"I... I don't want to choose," I say earnestly, looking up at the older. "I still want to talk to Jongin-ah..."

Luhan looks up for a moment, thinking. "Well... Normally I don't let people just join, but I guess I could make an exception."

"Are you kidding?" Xiumin shouts, clearly outraged.

I look over to see him holding onto Chen's arm tightly which quickly makes me rethink Xiumin's temper.

"I... I don't think Jongin-ah will want to..." I say quietly. "He... He has a group of really good friends..."

"No," is all Luhan says.

"What?" I ask.

"He does not have a good group of friends," he says coldly.

"Wh-What?" I repeat.

"His ex was in that group," Lay explains softly.

"Who..?" I ask, curiously.

"Chanyeol-shii," Luhan says, almost spitting out the name. "Park Chanyeol."

"The... The tall one?" I ask.

"The tall one," he clarifies. "With his short little boyfriend."

"O-Oh..." I say, instantly backing down upon hearing Luhan's cold voice.

"That used to be me, you know," he says bitterly. "I used to be the little one always by his side, always following him around, always doing whatever he wanted. He treated me well, you know. Until Baekhyun-shii came."

"B-Baekhyun-shii?" I ask, confused upon feeling how familiar the syllables feel on my tongue.

"Yeah... His new boyfriend," he says quietly.

I pat his back reassuringly. "It's okay... They're not in that group anymore... And Jongin-ah is really nice."

He gives me a small smile. "You're my new Chanyeol."

"I... I don't want to be a replacement," I say quietly. "I... I'm not Chanyeol..."

He laughs softly. "No, not like that... You're just taller than me, that's all."

I nod, trying to understand. "I just don't want you thinking I'm Chanyeol when I'm not..."

He shakes his head. "Don't worry..."

~

Before I can walk with Luhan to the table, a hand grabs my arm, pulling me aside.

"You're dropping us now?" Kai asks, eyebrows raised.

I frown. "You're the one who told me to talk to him in front of everyone."

"That doesn't mean you can't sit with us anymore," Kai says, frowning slightly.

"Sehun-ah!" Luhan's familiar voice calls.

I look up and give him the one second signal before looking at Kai.

"Sit with us today," Kai says, almost pleadingly.

I look back at Luhan who's now walking towards us.

"I..." I say, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay. You can sit with him today but tomorrow... You're sitting with us," Luhan says.

I look at him and flash him a grateful smile. "Thank you Luhan-shii."

He smiles before walking off. Kai grins and grabs my hand, eagerly pulling me to the table. I don't fail to notice the two new additions at the table. Tall Chanyeol and little Baekhyun... Little familiar Baekhyun.

"Park, Byun, this is Sehun-ah," Kai says with a small smile. "Be nice."

"I'm Park Chanyeol," Chanyeol says with a surprisingly deep voice.

"I'm Byun Baekhyun," Baekhyun says with a grin, the sparkle in his eyes oddly familiar.

I nod. "I'm Sehun, it's nice to meet you."

Kai goes to sit in the empty seat beside Baekhyun and myself beside Kai, but Baekhyun thinks otherwise.

"I want Sehun-ah to sit beside me. I want to get to know the new kid," Baekhyun says.

"Baek," Chanyeol says warningly.

"What?" Baekhyun asks innocently.

"Be nice," Chanyeol says before turning and talking to Suho.

I awkwardly sit down beside Baekhyun and Kai sits down beside me. Kai immediately launches into a conversation with Taemin who's sitting on his other side, leaving me awkwardly sitting there.

"So you're Luhan-shii's new toy--I mean boyfriend?" Baekhyun asks.

I give him a weird look before nodding. "Yeah... You're Chanyeol-shii's boyfriend?"

He nods with a grin. "Yep! I heard you and Kai-shii are close."

I nod. "Yeah, he's my best friend."

"Oh?" Baekhyun asks, looking surprised. "I thought you and Kai-shii went out."

