[a/n] This is an entirely different genre from what I'm used to writing, so I'm happy that Cara's contest gave me this opportunity to go out of my comfort zone. Check out my friend Mei's (Body Talk) one-shot (mei-baek) for the same contest too! Enjoy the one-shot!

//edited on march 25th 2019

final

HIS LOOSE HAIR was hung low in front of his dark, brooding eyes. His tongue kept his lips even though they were not dry. The bright moonlight illuminated his beautiful face. His face inched closer and closer to mine, and I could feel his hot breath against my lips. I then breathed out sharply as I waited for his next move.

But then, everything went black as soon as I heard my name being called out. My eyes suddenly opened wide and I flinched when I realized that it was already morning. I let out a small groan as I turned my body to the source of the noise that woke me up.

“Good morning, baby,” he said, his morning voice raspy. I smiled at him despite my initial frustration. I pecked Jongin’s pouty lips and got up from my bed to prepare myself for the day.

“Morning,” I replied. “Why did you wake me up? I was sleeping so well and— What the hell, Jongin? It’s only 7 am! I could’ve at least gotten another hour of sleep.”

I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth when I almost choked on toothpaste as my boyfriend asked me, “What were you dreaming of?”

I spat out the toothpaste and rinsed my mouth before answering, “I can’t really remember… why?”

It was a good thing that the bathroom’s door was closed. Otherwise, Jongin would have noticed how red and weird I’ve become as he said, “Because you looked like you were hella .”

.

***

I DIDN’T KNOW HOW but I’d managed to calm myself down before heading to the university with Jongin. He wasn’t even suspicious or skeptical over my weird behaviour and proceeded to his daily routine without asking me anything.

I was telling him about how much I was struggling with my two jobs but stopped when I noticed that he suddenly went silent, which is something that only happens when he sees people from the soccer team. I then switched my focus to his line of vision and understood why.

I stayed silent as we walked towards the field, afraid that a confrontation might occur. I never really understood their stupid rivalry, to be honest. And God, this rivalry was slowly getting on my nerves.

But I guess I expected too much of Jongin’s part. Because as we walked past the random soccer player, Jongin suddenly elbowed him in the ribs, causing the latter to let out a small grunt of pain. I let out a surprised gasp and went over to the soccer player’s side.

“Jongin! What the ? He didn’t even do anything!”

“He doesn’t have to do anything,” he replied gruffly. “He’s a soccer player. He should have expected that the second he saw me walking towards him.”

“Hell, Jongin.” I shook my head and peered down worriedly at the soccer player who was now crouching down in pain, which I thought was weird because he only got elbowed, right? “Hey,” I said to the player. “Are you okay? Do you need any help?”

I only received another grunt of pain as a response, so I wrapped an arm around his waist and asked him to lean on me. He did as I said. I didn’t even bid Jongin good-bye.

Jongin started to panic and called after me. “Baby? What are you doing? Where are you going?”

I continued to ignore him. I love him, but God, Jongin could be such an sometimes. He really was a sweet person, but this time, he really crossed the line. The boy next to me said, “Your boyfriend is calling you.” He then coughed loudly.

“Yeah, well, he’s not my father, and he can also call me later when he realizes his mistake,” I grumbled and then scolded him. “You shouldn’t talk too much. I think one of your ribs got dislocated or something. Gosh, I really hope that Jongin is not the cause of your injury.”

The boy shook his head. “I was already injured when I saw you guys. My teammate accidentally knocked me over, but I think Jongin sunbaenim made it worse, though.”

“You still call him sunbaenim after what has just done to you?” I scoffed and then shook my head. “You are too nice, kid.”

We finally got to the clinic, and I motioned him to sit down on one of the beds. It’s only then that I realized there was nobody else inside the clinic and remembered that it was around this time of the day that the head physiotherapist of our school’s clinic would always go to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee (or more like flirt with that lunch lady).

I looked at the time and let out a small sigh as I grabbed a clipboard and a few documents. I wasn’t supposed to start my shift for another hour, but I felt terrible for the boy because of Jongin’s stupid actions.

I then grabbed one of the moveable stools and sat right in front of the soccer player. I asked him basic questions before I could actually diagnose and treat him. “What’s your name?” I asked, and he frowned. I let out a small chuckle and lifted my clipboard. “I’m an intern here, and I need all your basic info before I can do anything or I’ll get in trouble, you get the gist?”

He nodded and answered my questions without any hesitation. “My name is Dong Sicheng, but my teammates call me Winwin. I’m nineteen years old, and I’m part of the soccer varsity team.”

“Cute,” I replied.

“My nickname?” he asked, and I hummed. He instantly brightened up at my response. “Isn’t it? My captain actually gave me that nickname.”

