Chanyeol yawned as he entered the mess hall for dinner. 'What an exhausting day,' he groaned mentally, grabbing his tray. Blinking blearily, he instinctively walked towards the centre of the room, where he usually sat. 

Out of the corner of his eye, a small, lonely figure sitting in the corner of the room caught his attention. He paused, glancing at Chaeyoung who was once again sitting by herself, staring out the window. Her face had been cleaned, but that only made the few bruises on her face more visible. He felt a stab of sympathy, mentally sighing at the result of his cousin's brutality. Now stuck in a mental debate as to where to sit, he caught eyes with one of his friends who was already seated at their usual table. His friend raised an eyebrow at his hesitance. 

Chanyeol shrugged and shook his head. Making a decision, he spun on his heel and began walking towards Chaeyoung, aware of the incredulous and confused gaze pinned on his back by his friend. 

"Hey," his voice caused her head to snap up in surprise. "Is this seat taken?" He grinned and a warm, pleasant smile spread across her face. 

"Ah, Chanyeol-sunbae. No, this seat is free," she was no longer caught by surprise when he promptly sat down in the indicated seat, sending her a light-hearted smile. Still, her gaze wandered over to his usual table, noticing one of Chanyeol's friends staring at them. And he wasn't the only one. Many people in the room still couldn't understand why Chanyeol, the popular, high-ranking and well-liked captain would sit with a lowly cadet. 

Her gaze turned back to Chanyeol. 'Maybe he wants some quiet?' she wondered, before shrugging mentally and deciding it was none of her business. Chanyeol could do whatever he liked, and if that meant accompanying her during meal times, then who was she to say anything?

Unnoticed by both her and Chanyeol, who had now begun to engage her in some light-hearted conversation, Sehun had also stepped into the mess hall. When his gaze landed on his usual table, his eyebrows furrowed briefly in confusion when he noticed his cousin was absent. He was sure Chanyeol had left for dinner before him, so he scanned the room in search for his lanky friend. When he found him, sitting and chatting amiably with that irritating cadet and acting like they were old friends, his eyebrow raised in surprise. 

Before coming down again in a scowl of irritation. 'What the is he doing?' he thought, wrinkling his nose at the sight of Chaeyoung laughing quietly at something Chanyeol had just said. The tall captain smiled, and Sehun could swear he looked almost fond, as Chaeyoung giggled. 

"Weird, huh?" a voice appeared next to him. Sehun's expression immediately returned neutral as he glanced to the side. Kim Minseok, a friend of Chanyeol's who was a few years older than both of them, was the one who spoke. "And it's not the first time, either. Yesterday he sat with that same cadet at dinner."

Sehun looked at Minseok oddly as his hyung sniggered. "Do you think he has the hots for her? I mean she is cute and small, exactly the type of girl Chanyeol likes."

"What are you talking about?" Sehun scoffed. "Chanyeol has more sense than to fall for a lowly cadet. He has more sense to fall in love in the first place. We're in the military. We don't have time for things like relationships."

Minseok chuckled. "Right, I forgot. I'm talking to the iron-hearted, workaholic Oh Sehun here. My bad," Sehun rolled his eyes as Minseok stretched and yawned. "Anyway, I'm gonna go do some more paperwork. The pile on my desk never seems to end," he sends Sehun one last grin and a casual, two-finger salute before striding off, leaving Sehun alone to his thoughts, staring at Chanyeol and the petite cadet.

'Chanyeol isn't that idiotic, right?' he thought to himself as he grabbed his tray. 'He's not going to fall in love with her of all people.'

But even as his gaze wandered over to the two of them once again, laughing and chatting like they'd known each other for their entire lives, he couldn't help feel that same familiar, irritating itch in his chest once again. 

From then on, it became a habit for Chanyeol to sit with Chaeyoung. Rumours began going around as to if they were secretly dating, but neither of them paid any mind. Slowly, they became friends, and Chanyeol found himself liking and admiring the petite female more and more. 

And at the same time, Sehun could feel his apprehension grow and grow. 

**

Chaeyoung couldn't sleep. Her body was exhausted, but her mind just would not rest. 

Maybe it was because today was the one day of the year that would continue to haunt Chaeyoung for the rest of her years. 

Maybe that's why she found herself, sitting on the roof of the building alone in the cool night air, enjoying the tranquil si