I shake my head. "Um... No..."

"Do you remember me?" Baekhyun asks.

"Wh-What?" I ask, confused. "We... We just met..."

He laughs. "No... Horror High?"

"I... I never went to Horror High," I say.

He chuckles. "Neither did I. It was just our nickname, remember?"

"What?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Oh c'mon... Don't tell me you forget your first boyfriend!" Baekhyun shouts.

The entire room gasps and goes silent. I don't know what to say. I've never had a boyfriend before.

"I... I don't know you..." I say quietly, once everyone has started talking again.

He laughs, throwing back his head. "How funny... Don't you remember? I introduced you to bubble tea. You love that stuff, don't you?"

I shake my head, confused. Yes, there was a Baekhyun at my old school who did look like this one, but... We were friends so we did go out together... And eventually we did date but... He broke up with me. And left me. And I've blocked him out of my mind from then.

"What are you talking about?" a voice asks.

Baekhyun and I both turn to see Luhan standing there, arms across his chest, frown on his face.

"Just reminiscing the old times," Baekhyun says with a grin.

Luhan scowls at him. "Sure didn't sound like it..."

"Well, we used to be together," Baekhyun says.

Luhan puts a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently. "Well... If that's the case, this is my boyfriend now... He's moved on."

He grabs my hand and pulls me up and away from Baekhyun. I flash a quick look at Kai and he simply shakes his head, telling me it's okay. Luhan pulls me to his table and sits me down in his chair from before.

"A-Ah... Luhan-shii..." I say.

"What was that about?" he demands, the rage clear in his voice.

"I don't know who he is," I say.

"Is he your ex?" he asks, eyes narrowed.

"I don't know!" I say. "I mean my ex was named Baekhyun and they do look similar but..."

"But nothing," he interrupts, growling. "He's your ex. And he hurt you."

"And I've forgotten about him," I say quietly.

His voice softens. "I can protect you from a lot of things, but I can't protect you from Baekhyun-shii..."

I stand up and pull him into my arms, holding him close. "Hey... Don't worry... It's okay..."

He sighs softly and curls into me, holding me tight. "I just... I want to be able to protect you. I don't want you to get hurt... You have before and I know how it feels. I don't want that to happen to you again..."

"I'm sorry if... If I ever did that to you," I say quietly.

He shakes his head. "No... It's okay... I would go through it a hundred more times just to have you hold me like this..."

"You're whipped," Tao says.

"Huh?" Luhan asks, turning in my arms to look at Tao.

I back-hug him and rest my chin on his shoulder.

"I've never seen you like this with anyone... Not even Chanyeol-shii," Tao says.

Luhan flushes before grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the group.

"Where are we going?" I ask, confused.

He doesn't answer so I just let him take me out of the cafeteria. We go up a few flights of stairs and then he opens a door. He leads me out and in a moment, we're outside. On the roof.

He takes my hand and leads me to a nearby bench. I smile upon feeling the cool breeze on my face and the warm sun. I sit down beside him and look at the scenery.

"I... We're dating but... I haven't really told you much about myself," he says quietly. "And even though we're fake, I think you deserve to know at least a little bit."

"Um... Okay," I say with a small smile.

"I first came here in grade 6. Tao-ah was my first friend, Chanyeol-shii my first boyfriend," he says. "Anyways, Tao-ah is like a little brother to me... He was always there, even if I left him for Chanyeol-shii or other people. He was loyal to me because he knew that I was good and I would never abandon him."

"Did you?" I blurt out, unable to stop myself.

"Did I what?" he asks.

"Did you ever abandon him?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "At times, I think he might have felt like that... But in the end, I always came back to him and supported him."

"What happened with Chanyeol-shii?" I ask.

"After Tao-ah, Chanyeol-shii was the only one who bothered to talk to me. Believe it or not, Chanyeol-shii helped to improve my reputation," he says. "Everyone loved him. He was loud and happy, always making jokes... Tao-ah warned me not to get involved with him, but I couldn't help it. I wanted people to like me."