I hummed again and wrote down the information before asking him more. “What’s your position? And do you work? If you do, do you think your injury could affect you while working?”

“I’m a forward, and no, I don’t work.”

“Perfect,” I said. “Okay, now try to tell me where it hurts and how exactly did you get hurt.”

As he explained everything, I jotted down everything, making sure that I didn’t miss any details. I asked him on a scale from one to ten how much did it hurt before he got elbowed by Jongin. He gave me a five. I then asked him how much did it hurt after Jongin elbowed him. He gave me an eight.

“,” I muttered. “It must hurt a lot, right? Especially when you breathe?”

He didn’t reply, and I took his silence as a yes. He probably didn’t want to say anything because he knew Jongin was my boyfriend and he didn’t want me to feel bad for something that I didn’t even do.

“Alright, you can lie down on your back,” I said and went to the side where his rib was slightly protruding. “After the treatment, I’ll give you some exercises so that you can work on those muscles to protect your ribs better.”

“Cool.”

“Great,” I replied and started putting back the rib back into its socket, earning a grunt from him. And after twenty minutes of treatment, I gave him a list of exercises to do and went back to my stool to write his progress. All of a sudden, the door opened with a huge bang.

“Yah, Winwin! Hey, are you–”

I turned around to check who it was and then turned back when I realized that it was not one of my patients. But I almost did a double-take when my brain finally registered who it was.

“Oh, um, hey,” he said with a hand around his nape, scratching it a little. “Have you seen Win– I mean, Sicheng– I mean, Winwin?”

“Oh, Cap!” Winwin screamed from his side and let out a small groan of pain, once again. I left my station, completely disregarding the soccer team’s captain and went to Winwin’s side to check up on him. Little did I know that he would actually follow me.

“Pain?” I asked, and he nodded. “Because of the exercise or because of your rib?”

“Both,” he whimpered out.

“Okay, you can stop now and just do your stretches.”

Winwin nodded and left to the corner to grab the yoga mat to stretch. I was solely focused on him, scared that he would do something that might worsen his injury when I snapped out of it as I heard an exaggerated cough behind me.

I swiveled around and refrained myself from saying, “Oh, you’re still here?”. I couldn’t exactly help it. After all, I still had a little something against him, and it was not because of Jongin.

“Oh Sehun,” I said and smiled at him. “How can I help you?”

“Uh… I’m actually here to check up on my teammate,” he answered, almost stuttering.

“Oh, you’re the captain that Winwin was talking about? Wait, you’ve made it?” I exclaimed. “Wow, congratulations! You know, I remember you telling me that you’ve wanted to become captain. And look at you now, your wish came true!”

Sehun childishly grinned at me. “Thanks. You actually remembered?”

My eyes widened at his question. Right, why did I say that?

Sehun cleared his throat and motioned Winwin with his chin. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know, does he look okay to you?” I said and snorted when I saw his reaction. “I’m kidding. One of his ribs is dislocated, and I’m slowly working on trying to place it back into its place. It should be fine for now, but I asked him to come and see me again to make sure that it won’t move again.”

Sehun let out a small sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God.”

I raised a teasing brow at him. “Why? Because you were the one who knocked him down?”

“Oh, no, no!” He shook his head furiously. He reminded me of a small dog just wagging its head to dry itself, and I almost squealed. But then I told myself that he was Oh Sehun and that I better keep myself in check.

“It was a joke, Sehun, take it easy,” I said with a small chuckle. “Why are you so tense?”

He didn’t reply, and instead, he gazed at me with a small, knowing smile. I could feel my cheeks heating up under his eyes, and I cleared my throat to get rid of that tension that was in me. It was just Sehun; why was I losing my cool?

“Anyways, I should also apologize to you too,” I said, “seeing that Winwin might be out for a couple of practices, but I think he should be good for your first game of the season.”

He raised a brow, asking me to continue.

“I was walking with Jongin to his morning practice when we saw Winwin,” I said and noticed how his body stiffened at my boyfriend’s name, “and Jongin elbowed him a bit too hard as we passed by. I think that’s one of the reasons why Winwin’s injury got worse. I’m really sorry. I should have stopped Jongin when I realized that Winwin was a soccer player.”

Sehun stayed silent, and it was making me anxious. I was scared that I was about to start another fight between the football and soccer team. Instead, Sehun tilted his head with a small frown. He his lips again, and I forced my eyes to look away from his supple-looking lips.

“Why are you apologizing?” he finally said, breaking the tension.

I looked back at him as I answered unsurely, “Because I could have prevented Winwin’s injury from getting worse…?”

