Baekhyun woke up in the middle of the night to his sudden thirst. He dragged himself to the kitchen to get him a glass of water. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of ice water and gulped on it.

On his way back to his bedroom, he heard weird noises, far across his room. He silently walked towards the end and to the source of the odd noise.

He knew exactly what it is.

He pretended not to hear anything and walked back to his room. He stared at the photograph on his table. It was a family picture taken at least 5 years ago. The photo looked old and the were fake smiles plastered across all faces; his mom, his dad, his brother and even himself. Baekhyun couldn’t remember the last time his entire family eat a meal together. It was probably during Christmas eve in a hotel. They agreed to it since other businessman attends the party as well with their families. Baekhyun’s father put up a good show in front of the potential dealers.

He internalized that, and then cocked his head at the photo. His father was having an affair with his female secretary. He knows it. His mother knows it. At least his father was being decent about it in the past years, but recently it seems like he doesn’t care. He invites the woman to their home and act as he pleases. His mother, on the other hand, hardly spends her time in the house. Instead she chooses to be in beauty salon and in foreign countries for vacations. His elder brother gave up on the family and went to live on his own elsewhere.

He stared nothing for a moment.

“My family is a wreck.”he said to himself, smiling weakly.

///

Haru was in the laboratory cleaning up her table. She arranges the apparatus back in the cupboard accordingly.  She hummed into a tune, dancing slightly while doing her job.

“You’re excited.” A voice startled her. She turns around, looking mortified.

“Lay?”

He smiled, and sit on the nearest branch, putting his bag on the table. He laughed and shakes his head,“You coming right for the party?” he asked, as if it was a reminder.

She shrugged her shoulder, “I don’t know, I mean I’m not free tonight.”She was still blushing after he caught her dancing awkwardly to a unrecognizable tone.

“Do come, if you can.”he said, “Let’s have fun.”

Lay flashed her his infamous humorous smile that she falls for. It was an exaggeration she thought, when some of her friends describe the moment they fall in love.

It is all true after all, she thought.

“So, what’s the song?” he asked, slyly.

She widens her eyes, embarrassed, and shakes her head slightly. “Nothing.”she said, ignoring the heat on her cheeks.

“Shinee?” he asked.

“No.”
”Super Junior?”

She shakes her head again, and lift up her face to see him, “Big Bang.” she said awkwardly.

As he laughed, she tuck her hair behind her ear and realized, I'm happy. For real. I'm actually very happy. She felt confident, for the first time in several weeks, that everything was going to be just fine.

That feeling persisted, and then she knew everything was going to work out for the best, after all. Maybe it is time to have fun.

“You know what, count me in for the party,” she smiled.

//

“So there’s a girl,” Kai started, “Let’s say she a bit on the grumpy side, what would you do to woo her?” he asked Baekhyun.

“Easy. Flowers always does the trick,” Baek Hyun answered confidently, “Red roses.”

“Aren’t red roses are too cliche?” Lay asked, scratching his head. “I would give white gardenia. It means secret love.” he chuckled.

“Why don’t you just tell her you like her?” Sehun said, annoyed. “Giving flowers and such, so cheesy.”

“Why are you irritated?” Kai asked. “Something wrong?”

Sehun shut his eyes tightly. “Headache.” He said simply.

“Are you coming to the party tonight right?”Baekhyun scoffed. “Don’t bail out now.”

Sehun lazily run his fingers through his hair. “Can’t decide.”

“That librarian is coming?”Chanyeol asked suddenly. Baekhyun spared him a sharp look, “Don’t care.” He said, gritting his teeth.

“She is.” Lay answered, “I saw her this afternoon and asked about it, she said yes.”

There was a moment of silence in the room. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were looking at Sehun and his hard rock face, accessing for his reaction.

“She said yes after you asked?” Sehun asked a minute later, trying to hide a hint of jealously in his tone of voice. “Immediately?”

Lay nodded his head innocently, and got up to get him a fizzy drink. “You want a drink?” he asked Sehun.

Sehun shakes his head. He pursed his lips ignoring the rising envy in his heart.

//

“Too many people.” Sehun complained, after seeing the crowd on the dance floor.

“You wanted to invite all the final year students,”Kyung Soo answered, smirking. “This is what you get.”

They were in the second floor, watching the people dance through the transparent glass cabin. The second floor is a reserved area, and no one except the EXO’s are allowed to enter the floor for that night.  That floor looked like a high class hotel lobby, with big cushioned sofa and couch, two large pool table and a mini bar. The first floor, the dancing area, is enormously large, and is decorated with banners of their college, and the floors were covered in confetti and glitters. The huge silver disco ball on the middle of the hall. The bizarre light made the party looked lively and wild.

Sehun holds a glass of wine, while standing, leaning on the huge glass window, seeing all the people on the dance floor. Some girls were wearing provocative short dresses, dancing senseless to the song. Some were drinking at the bar stall.

He was scanning the crowd to find her.

