After attending various morning meetings, Baekhyun was pleasantly surprised to see Hera waiting outside the studio. As she raises her hand to knock on the door, Baekhyun calls out to her.

“This is new,” he says as she turns to him. “Are you here to see me?”

Hera suddenly feels shy under his playful gaze. She still can’t erase the image of waking up next to him in the living room the other morning. “Um. I want you to go somewhere with me.”

“Hm?” He tilts his head cutely.

“Not today,” she quickly clarifies. “Another day when we’re both free.”

A small smirk grows on his lips. “Okay. Where are you taking me?”

Hera grins as she walks around him to leave. “You’ll see. Tell me when you’re free.”

“That’s all you came for?” Baekhyun asks as Hera is already rounding the corner down the hall.

“Bye, Byun PD!”

She pops her hand out from around the corner to shoot him one last wave and he snickers.

A loud squeal from the kitchen startles Hera when she returns home later that evening. It doesn’t take long for her to realize it’s coming from Seulgi who is seated on the kitchen counter with a cupcake in her hand and blue icing on her nose. She smacks Sehun in the shoulder when he tries to swipe more icing on her face again but she doesn’t stop him when he leans in for a kiss. Smiling, Hera quietly sneaks off to her room to leave the lovers alone. After their trip, she’s noticed that they’ve gotten closer and more affectionate which she can only assume is a good thing.

But that all changes a few days later when Seulgi suddenly comes home, shaking and pale as a ghost. Wendy is first to notice and although Seulgi tries to shake it off as nothing, Wendy knows something’s up. That same night, Hera suddenly gets a call from Sehun in the early hours and it send her jolting to Seulgi’s bedroom.

“What happened earlier?”

Seulgi turns around from her desk to face Hera. “What are you talking about?”

“The sasaeng,” Hera answers. “What did she say?”

“Why does it sound like you knew about it,” Seulgi says. “She’s been here more than once hasn’t she?”

Hera swallows as her grip tightens around her phone. “She tried breaking into the practice rooms a few weeks ago. I recognized her from then. I confronted her once outside the apartment with Chanyeol and Wendy. Sehun said he would have everything under control.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Seulgi shakes her head in disbelief. “I would’ve been more careful!”

“You’ve been as careful as you possibly can,” Hera sighs. “You left him once, allowed him back into your life even though you were scared and hid in every single possible corner and van that you two could hide in. You’re human. Why do you need to hide?! Out of all people, you especially! You’ve already gone to the end of the world and back to protect him! What more can you possibly do Seulgi?”

Seulgi sinks onto her bed and sighs into her hands with a look of absolute defeat. “What do I do, Hera?”

“First off,” Hera begins as she joins Seulgi on the bed. “Tell me what happened. The company has already filed a complaint for her. Normally they don’t harass people like this so she’s already caught the attention of the company more than once.”

“She didn’t say much,” Seulgi mumbles quietly. “She looked at me, said he should’ve picked someone prettier then told me to watch myself. If I do anything that’ll ruin his reputation, she’s going to ruin my face.”

Hera groans into a sigh. “Okay. I have a meeting tomorrow so I’ll let Sehun know after. Try not to come home so late until we get things settled with her. I doubt she will do anything, but just try not to come home late or alone, alright?”

Seulgi doesn’t say anything as she nods.

“Also,” Hera yawns as she rises from the bed. “Try to pick up his calls. He’s worried to death.”

She silently nods again before Hera slips out of her bedroom. Once the door closes, Seulgi exhales the breath she was holding and glances at her phone that’s flashing with Sehun’s obnoxious photo he chose to set as his caller ID. Although Hera had asked her to take his call, Seulgi ignores it and flips her phone around so she doesn’t have to think about it. Sighing once more, she slips under her covers and tries not to think about five years prior.

///

Hera had hoped everything would be fine after meeting with Sehun the following day but all of her hopes are erased when she comes home to Sehun fuming in their living room a few days later. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days and he’s trembling as he’s trying to hold back his tears which makes Hera all the more nervous.