He shook his head and said, this time with a stern voice, “No, I mean, why are you apologizing for your boyfriend? You’re not the one in the wrong, he is.” There was a pause. “You shouldn’t always take responsibility for your boyfriend’s actions. He’s not a child anymore. He should be focused on other important stuff instead, like saving your–”

But then, he stopped. His eyes were wide as if he realized that he was about to make a huge mistake. And he his lips again.

“My…?”

He shook his head. “No, nothing. Just–” Another pause. “Nothing.”

“Um, okay…”

There was another strange and awkward tension. It’s not like as if we weren’t friends, but I think the fact that I was going out with his so-called rival made it hard for both of us to label this relationship, or friendship, or whatever this was. Things used to be so simple back then. There were so many things that I wanted to talk about. But somehow, both of us knew that this was not the perfect moment.

“Um, so, since when did you start working here?” he asked.

I let out a small sigh of relief. Grateful that there was a question I could answer to get rid of this sense of discomfort. “I’m not exactly working here, just interning. And I started just this year.”

“Oh, cool,” he said and then grabbed a stool to sit in front of me. When he sat down, I resisted the urge to back away. We were just so close that our knees were touching and with one step forward, my hand could have actually rested on his strong-looking thigh and–

Okay, breathe. Not the time to be ogling at him.

“Are you being paid for doing this?”

“Nah,” I answered as I made a face. “I wish, though. It could have saved me so much trouble. This is not a paid internship, so I’m still working at the children’s hospital, which because I literally have two jobs, but I’m only getting paid at one.”

“You should be grateful that I even accepted your internship request,” another voice said. I noticed the head-physio aka my boss coming in with too many cups of coffee. The older man then went to his office without sparing us a look, but then his head popped out of his door with an inquisitive look. “Sehun? What are you doing here? I don’t remember you scheduling for an appointment… Did you suddenly get injured or something? I thought you said you didn’t believe in physiotherapy?”

I looked at him in disbelief. “You actually said that?”

Sehun stuttered as he tried to find his words, his face wholly flustered and shocked that the head-physio would expose him just like that. I shook my head in amusement. He was so fun to watch. “You really can’t take a joke, can you?”

He was about to reply when Winwin came to us with a huge grin and said, “I’m done with stretching! Can I go back to practice now?”

I smiled back and gave him a small warning. “Only warm-ups and light exercises. I don’t think it would be wise if you practice too intensively. And make sure to take another appointment! If I’m not available, take an appointment with another intern.”

Winwin hummed and went out of the clinic since the sign-up sheets were outside. As for Sehun, he had a frown on his face.

“What?” I asked, and he shook his head.

“No, nothing. I just didn’t know that you were allowed to switch your physios around. Wouldn’t it make it harder to follow the athlete’s progress?”

I shrugged. “Unfortunately, I’m not really in a position to complain about how the system works, you know?”

He chuckled lowly. “Good point. But now that you’re interning here, I guess I don’t have to take an appointment with that old geezer anymore whenever I need treatment.”

I could feel the heat rush to my cheeks. I definitely did not expect that comment out of him. I’m usually not much of a blusher, but his comment caught me off-guard. The worst part was that Sehun was actually smirking at me as if he knew how much his words had affected me.

And after being with Jongin for so long, guys from school didn’t really flirt with me anymore—not that I actually wanted them to flirt with me—but the point was, I stopped being immune to comments like those. Sometimes, they didn’t even dare to look in my way because they were so scared of my boyfriend.

Was Sehun… flirting with me?

But when he noticed my lack of response, Sehun let out another chuckle—God, the dude really has to stop doing that—and he said with a small, mocking smile, “Small revenge for all the comments and teasing since I’ve got here. No need to overthink this.”

Right, of course, what was I thinking?

I pushed past the pang of disappointment and replied, “I wasn’t overthinking this.” Lie, I totally was. But I mentally gave myself a big pat on the back for not faltering.

“Oh Sehun, I heard that!” the head-physio shouted from his office. “For your information, I’m only twenty-seven!”

“Like I’ve said, an old geezer.”

“Alright, that’s it. I’m never going to treat you again!”

“That’s okay,” he said and turned to me with a small wink. “I’ve got someone better.”

I breathed out sharply. Thankfully, Winwin came back just in time to save me.

“I’m done!” he exclaimed happily. “We can go back to practice now, Cap!”

Sehun nodded at him and waved goodbye to me as he got up, the warmth beside me suddenly gone. “I’ll see you later.”

I waved back at him and let out a huge breath that I didn’t even know I was holding in. I was glad that my next appointment came in early because it was only then that my heart started to beat regularly.

***

“YOU LOOK EXHAUSTED,” my friend Mei said to me as soon as I slumped onto my desk. “Are you sure interning this semester was a good idea?”

