talk to your teacher privately about the call, you don't know how to start. He hasn't even looked at you the moment he sat next to you. It feels like you're back to day one where Mr. Byun treated you like you're invisible.

"Did you answer a call from Sehun while I was showering?" You murmur softly, not wanting anyone to hear you.

He hums, closing his eyes and resting his head back on the seat. You don't know what else to ask. But he mutters, "Sorry if it was rude, I wanted to tell him to call you back later."

"What did he tell you?" You blurt, staring at him. He doesn't reply for a while. So you urge, "Was it anything bad?"

"Nothing bad," he shrugs nonchalantly. You almost feel relieved until he says, "Depending on which side you're standing at."

"What—"

"He was talking about a cute girl he met at the indoor basketball court," he relays the message, finally staring at you to gauge your reaction. "She sounds just like you," Mr. Byun murmurs, scanning your features. "He said she's pretty, smart... and always reading a book while waiting for her brother to finish playing."

You blush and mumble, "So did he talk to her?"

Mr. Byun then frowns as he recounts, "He got her number. Said he had to ask while her brother was in the bathroom." Your lips twitch into a smile. But then Mr. Byun continues, "So I asked him what happened to the both of you."

"What 'both of—" Your eyes widen. Your fake relationship.

"Sehun was stunned because it was the first time I spoke," your teacher narrates. "And I got confused and angry. So I hung up." He shrugs again as if he hadn't just said he was angry. He leans against his seat again, his eyes closed. "Sorry I intruded your privacy."

"I can explain," you fluster anxiously, ignoring his sarcasm.

Mr. Byun shakes his head, "I'm tired. And I don't wanna hear it."

"No. I just—"

"I said I don't wanna hear it."

"I don't want to lose what we have, Mr. Byun," you whisper. "Whatever this is."

The teachers then looks at you, his face unreadable. "So you were just playing with me," Mr. Byun affirms.

"Well, technically, you were the one who assumed and—" You see his pursed lips and you stop. He's already pissed as it is. So you go, "Yes...?"

"This is ridiculous, I—"

"I've told Sehun that he acted too much like a boyfriend," you try to defend yourself. "But he liked that he was protective over me."

"So he likes you," Mr. Byun concludes. "Which is why he talks to you about other girls; to make you jealous."

You shake your head, "No—"

"We're here!"

Mr. Yoo speaks into the mic of the bus to announce your arrival at the palace. Mr. Byun narrows his eyes on you but you give him your best pleading look. He sighs.

"We'll talk later after our debrief," he murmurs quietly to you before turning around and tapping on the boys' shoulders. "We're here, boys."

The entire day you're just out of it and you just can't concentrate on anything but Mr. Byun's anger. Even while he brings your group around places and helps you with the questions in the worksheets, you still think about how mad he must be. You would be too, honestly. What made you want to keep up with the lying, actually? It wasn't even that Mr. Byun is still a threat to you. It also wasn't that you had forgotten. You have always been aware of lying to him about being in a relationship with Sehun.

Finally, after a long, physically and mentally tiring day, you're back in the hotel for the debrief. You're all in a meeting room in the hotel as the teachers go through what you have seen and learnt today. It is about 7:30PM when you're all let off. Mr. Yoo reminds all of you to be with a teacher if you want to leave the premises of hotel. While everyone has gone up to their rooms, the teachers have their own debriefing session. They notice you lingering behind, which makes Mr. Byun turn his head to see who is left behind. He remembers his promise and walks over to you quickly.

"I'll meet you at the lobby in half an hour, okay? Wear something thick, it's cold outside," he murmurs, his eyes dropping to where only the material of your turtleneck is covering your neck.

You nod and the both of you split ways. You go back to your room and see that Soonkyu and another girl are talking on her bed. Your roommate is smiling for the first time you've met her, only not to you but to her friend. They look at you when you enter and you tell them not to mind you. Though they still continue to talk and gossip, they're speaking in softer tones so as not to annoy you. You get a scarf from your luggage and change your bag pack to a purse, just enough for your wallet and phone. You refresh yourself and try to keep busy for half an hour.

Before you leave to meet Mr. Byun, you inform your roommate that you'll be out for a while. She doesn't say anything in reply but you're sure she must be gossiping with her friend now as you're riding the lift down. You get to the lobby and you see Mr. Byun standing with his hands in his coat, looking at an artpiece hung on the wall. He turns and sees you walking towards him.

"Let's go before Mr. Kim comes down to look for me," he mutters as he rushes you outside with a hand on your back. "I left while he was in the toilet."

You laugh and tell him, "Soonkyu didn't even care."

"Soonkyu?" Mr. Byun looks at you. You don't even realise that his hand is still on your back. "The redhead?" You nod. He makes a face and keeps his hand, probably from the cold. "I heard she's kinda snobby."

"She is," you sigh. The both of you walk past the crêperie from yesterday. "She doesn't talk to me."

He bites his bottom lip, "I guess you're not very lucky, then... Your roommate and now your broken relationship."

You turn to him abruptly, "About that... Sehun went with it just to protect me at first, but slowly—"

"He developed feelings for you," Mr. Byun assumes.

"No," you deny impatiently. "Slowly we just thought it wouldn't be important anyway, since you're just my teacher. So we just let you think whatever you wanted to."

He is quiet for a while. Then he mumbles, "So you weren't really together before... But now I'm thinking that he likes you. Are you just going to let me think that?" He looks at you, staring at you sniffling and crinkling your nose. He adjusts your scarf so you don't look like you're being strangled by it.

