Sehun took me to the rooftop. I admit, it was kind of cliché, but at that point of time considering the situation I was in, I was in no position to be picky about anything.

          The thoughts in my head were revolving around Jongin.

          I thought he knew me the best; I thought that our fifteen years of friendship would have pricked his conscience and he would have done something to help me; I thought he would be the first one out of all to be in the position of a prince charming, not Sehun.

          Funny enough, I thought he would be the one saving me from the misery, yet he became the misery I was denying myself of.

          Get a grip of yourself, Yoon Haera. He probably had a reason for doing nothing. He—

          “Why are you so quiet?” Sehun uttered softly, looking at me as though I was a fragile glass doll, one that would break should he accidentally touch me. Gratefully, he broke my painful reverie. “Are you still traumatized by earlier? I’ll make sure she won’t do anything to you anymore, so relax alright?”

          I blinked, not perceiving the whole underlying intention of him being so nice towards me out of the blue. In fact, there was no instance whereby we even held a simple conversation. Scratch that, I doubt we ever exchanged a word. “Why did you help me?” I questioned, my voice cracking a little. Deep down in my heart, I knew he wasn’t being nice because he wanted to. It was out of sympathy.

          I cringed at the word.

          “I don’t know,” Sehun stared into my orbs.

          Before I could be enthralled by his eyes, I peered away. I felt unworthy of his attention. After all, I was a mere scholarship student who got trampled on. He had no business helping me which made me even more resented by the cohort.

          “The whole situation was just absurd. How can I watch you get bullied by Naeun when she was going overboard with her jealousy? I wouldn’t say that I puzzled myself out either. I just—“

          “You just pity me?” I muttered subconsciously, continuing his sentence as I interrupted him. It sounded as if I drew the perfect connection. I couldn’t help myself, anyone would have shared the same thought. I narrowed my eyes when I felt silence engulf us for he was keeping mum. “I don’t need your pity. Allow my utmost gratitude for helping me, but I guess this marks the end of our conversation.”

          Out of impulse, I stood up from the stone bench. Whilst I was making my way towards the exit of the rooftop, Sehun’s fingers circled over my wrist which made me gasp softly from the touch. Halting on my tracks, I bit my bottom lip.

          “It’s Jongin,” he confessed.

          I froze. His name held such a big impact on me that I turned around almost abruptly, scrutinizing his face to seek for any emotions that I could depict.

          “What about him?” My voice didn’t come out as I would have liked it to be – cold and hard. In fact, it became a soft whisper which sounded as if it strained my vocals to utter his mere name.

          Sehun his lips and nodded hesitantly. “I saw him amongst the crowd. I knew how he carried a torch for Naeun and it made me furious that because of his crush,” he tilted his head up and stared into my eyes tenderly, causing my legs to turn jelly. “He sa