I grunted. If only Mei knew that it wasn’t my internship that caused me to be this way, but rather a particular person.

“Are you going to be okay?” she asked with a small chuckle. “I mean, this class is three hours long…”

I turned my head around and replied, “Well, are you going to be able to survive this class? I mean, your boyfriend isn’t even in it.”

She shot me a playful glare. “Hey, that was low. Don’t bring Baekhyun into this.”

I childishly stuck my tongue at her. The three-hour long class passed quicker than I thought and it was already lunchtime. We walked to the cafeteria when she dropped a bomb on me, “Something happened when you were working at the clinic, right?”

I almost tripped over nothing, and Mei let out a small hum as if that was the response she’d expected of me. But then again, she was my best friend. Of course, she would know if something happened. I bit onto my bottom lip in contemplation. If I were to talk about what happened in the clinic, then I would have to talk about Jongin as well, and I knew very well of her feelings and opinions about Jongin.

“Jongin elbowed and hurt a kid–”

“Not surprised, to be honest with you.”

“–and he made the kid’s injury worse,” I said, ignoring her comment completely. “I’m just so sick of this rivalry, you know? I thought Jongin matured over the summer. I thought he would put me as his priority, not this fight between the football and the soccer team.”

We grabbed our food and headed to our table. I was going to dig into my lunch when I noticed my best friend’s stare. “What?”

She shook her head and shrugged at the same time. “Nothing, just, you know, the usual.”

“Uh-huh,” I replied between mouthfuls. “Like how I should ditch Jongin and find someone better?”

She raised her arms up. “Ah, you do get it! So, why are you still with him?”

I paused. “Is there even someone better?” I asked, almost a murmur. But my heart knew the answer to my own question. I ignored it. “I mean, I love him, I really do. And like I’ve said, it’s just a small issue that could easily be solved. He just doesn’t seem to have his priorities straight.”

Mei let out a small hum. “Did something else happen?”

I gave her a look. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I didn’t mention anything about Jongin. I just said that something happened at the clinic, and you randomly started complaining about your boyfriend. So, I kind of figured out that something else happened.”

I grumbled, “You know me too well…”

“Go on,” she said in a singsong-like tone.

I dropped my utensils and turned to her with a severe look. “Okay, promise me you won’t tell anybody?”

“Uh, I think that’s a given since we are best friends?”

I cleared my throat and started explaining what I was dreaming of this morning. By the end of the story, Mei did seem somewhat surprised by my whole story retelling, but that was it. In the end, she didn’t seem to be fazed about it. I was confused about her reaction, that’s for sure, but I kind of expected her to scold me or something, yet she did none of that.

“You’re not going to say anything?”

She looked at me weirdly. “What is there to say?”

I blinked at her, and she sighed. “There’s nothing wrong with what you’ve been dreaming. What’s in the past is already in the past. Don’t feel guilty for that reason. It’s not like you have done anything wrong or scandalous.”

I probably looked slightly dejected, and I guess Mei wanted to change my mind a little. So, she just went ahead and dropped another bomb on me.

“Okay, so what happened again with that of a boyfriend?”

I can see what she was trying to do and I appreciated it a lot. So, I let out an angry huff, not even bothering to correct her and defend Jongin as I said, “So, you know how Jongin and I got into a fight–”

“Which one are we exactly talking about here?”

“Ouch? But that’s irrelevant,” I said and then continued on with my story, “So, Jongin tried to be romantic and climbed up to my window on the night my parents went out to ask for my forgiveness. Everything went so well! He even bought me chicken nuggets with a bouquet of my favourite flowers. And you know, it was the perfect time for a round of make-up . And as we were getting into it, he suddenly stopped because he received a text message from his friend, asking him to help egg some soccer player’s house or something.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” Mei’s eyes were wide, and I’m pretty sure that she almost choked on her food. “So, you’re saying that Jongin ditched you during just so that he could go throw some eggs at a guy’s house?”

“Pathetic, right?”

Mei crinkled her nose as she asked in an innocent voice, “Are you sure that Jongin’s not gay?”

“Jesus Christ, Mei.”

***

“BABE, ARE YOU STILL MAD AT ME?” Jongin whined as he walked me back home.

I was glad, for once, that I didn’t have any classes with him. It made it much easier for me to ignore him. Usually, I would complain about it because I just knew girls would openly flirt with him if I weren’t by his side.

I stopped right in front of my house’s gates and sighed as I turned to him. His hands immediately went to my waist, and he pulled me closer to him as he rested his forehead on mine. “I really am sorry.”

“You know that you’re saying this to the wrong person, right?” I mumbled and then slapped his cheeks before squishing them. “I forgive you this time, but make sure to apologize to Winwin and don’t let this happen again. I’m serious, Jongin.”

