You stayed there hugging on to Youngjae even after your eyes had dried off. He didn’t move either. God worked in mysterious ways, you thought. Maybe he had sent him your way knowing you’d need his shoulders today, more than you had ever needed anything.

Sensing the end of your sniffs and silent screams he detached himself from you and cupped your face as he lifted it to meet his eyes. They looked red as well.

“Areum. Are you…are you okay?” He looked uncomfortable not being able to be his usual bubbly self. But, the concern in his eyes was real.

You nodded your head unable to voice your words. He stood up and extended his hands in order to pull you up, which you complied to. Slightly rubbing your nose he smiled one of his magical smiles at you.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry” he said turning away to face the door.

A feeling of terror set in you. You couldn’t help but think that he was going to leave you alone here, with all your sorrows and demise. Without thinking much, you grabbed the back of his sleeve to stop him from leaving. He halted without much hesitation. Turning on his heels he tilted his head as his curiosity took the form of a question.

“What is it?”

“Don’t…don’t leave me alone.” You blurted the words, letting the last bit of self pride leave you.

He took hold of your hand that clutched on to his sleeve and pulled you into a hug. More aware of your surrounding now, your face painted a rose blush covering your cheeks that earlier hosted your tear stains. You had become so desperate that you felt the need to cling on to a stranger. But, he was a stranger no more.

“Come with me. We’ll go together, like I said.”

He fit his fingers between the gaps of your fingers as he dragged you out of the room. You were just glad he did not even for once bring up the situation that unfolded in front of him regarding his teammate and his apparent best friend. He is a nice person.

Opening the door, he jerked into a sudden stop as you bumped into his lean body.

“Oh you are here…the both of you” Daehyunn’s voice spoke as he peaked to catch your face hiding behind Youngjae.

“I’m going to take her home.” The younger boy stated with authority.

“You can do that later, YoungJae” he seemed to have a hard time pronouncing the very easy name, as he took another gulp. “Her job isn’t done yet and Yongguk hyung is looking for her. Areum are you prepared?”

Scared of how your voice might sound you kept shut, clinging on to Youngjae with all your might.

“She is. Don’t worry” the boy replied with a bit of sass.

Daehyun’s gaze stuck to where your and Youngjae’s hand met in unison as his face turned a shade of rouge. You felt the other boy’s grip tighten around your wrist as if that was the way he dictated his power.

“You seem to know a lot about her” Daehyun smirked sarcastically.

“We are getting there, slowly.” Youngjae retorted.

“What are you guys doing here? Hyung is looking for you!” Jackson screamed from the other side of the corridor. “Everyone is dying of hunger!”

All the eyes followed towards the blonde boy and his plea as his hunger clearly surfaced through his emotions.

“Jae…I’ll go to the washroom and join you guys later.” You half whispered to the boy as he turned to speak to you, not letting go of your hand.

“Will you be okay?” he inquired to which you nodded. He finally let go pointing to one of the rooms that bore the ‘female washroom’ sign. You walked away not looking at the voice that spoke.

“I’ll be on my way, Jae.” Daehyun spoke with a hint of repulsion in his tone.

“Don’t wait too long, Dae.” He wasn’t going to lose either.

Daehyun brushed past you stopping only to take a long hard stare at you, wanting to say something. But you couldn’t get yourself to meet his eyes. You were sure you’d grab on to him and cry him a river. You’d tell him everything about the pain, about the unbearable anger and about the love. Your love for him. But you couldn’t let your best friend go through the guilt. He had hurt you inhumanly, but he did not need to know that. You turned the knob of the door and entered the brightly lit bathroom, leaving the world of despair behind, leaving his gaze behind.

Barely closing the door, you lean against the thin wood letting go of all the weight the world had pushed on you.  You didn’t ask for this, none of it. When did it even start? Since when had you been so in love with him that it had blinded half of your heart? You cup you face and just let yourself cry, trying to rid of all the pain that you have been feeling. But the worst part was the same old romantic cliché. The one who had pained you was the only one who can cure it. Your heart longed to be in the arms of someone who was no longer yours. In the depths of your mind you knew you had to let go of that place but you didn’t want to. You had found it first and occupied it. But you couldn’t own it. So, where did broken hearts go?

Feeling restless, you found yourself short of breath again. Turning to the nearby basin you unhooked the tap as the water came gushing out. You collected some in your palms and tossed it on your face. It washed away your make up but not your agony. Drying your face on a couple of paper towels, you made your way out on the corridor.

The steps you took got slower and shorter as you made your way to the elevator. The path stretched to seemingly impossible depths, proportionately with your misery and your willingness to continue the day. The phone vibrated against your pocket, ring after ring missed. A loud bang from one of the doors closing brought you back to your senses.

*buzz* It vibrated again and this time you picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Ya Areum! Where in the hells are you?! Boss is eating up my head for updates.” A familiar voice spoke from the other end. You took a glance at your phone as Mark’s number flashed on the screen.

“Oh Mark, it’s you!” you said relieved of an unknown stress.

“What do you mean by oh its Mark! Of course it’s Mark! Now tell me are you done with today’s interviews?”

“Oh I did Zelo and Jongup’s while Jackson did Youngguk and Himchan oppa’s.”

“Okay so I’ll call Jackson back to office after lunch and you do Daehyun and Youngjae’s. Cool?”

Not cool. Simply not cool.

“Hey Mark…um...”

“Whatever you are thinking, it’s a NO. Get back to work now!” With that your supervisor hung up the phone leaving you with more on the plate yet again.

The elevator stopped for you to get in which you managed just in time thanks to the person holding the door open for you.

“Thank you could you press G please” you said without looking up from your phone as you typed a long message to Jackson.

“I know where you are headed” your head jerked up as you heard Daehyun’s voice echo in the small lift.

Your heart sank. This is the last thing you had expected. You knew you were going to see him in a bit, but that would be in a crowded space with everyone around you, with Youngjae by your side. The thought made you shake your head as you met his gaze.

His dark round eyes pierced through you. They looked at you with equal amounts of tenderness and chill. You like always, found yourself staring at his mole. Not just the one underneath his eye, that was the one everyone noticed. Only you knew of the one on the top of his eye lid just under his brow. It had always been the most attractive feature about him, maybe because it felt exclusive to you.

“Why are your eyes so puffy? Did you cry?” He broke the silence with his icy cold voice.

“Huh? Oh…um…” you stuttered

“Did I ask a very difficult question?” he was being bitter.

“No…um…yeah…actually Jae was singing this sad song to me and…yeah…you know the stupid me, I cried. Just a little though.” You lied through a fake smile, finding it difficult to act in front of the person who knew your every skin and bones.

“Of course it’s Youngjae” He smirked coldly as the elevator door opened to reveal the ground floor. “I bet he’ll sing it better as well”

With that he darted off leaving you feeling empty. It hurt. Beyond any other emotion, it hurt everywhere. You pressed your hand hard on your chest trying to numb the pain but it continued as you stared at the person who seemingly did not understand you at all.