"And..?" I ask.

"Tao-ah was right. I should have listened to him..." he says quietly. "Baekhyun-shii came the next year and Chanyeol-shii left me in a second for him."

"Baekhyun-shii... He... He had this game going on, I think. Like he thought I was on a string and if he tugged, I would fall," I say quietly. "And I did. The smallest things he'd do like smiling at me or bumping me in the hallway or making little jokes at the teachers..."

"And his hands..." I murmur. "Long, delicate fingers. He'd always grab my hand and pull me along with the sweetest smile."

"I know... With Chanyeol-shii, he took advantage of my vulnerability and loneliness... He was tall and always offered to give me a piggy back, he swept me up off my feet when I least expected it, ruffled my hair when I wasn't looking..." he says with a soft sigh. "He backhugged me and enveloped me whole. He loved to cuddle and have me on his lap, he loved burying his face against my neck..."

I smile softly, thinking about it. "I know what you mean..."

I'm surprised by my actions as I pull him into my lap and nuzzle my face against his neck. I feel his face flush as he lets out a soft chuckle.

"Sehunnie," he whispers and I can tell he doesn't expect an answer... He's just saying it for comfort. Because I'm his comfort.

~

I flip through my old yearbooks at my old nightmare school. I stop on my class and scan the page for the familiar name... There. Byun Baekhyun. The cute, but annoying, loud, short kid. And sure enough, the picture is vaguely familiar to the Baekhyun I saw at lunch today.

A groan escapes my lips before I can stop it and then my phone's pressed to my ear, a ring sounding through the heavy rain pounding down outside.

"Sehun-ah?" he asks.

"Jongin-ah... Baekhyun-shii's my ex," I say.

The line is silent for a moment.

"Does Luhan-shii know?" he asks.

"Yes," I reply.

"Is he mad?" he asks.

"Kind of?" I say. "He wants to be able to protect me... And he says he can't protect me from Baekhyun-shii."

"I think Luhan-shii has a need for revenge against Baekhyun-shii based on what happened with Chanyeol-shii... And now that you're in the picture, that only adds to it," he says softly.

"Sorry... I'm getting a call. It's Luhan-shii," I say upon feeling my phone buzz in my hand. "I'll get back to you in a bit, is that okay?"

"Of course," he says.

That's all I need before I hang up and pick up Luhan's call.

"Luhannie?" I ask.

"Did you find him?" he asks.

"Yes... It's him..." I say quietly.

"I can't protect you from him," he says.

"I don't need you to... We don't need to think about them, we've moved on, right?" I say.

"Yeah..." He's silent for a moment and then, "Can I come over?"

"Um... Sure..." I say before giving him my address.

"I'll be over in a bit," he says.

Not much later, there's a knock at the door. I open it and Luhan stands there, his hair plastered to his face from the rain. I give him a small smile and let him in before leading him up to my room.

He looks around a bit before settling down on the floor and flipping over the yearbook I was just looking at, open to the page of my class.

"You were such a cute kid," he says softly after a while.

I shrug. "Just tall and skinny."

He chuckles but it catches in his throat. "You must've really liked Baekhyun-shii."

"What?" I ask.

He turns the book and shows it to me, pointing at a picture where Baekhyun and I are holding hands and looking at each other.

"I can see it in your eyes," he says quietly.

"I... Yeah, he was my first," is all I can say.

We fall into silence and he continues to flip through the yearbooks. I get a little bit frustrated that he's ignoring me and end up joining him on the floor, sliding my arms around his neck. He lets out a soft sigh and I don't know if he's annoyed or relieved.

"Sehunnie," he says and I freeze up.

"Yeah?" I ask, my voice cracking a little bit.

He leans his head back against my shoulder. "Sometimes, I forget we're fake because it feels so real."