“But honestly, why are you even taking his side?” he whined like a little child. “I’m your boyfriend, not him!”

“That’s not the issue!” I rolled my eyes. “A kid got seriously injured because of you, Jongin. So, promise me you’re going to apologize to Winwin.”

“Sure, anything for you,” he said, and I turned away from him. “Hey! Where’s my goodbye kiss?”

“No goodbye kisses for you until I’ve confirmed with Winwin that you’ve properly apologized to him!” I shouted as I waved at him from the back.

I entered my house and then smelled something delicious. I went to the kitchen and found my mom cooking something similar to a feast. I tried to grab a piece of asparagus wrapped in bacon, but my hand was suddenly slapped away from the plate.

“Ouch!” I winced and retracted my hand. “What the hell, Mom?”

“That’s for Jaehyun!” my mom said.

I put aside my hunger and clapped excitedly. “Jaehyun’s coming back home?” I exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have gone to the airport and–”

“It’s okay, you were in school, and I didn’t want to bother you.” She waved it aside. “And anyway, he should be home right about–”

“I’M HOME!”

“–now.”

I ran to the living room and saw my little brother standing there with a huge grin. I didn’t hesitate to dash towards him and engulf him into a hug. “Jaehyun! Oh my God, I’ve missed you so, so much!”

My little brother hugged me back tightly and even spun me around. Although he was gone for two years to study abroad, he grew up to be such a fine man, I almost didn’t recognize him. He grew a lot taller too.

“Oh, wow, look at you,” I said as soon as Jaehyun put me down and I lightly punched his arms and chest. “I bet you were a real ladies’ man back there, huh?”

Our parents then told me to leave Jaehyun alone so that he could bring his stuff back into his room. While waiting for him, I went back to the kitchen to help my mom prepare for the rest of our dinner. After bringing the dishes to the table and serving the rice to everyone, Jaehyun and I reprised our conversation from before.

“So? When did my baby brother grow up to be such a hunk?” I said teasingly.

“Noona.”

“I’m kidding,” I said. “Anyways, Mom said that you’re transferring to my uni?”

“Yep! I think that I’m also going to try out for a team, too.”

I was about to ask him which sport was he interested in, but my parents cut in; they probably had enough of me hogging my brother to myself. But I was so happy to have him back that I didn’t care.

My life was almost perfect with my little brother back. I couldn’t ask for anything better. I have loving parents, a supportive and cute little brother, a great best friend and a loyal boyfriend. What more can I ask for?

Huh, little did I know that life can be such a sometimes.

***

ASIDE FROM WORKING AT THE CLINIC, I was also working part-time at the children’s hospital. The kids at the hospital were just lovely, and I loved their company. They were just so optimistic, joyful and sincere, it was unbelievable that they were actually sick. It was sad seeing the number of children growing, and soon enough, I alone wasn’t enough to take care of them.

“Did you meet your new co-worker yet?” Victoria, one of the nurses at the hospital, asked as we walked to the playroom. “I think he’s an athlete that goes to your school…”

“I have a co-worker that goes to my school?” I was excited about the prospect of having someone help me deal with those mischievous adorable kids. “I wonder who it is…”

As soon as I entered the playroom, I was immediately attacked by a whole group of kids. All of them crowded around me, and some even hugged my legs tightly as they looked up with an adorable smile on their faces. They all shouted their greeting, and I said hi back. A girl tugged at my shirt, and I looked down before noticing that it was actually Yerin, a cute six-year-old diagnosed with leukemia who’d been at the hospital for the past three months.

“Hi, Yerin,” I said. “How are you feeling today?”

“Great!” she answered enthusiastically. “You didn’t tell me that your boyfriend is going to start working here!”

“My boyfriend…?” I tilted my head to the side as I walked to the middle of the room. I mean, I did talk to her about my boyfriend—many times actually, since she’s such a curious child—but I didn’t think that she would recognize Jongin just from what I’ve told her. And besides, Jongin didn’t tell me anything. Was he trying to surprise me?

“Yeah!” she exclaimed and gasped as she pointed at the door behind me. “Oh, look, it’s your boyfriend!”

When I turned around, expecting to see Jongin, my mouth fell down, and I sputtered. The man in front of me was definitely not Jongin. I turned back to Yerin who grinned back at me, her eyes shining. I let out a small sigh, not really wanting to crush her hopes. She had always told me that one of her dreams was to meet my boyfriend before leaving the hospital. And I knew for a fact that Jongin would never set foot in this place.

“Boyfriend?” Sehun walked over to us and then turned to me with a wicked grin. “Hers?”

I glared at him, asking him to drop it, but he wouldn’t. He then leaned in, his hot breath fanning the side of my cheek. “Revenge for the other day at the clinic.”