“Why did you leave me the first time?” Sehun asks through a shaky breath as Seulgi tries to walk away from him. “Why?! What did I do?! Why won’t you tell me?! Why are you trying to leave me again?!”

“Oppa.”

Sehun slowly looks to Hera who has stepped up between them.

“Are you sure you want to know?” Seulgi asks quietly, surprising everyone in the room. Hera looks to Seungwan who then looks to Sehun who has his gaze back on Seulgi. “It’s your last chance. You might hate me forever when you find out.”

“Just tell me already, whatever it is,” Sehun begs. “At least give me a reason as to why you keep insisting on leaving me.”

Seulgi swallows hard. “Okay.”

With a curt nod, she returns to her room and Wendy shoots Hera a worried look. Before either can muster up a word to hopefully change Sehun’s mind, Seulgi returns from her room with a worn out manila envelope. Sehun watches her hand out the envelope towards him and he almost reconsiders running away. His hands shake more than they were earlier as he digs into the envelope that suddenly feels so heavy. Not a soul makes a sound as Sehun comes to a realization of what he’s seeing.

Induced miscarriage.

His jaw drops and he feels the air getting right out of him. He digs into the envelope again and this time he pulls out a grainy ultrasound photo dated back to 2012 with Seulgi’s name printed at the top corner. His tears blur his vision as he goes numb. He wants to cry out but he can’t find the strength to. When Seulgi steps forward, Sehun doesn’t know why but he took one step back. Her expression falls and Sehun wants to reach out to comfort her but he can’t even figure out himself at the moment so before he knows it, he’s running out of the girls’ apartment and dashing through the streets of Seoul. Meanwhile back at the apartment, Seulgi’s legs give out on her the moment door closes and immediately breaks out into loud sobs in the arms of her roommates.

It’s nearly dawn by the time Wendy and Hera are able to put Seulgi to sleep. Her shirt is soaked with tears but Hera doesn’t mind and quietly makes her way back to her room to finally get herself some shut eye. Sinked into the warm comfort of her bed, Hera reaches for her phone from her desk and without much thought, she dials a number that she’s somehow come to memorize.

“This is unexpected,” the voice teases. “What’s up?”

Hera fights back a smile. “Why am I not surprised you’re not asleep yet. Are you still at the studio?”

Baekhyun reaches out to turn on the lamp on his nightstand before returning to dry his wet hair. “No, I got back a while ago. I just finished showering.”

“Oppa,” Hera turns to sleep on her side. Her eyes are droopy and she’s exhausted but for some reason, she can’t seem to fall asleep yet. “Can you sing me to sleep?”

Baekhyun chuckles. “Depends on how much you’re going to pay me.”

He swears he could hear her eye roll through the phone. “Forget it.”

“I’m kidding,” he quickly says and slides under his covers. “Any preference?”

“Ummm,” Hera bites down her lip to fight back her shy smile. “My song, the song you wrote for me.”

Smiling, Baekhyun nuzzles into his fluffy covers and begins humming to the beginning of the song.

///

“Two ice coffees please.”

Although he’s already had his morning coffee, Baekhyun is still yawning from staying up too late last night. Hera knocked out nearly immediately after he started singing but Baekhyun on the other hand was up, tossing and turning until right before the sun came up.

The door to the cafe dings as Hera strolls in with her eyes searching the cafe for Baekhyun. He waves and she smiles when she spots him picking up both their drinks.

“So can I consider this a date?” Baekhyun asks while handing one of the iced coffees to her.

Instead of answering right away, Hera takes a sip of her drink first. “No.” His expression falls blank but Hera continues grinning through another sip and grabs him by the wrist. “Let’s go.”

“I could’ve drove us, you know,” Baekhyun whispers to Hera as they’re seated on a bus to who knows where. “Oppa has a car.”

She slowly turns away from the window to face Baekhyun. “That’ll ruin the surpris