“I didn’t think you’d want to talk to me” Baekhyun confessed.

“Benefit of the doubt, right?” She said with a smile as she walked in and went straight for his living room.  She glanced up, spotting colors of setting sun reflected in the sky above her, “I can’t stop emphasizing how much I love a good sky light”

Baekhyun laughed, coming up behind so that his chest touched her back, “I seem to remember” He said softly.

His breath tickled her neck and she laughed nervously as she took a step back and turned to face him. She saw the question on his face even before he could ask it, he knew, something had changed. Whereas she might have allowed herself to play into his games, today was different. She was withdrawing from him, trying to draw a line that had been all, but nonexistent between them only days before.

“Did you have a good talk with Sehun when you went to get your car?” He asked, his face losing some of that playful mischief as he motioned to the couch.

Memories of warm feelings and lips from a week ago crossed her mind briefly, a soft blush spreading on her face as she tried to not so subtly turn to face his bookshelf. She thought of the short phone calls they had briefly shared, each using transparent excuses to contact the other, to hear each other’s voices.

“It was fine” She said, smiling as she thought of him.

“You seem happy” Baekhyun said quietly.

She turned back and laughed, “Do I?”

“Very”

For a moment she did not know how to act, the look on Baekhyun’s face made her falter. She did not expect to see the discomfort she caught before he carefully packed it away. She frowned, knowing something was wrong, was it that she was talking about Sehun? She knew they didn’t like each other, but the fact that even mentioning him seemed to bother him was strange.

“Um… so why am I here?” She asked, coming around to his side and taking a seat besides him.

“Just because of a chat with him, suddenly you can’t just be here to see me?” Baekhyun snapped, standing suddenly.

“What? That’s not what I meant, I’m just asking. You called me after all…” Mina said carefully, “What is going on with you?”

“Nothing!” Baekhyun snapped once again, running a hand through his hair, he shook his head, “It’s nothing, it’s not you, it’s me”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Mina asked, “Believe it or not, our talks always helped me”

She smiled at him and that feeling that he refused to name in him rece again. It had been long coming, but like usual Baekhyun began to wonder why on earth he was still playing along with this ridiculous plan of his father’s. Why he didn’t just stand up to him and refuse, but he knew why. If he did it, it meant being a failure, it meant disappointing his family for someone who very clearly loved someone else. Maybe it was that thought alone, that kept him from doing the right thing. If he was going to lose her anyways, might as well lose her for his family.

But losing her wasn’t on his mind when he approached her.

“I just need you” He said, coming up to her and standing before her, “I just need you to be here” He amended, noting the surprise on her face and quickly taking back his words.

She stood up, “Are you sure everything’s ok?” She asked.

“Yeah” He breathed, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly.

She hesitated too long for it to mean anything he told himself as she reluctantly pulled her arms around him and held him.

“I’m not compartmentalizing very well” He murmured into her soft hair.

He felt as she stilled in his arms, reluctantly and gently pushing him away. There was a question on the tip of her tongue and he begged fo