I let out a small whine. “I thought you’ve already had your revenge! I didn’t even do anything this time.”

Sehun let out a breathy, low chuckle. I shook my head at him. Victoria asked me to show him around and even left us with a warning. “No funny business, you two. I know you guys are university students but please don’t forget that this is still a children’s hospital.”

I was so taken aback that I didn’t even get to say that I had a boyfriend. A boyfriend that wasn’t Sehun. And Victoria already knew that. Why did she say that, then? I could feel my cheeks burning during the whole tour and Sehun laughing next to me didn’t help either. I punched him on the shoulder because I knew he was doing it on purpose; he just knew how to push my buttons.

We didn’t talk much as I gave him a small tour. When we were done with it, we walked back to the children’s playroom because it was almost time for them to take their nap. One by one, we put the kids to bed, which didn’t take long since most of their rooms were near the playroom. Yerin was the last one. As I tucked her in, she let out a small giggle, and I raised an eyebrow, asking her what exactly amused her so much.

“I just think that you and Sehun oppa look so great together,” she said with a tired smile. Right, I forgot to tell her that he wasn’t my boyfriend. I was about to, though, until she cut me off with a comment that rendered me speechless. “You look so much happier when you’re with him.”

She then fell asleep, probably tired from all the running she had been doing in the playroom. I let out a small sigh and then went to the break room where there were desks and beds for student part-timers like us to study and do our homework. Sehun was already there, reading a novel. He seemed to be focused, so I let him be.

I was going through my biology notes when I received a phone call from Jongin. I first thought it was weird because he never calls me when I’m at work. And besides, I was going to meet up with him after my shift was over, why was he calling me?

“Hey,” I answered the call a bit too loudly, earning myself a glare from Sehun, and I mouthed ‘sorry’ to him before continuing my conversation with Jongin. “What’s up?”

“Hey…” he said awkwardly, causing me to raise both of my eyebrows and to let go of my notes. “Something came up, and I don’t think I’ll be able to meet up with you after your shift.”

I was dumbstruck. Not because my boyfriend cancelled on me, but because this has been happening for a while now. I knew it wasn’t because I was mad at him. After all, he still cancelled on me even before that. He never gave me a plausible reason before, so this time, I was determined because this meeting actually mattered a lot to me.

“What? Why? What happened?” I said frantically, and I saw Sehun move in my peripheral vision, and I turned around, not wanting to disturb him even more. “Jongin, you know how important this is to me!”

I could only hear silence on the other side of the line. “Jongin?” And then the line went dead. I scoffed in disbelief and threw my phone at the desk, not wanting to deal with this anymore. I rubbed my temples tiredly, and Sehun seemed to have noticed how distressed I was. He let go of his book and then sat down next to me, worry evident in his eyes.

“Hey, you okay? You look like you’re about to cry…”

“Cry out of frustration? Yeah, maybe!” I replied bitterly and then shook my head. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound this rude.”

“Want to talk about it?” he asked. “I mean, we still have about an hour left before the kids wake up and I don’t think either of us will be able to focus on our school work with you feeling this way…”

I hesitated a little. After all, I was going to complain about my boyfriend to his rival. Was this right? But a part of me trusted Sehun.

“Right, um, you see, my little brother recently came back from the States, and I really wanted my boyfriend to meet him. So, we agreed to meet up after my shift,” I told him and sighed in frustration. “But he just cancelled on me without telling me why and he’s been doing this for a while now.”

His body stiffened at my words but he made no sign of making a comment, so I continued, “I just don’t know what to think of this anymore. I feel so scared, but sometimes, I also am just so done with him.” I then looked at him with a small, sad smile. “I must sound so childish to you, huh? Sorry.”

“No, you don’t.”

I gasped softly at how… sincere he sounded, and that was probably the second time I’ve seen him being so serious. “Jongin’s your boyfriend, and he keeps ditching you for no reason. You have the right to rant and complain about this. As your boyfriend, he shouldn’t keep making you feel this insecure and scared.”

I looked down to the floor. “Unfortunately, that’s how it is nowadays…”

There was a small silence. Then, I heard Sehun laughing. But it didn’t sound like he was making fun of me nor did he sound amused. Instead, his laugh sounded bittersweet and full of regret.

“Sehun…?”

“If I were your boyfriend, I would never make you feel that way,” he suddenly said, his dark brown orbs boring into mine. “I would love and cherish you properly. I would never make you feel insecure, and I would always make sure that you’re happy, no matter what. Because you deserve to be happy and loved, and you absolutely do not deserve to be treated this way. Honestly, your boyfriend sure is a lucky guy for having you.”