You shake your head and sigh. You look at Mr. Byun, who is still fiddling with your scarf. "I guess I should explain everything to you?"

"You don't have to," his eyes soften when he notices your nervous expression.

"I think I want to."

Having known each other for six years and being such close friends, there has to have feelings involved at some point. Sometimes you see best friends dating each other, it really isn't uncommon. But this kind of relationship always brings about friction and eventually an estranged friendship if it ever goes awry. And just like every other relationship, the person and the memories will all be put behind you.

You're not going to lie and say none of these happened to you and Sehun. Sehun is good-looking, kind, talented and caring. He loves you and watches over you like he's your brother. You had romantic feelings for him before. And he had liked you a little earlier than you had realised your feelings for him. One night when you were just walking home after dinner, when Sehun had draped his jacket over your shoulders and your heart rate had sped up so drastically, you knew that was the night where things would change. It was a special night neither of you will forget.

Sehun had confessed his love for you, you had accepted him, you had kissed under the stars. You were officially a couple. This happened three years ago. You were still best friends and still acted like that. But the only difference was that whenever you were with him while he played his computer game, he would just reach over to kiss you unexpectedly while you read your book. Or whenever you guys had an argument and Sehun knew you were too stubborn to apologise first, he would say 'sorry' with a kiss despite not being in the wrong.

There were terribly romantic and mushy actions incorporated to your friendship. Even your parents were supportive of the progression. It was only two years later that the both of you realised that maybe you're just meant to be best friends. You still loved him a lot back then and him, you. But everything just felt smoother and more natural when you were best friends. It was a mutual break-up and you had made Sehun promise that he wouldn't be awkward and you guys would go back to being best friends again.

Your parents eventually found out about the news because Sehun, who went back on his promise, was avoiding you like a plague. It went on for a month and you decided that you had enough of it. You were awkward and embarrassed too, but you couldn't lose him as a best friend just because of a relationship that didn't end well. Besides, he was your neighbour! He couldn't avoid you forever. So his mother had let you into the house while Sehun was out with his mates. You waited for him in his room for a long time. When he came back, he had jumped and cursed because of your sudden appearance. It made you laugh.

The talk was awkward at first; you couldn't look into each other's eyes, you couldn't speak properly. But slowly as you opened up to him and told him about your feelings on him avoiding you, everything began to fall back into place. The understanding of each other's feelings, the apologetic sentiment from both sides, everything. It still felt so easy to reconnect with Sehun even after a month of bearing the cold shoulder. A strong friendship like this just couldn't be lost after 30 days.

Even though you're no longer together as a couple, Sehun is still protective and caring like how a boyfriend is. Maybe it's because he knows how soft and easily broken you are. It really isn't weird anymore when people mistake you and Sehun as a couple. It used to be uncomfortable, but you eventually got over it. Sehun has had been in a short relationship after you and you won't deny that you actually felt jealous. You know Sehun was too, when you told him about a cute boy asking you out on a date. It just isn't easy getting over your first love, is it?

"So you're still good friends," Mr. Byun concludes after your story.

"Best friends," you correct him. You're both in a chocolate shop, each enjoying a cup of hot chocolate and sharing a serving of warm lava brownie.

"I feel like a counsellor," Mr. Byun laughs. "Listening to your love story and having comfort food."

You laugh with him. "We're not having comfort food. I would have to be sad in the first place to have comfort food."

"So you're single," he says after he stops chuckling. "And so is Sehun." You nod. "This is going to be so weird..."

"Why?" You ask and take a bite of the brownie.

"Because I've always thought you had a boyfriend," he shrugs. "And I knew that whatever I did to you, you wouldn't think of it as an advancement." He then rolls his eyes and sighs, "You know how some girls are."

You chuckle and agree, "I know. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I heard Soonkyu tell her friend that you were flirting with her."

"What?" Mr. Byun frowns. "I literally just smiled at her once and said 'Had a good sleep?'"

"You know how some girls are," you repeat, laughing at his reaction. He shoves a piece of brownie into his mouth in an annoyed manner. You tell him, "But don't worry, I know you won't be trying to flirt with me."

"How are you so sure about that?" Your teacher asks you. Your cheeks redden and he flusters, "I mean... You..."

You let out the most awkward laughter in your life as you try to make this sound light and unimportant, "I'm not sure about that but I just thought I'm not your type."

"Every girl is my type," he tells you. Then he realises that he's making this situation even worse, so he jokes, "I'll tell you when I want to flirt with you."

"You won't."

"What makes you so sure about that?" He asks again in amusement.

"Because you said you won't be the first to break the rule about dating a student," you answer, staring into his eyes. It seems for a moment like he had forgotten that you were a student of his. 

Author's note:

Tadahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! The secret of Sehun and OC!!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder if it was shocking or as unpredictable as I hoped it would be??? Please tell me in the comments! haha

Things are getting easier now that they're in Paris lmao, I literally wrote this chapter this morning whereas I had to write the last few chapters in installments over the span of idk 1.5 weeks? LOL I'm already currently writing up the subsequent chapter, but I won't be updating again until I'm done with my mid-sem tests. And since this is a double update and is a day before the 2-week mark from the last chapter, I guess it's special??? (and also my way of procrastination because I have a test tomorrow lol)

Anyways! I have a new story going on as well, which features Sehun, Kai and Baekhyun as CEOs!!! It's going to be rated for and I'm hoping for you all to support it? Only if you want to haha. Here's the link: Working For The Trinity

till next time
xoxo