Haru was in the bar stall drinking orange juice. She was left alone since Minzy can’t attend the party due to her sudden flu. She looked around at hall and felt alien.

She sipped on her orange juice nervously, looking around for any familiar faces. She jerked in surprise when someone hold her shoulder in a firm grip.

“My heart nearly dropped,” she breathed in, raggedly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll put it back for you.” Sehun joked, casually taking the seat next to her.
”One straight shot,” Sehun said to the bartender. The bartender nods lightly, and prepared the drink for him. He then gently pushes the shot glass to Sehun.

“What is this?” Haru asked curiously. “Tequila.” he said simply.

“Can I have a taste?” she asked, out of the blue, staring at the fancy drink.

Sehun looked at her, confusedly.  I don’t share drinks.

He moves the glass towards her reluctantly. Haru took the glass and sip in a bit of the liquor.

“Ew.” She grunted, “This doesn’t taste good,” she said, with a disgusted look on her face. “How do you drink this?”

Sehun laughed, and took the glass from her hand. He then gulped in down in one go. “This is how you do it, one shot.” he said.

Haru shakes her head, “No. Not for me.” she said. “Where’s Lay?” she asked, her eyes frantically searching for him amid the crowd. “Did you see him?”

Sehun pretended not to hear her.

“Hey, you wanna go out?” He asked a tone higher, to divert her attention. “To get some air?”he continued, earning her attention. He was looking at nothing, and then finally he looked at her, his expression serious, and earnest. “Let’s go.”

“Yes please,” she agreed immediately, “I feel stuffed in here.”

**

“Wow!” she exclaimed when seeing the black convertible Mercedes parked outside the club, “This is so cool,” she grinned, opening to door to slide her in. Sehun smiled and sat on his seat, putting on his seat belt.

“Where did you get this car?” She asked, still in awe with the sleek vehicle.

“Baek Hyun’s,” he lied. He was feeling guilty about lying to her about him, but he was also afraid that she might go distant after knowing who he really is. No everyone likes to get involved with a family like his.

Haru was talking about her day but for some reason Sehun couldn’t stop thinking about how he felt about her the other day. He steal glances to the side at her, and he gripped on the steering so tightly until his knuckles turn white.

The car had trapped him into a frenzy of heat and intensity that he needed to stray from. He unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door to leave. Haru mimicked his actions, walking around the car to meet up with him.

“So is this your idea of getting a fresh air? The beach?” she chuckled. “Not complaining.”

She stood there for a moment, her back against car, letting the cold winds crash onto her skin.

The moonlight emitted a vibrant glow that glimmered from Haru's eyebrows to her top lip. Sehun's full attention was aimed at her eyes, how much brighter they were in the glare from the light.

“How come you never talk to me about your girlfriend?” she asked suddenly.

“My what?”

“Your girlfriend.”

“I don’t have one.” he said definitely.

Haru looked at him suspiciously. “Don’t lie.”

“I’m not.” He chuckled.

“Yoona?” she asked coyly. “The girl who came to see you during match.”

Sehun’s face turned sour, “She’s not my girlfriend.” he said. He stood in a rigid position, his muscles pulled to form an indecipherable expression. Haru just nodded and act like she didn’t believe him.

“I’m serious, she’s not my girlfriend. I don’t like her.” He pressed.

“She’s pretty,” Haru interjected.

“Not my type,”

She scoffed a laugh and he looked at her as if she was teasing him.

“What’s your type?,” she asked, “Since you are an arrogant, rude and sometimes an unapologetic .”

“You love talking about my faults, don’t you?”

“I told you, that makes you Oh Sehun,” she laughed at his face.

He smiled, looking smug. “What’s your type?”

She stopped for a moment, “I guess I like the type of person who doesn’t suffocate me.I don’t want my happiness to depend on the person. And I don’t want to stay up all night worrying if they grew tired of me. I don’t want to cry over someone who don’t care. I just don’t want a person who keeps me guessing.” she said bluntly.

“That’s a lot,” he gasped, straightening his back.  

“It is,”

“You deserve that,” he said suddenly. “Someone who doesn’t suffocate you. Someone who makes you happy.”

“All of us deserve to be happy, at least. Including you.” she whispered, pointing at him.

Frowning, he drew back, looking into her eyes. He swallowed at the expression he found there. “Me too?”

“Yes, you too,” she said, chuckling wetly. “Even the almighty jerk Sehun deserves to be happy.” She smiled, and the smile was small, and private, and so sincere that it looked obscene on her usually collected face.

He swallowed a bit, and he felt his heart thudding. Again.

“Can we stay a little longer? I want to collect the shells.” she asked,grinning, as if she hadn't just talked about her feelings with a few pointed sentences.

Sehun marveled at her ability to be articulate that in a single tense moment she had him questioning everything he deserves and attempted to capitalize on his sudden imbalance. Instead she was talking about the beach, and the seashells she used to collect.

“Kim Haru,” he called her out. She turned to look at him. “I want your number.”