I blinked at him, his words not yet settled in my mind just yet. But when they did, my cheeks suddenly flared up, and I immediately turned my head around, not wanting him to see just how embarrassed I was. Sehun probably noticed how shy I was, causing him to become flustered as well.

“No– that’s not– I mean– Ignore what I’ve just said, I’m really just talking in hypothetical terms,” he stuttered as he explained.

My heartbeat sounded so loud to my ears, I was afraid Sehun might hear it too. I cleared my throat. “Um, right, of course.” But I also couldn’t help feeling abashed. Who wouldn’t feel putty and mushy at those words?

Though, there’s this part of me that felt crestfallen too. It brought back some rather dreadful, unpleasant memories. Memories that left me wanting for more than what Sehun could possibly offer to me.

And I also found it scary that I was able to talk to Sehun so easily and to relax around him. I felt so vulnerable yet so secure around him. But I found it scary because it took me about a year to get comfortable with Jongin, and it’s perturbing that I let my guards down around Sehun so effortlessly.

Sehun let out a small sigh of relief and smiled at me.

I smiled back, but it soon slipped away as soon as he turned his back to me.

***

I MET UP WITH JAEHYUN IN FRONT OF THE RESTAURANT. But as I got closer, I realized how fidgety Jaehyun was being. But I decided to ignore his weird behaviour. Maybe he was just nervous about meeting Jongin. Though, I didn’t tell him that my boyfriend wasn’t able to come; I didn’t want him to think that Jongin did not want to meet him.

“Jaehyun!” I waved at him but soon frowned when he jumped and waved nervously at me as he kept messing with his bangs.

“Noona!” He waved back and looked to my right and left. “Your boyfriend is not here yet? Is he going to meet up with us later or something?”

I shook my head sadly. “I’m sorry. Something came up with Jongin, and he isn’t able to join us anymore.”

“Jongin?” He tilted his head. “That’s your boyfriend’s name?”

“Oh, yeah, I never really used his name when I talk about him, right?” I said. “I always say ‘my boyfriend’ or use the ‘he’ pronoun.”

“Ah, I see…”

I narrowed my eyes at him, and I pinched both of his cheeks. “You’re acting kind of weird right now.” But, he let out a scream of pain, and I automatically let go, scared that I might have hurt him. But I didn’t even pinch him hard. I then felt something oily and sandy at the same time on my fingertips. I brought them to my eye-level as I rubbed them together, and I let out a small gasp.

“Are you wearing make-up?” My fingers then went back to his cheeks, but he was adamant on avoiding them. “Stop moving!” I rubbed his apples until the concealer came off and I saw purple bruises decorating his face.

I let down my hands, and I looked at him thoughtfully. “Who did this to you?”

“Noona–”

“Who.Did.This.To.You?” I repeated.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, his eyes facing the ground. “An athlete from our uni or something.”

Jaehyun was for sure hiding something from me, but as if he could sense my inner conflict, he automatically changed the subject. “Noona, I’m okay, now, aren’t I? And besides, they’re going to heal in a few days! Don’t worry too much about me. Tell me a bit more about your boyfriend. I want to know who’s the lucky guy that melted my sister’s heart.”

I bumped my hips with his. “You’re ridiculous,” I told him before thinking about what I could possibly tell him. “Well, Jongin, he’s…”

I trailed off, suddenly not being able to recall anything. My expression soon turned sour as I thought about why was I only able to remember the bad things that happened between Jongin and me.

Especially the huge fight we had over right before summer started.

Jongin and I had our first real huge fight right after the last day of school. Granted that we’ve had taken many breaks before but they never really lasted long. This time, our fight did lead to a break-up.

I was completely devastated.

Mei, having enough of me moping around the house, dragged me to this party that her boyfriend had organized to celebrate the end of the school year. I wasn’t really up for it, but she threatened to end our friendship.

“I’m telling you,” Mei said as we walked into Baekhyun’s house. “You should’ve worn that ty black dress!”

I looked down at what I was wearing. “What’s wrong with my outfit?”

Mei rolled her eyes as she pulled me into the kitchen, probably searching for her boyfriend since she wasn’t much of a drinker, so I doubted that she dragged me there to get a drink. “Well, I mean, how do you expect to get yourself laid by wearing that?”

“But, I don’t…?”

She rolled her eyes once again, and I told her that her eyes were going to be stuck that way if she continued doing it, but of course, she ignored me. Since Baekhyun was in the music department and not the athletics, I didn’t know most of the people there, which I considered that to be both a blessing and a curse.

Mei reunited with her boyfriend and Baekhyun greeted me happily. He was probably glad to see that I finally decided to go out. Honestly, they were such a gossipy couple, I wouldn’t even be surprised if Baekhyun knew about my life thanks to Mei. I let the couple have their alone time and wandered around the place.

However, since I didn’t know anybody, and the room was getting too loud and stuffy for my taste, I escaped to the backyard. I came here often with Mei, so I remembered that there was a hammock hidden somewhere between the trees. Though, instead of finding that hammock empty and free, I discovered Oh Sehun already sitting on it while gazing up the stars.

“Oh!” I exclaimed in surprise and turned my back, about to leave. “I didn’t know there was already someone here.”

“It’s okay,” Sehun said with a smile and pat on the empty space next to him. “Come and join me. I don’t bite.”

I chewed on my bottom lip before taking up on his offer. I did feel a bit awkward around him, though. I mean, Sehun and I did share a few classes and done a few projects together before, but we’d never really talked outside of those contexts.

“I don’t usually see you at parties,” he suddenly said to me after I’d settled down. “So, what exactly brought you here?”

I sighed through my nose. “My boyfriend and I broke up, so my best friend thought that bringing me out here would do me some good or something.”

His eyebrows shot up in surprise and then looked away from me. I mentally scolded myself for making things awkward. I could have just said that I felt like coming out; why did I have to mention something so uncomfortable? Sehun scratched his head said, “So… you and Jongin aren’t together now?”

I hummed a little. “Yeah, I think it’s been almost a month now? God, I don’t know, I think I’ve lost count.”

“I’m sorry.”

I let out a small snort. “Why are you sorry? Don’t be. I don’t really care anymore, to be honest.”

If anything, his expression seemed to have brightened up after hearing my words, but I didn’t dig too much into it. I was stunned that Sehun knew my boy—ex-boyfriend’s—name, but then I remembered that Sehun and Jongin were rivals. I guess it made sense that he knew.

Sehun and I then talked about various topics: from the most random things to our future, the latter being a subject I’ve never really discussed with Jongin before. We then talked about our hobbies and Sehun started rambling off about soccer and his position when I suddenly stopped him.

“Oh, you don’t have to explain your position to me.”

“I… don’t?” He pouted, and I burst out laughing at how cute he looked. Sehun smiled a little, his eyes crinkling at the corners—making them look like crescent moons—and he tilted his head, waiting for me to elaborate.

“People in my family are huge soccer freaks,” I said. “My dad used to play for his university team, and my little brother plays it as well, though he also plays football. Their faces when they found out that I was dating a football player were priceless!”

He chuckled along with me. “What about your mom?”

“She’s a huge fan of David Beckham; it’s the same thing, right?”

Sehun laughed, his voice low, rough and warm, yet, somehow, it reminded me of twinkling bells despite its contrast. “You’re funny.”

I let out a humourless chuckle. “Maybe if I were funnier and less uptight, Jongin wouldn’t have broken up with me.”

Then, there was another silence, and I almost slapped myself. I was about to apologize and stand up to leave when Sehun suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me back down.

“Let’s play a game!”

I unconsciously let myself dragged into Sehun’s pace and listened to his explanation of the game. A person starts the game with a word and the second person has to find a new word using the last letter of the first word given. Afterward, we would have to tell a story related to the word given. A person then loses when they either can’t find a word or a story to tell anymore.

“Captain,” Sehun said the word first. “I hope that I’ll get the captain position next year so that I could end this dumb rivalry. It does more bad than good, and honestly, if it continues this way, we won’t even have enough players for our future games anymore.”

“How noble,” I replied. “You know, now that I think about it, I’ve never heard or seen you do anything against the football players before. I have much respect for you.”

“Why thank you,” he said and pretended to raise a hat. “But alas, as much as I appreciate your compliment, I can’t say that I’m doing this for the right cause, though.”

“Why are you doing this, then?”

His eyes twinkled at my question. “That… is something for me to keep and for you to find out. Perhaps I’ll tell you after the party’s over or when I get that captain position.”

I narrowed my eyes down at him. “You promise?”

“Nope,” he said and even popped the ‘p’ in the end to tease me. He snickered at my pout and bumped shoulders with me. “Your turn. Your letter is n.”

He then saw the dark expression on my face. “What? Our resident school genius can’t seem to find a word that starts with n? How scandalous; I have to tell the others!”

I let out a scoff, offended. “No way. Game on, Oh Sehun.”

I honestly didn’t know for how long we were playing this game, but I wasn’t bored at all. After so many rounds, I’ve slowly realized that I told Sehun stories that I’ve never really told other people before. Not even Jongin, and not even Mei. A part of me did wonder why was I able to open up to Sehun so easily. I’ve always had been a somewhat closed-off person, so I was genuinely taken aback that I was so comfortable with him.

He was just like home. Cozy and warm.

“Mhm, noona,” I said after listening to his story about how he threw his chicken wings