Go Ji Eun POV

I was deep in a nap when I was awoken by screams and heated talks.

“Ya!” Someone hit my back.  “Go Ji Eun! There are idols here for you.” Aware they were trying to wake me up, which they had been trying to do for a while now, I heaved out a sigh. This was actually a break time, but Lee Tuk told us to self-study and my self-studying was taking a nap. As I tried to sit up, my math book which I was hiding behind fell. 

I managed to look up and in front of me stood three very tall guys with blurry faces. I shook my head trying to see better and recognised them. It was none other than Kris, Su Ho and Chan Yeol.

“Pinch me”, I said to Alice thinking I was daydreaming. Alice pinched me yet the boys were still there. Startled, I had to stand up.

“Ya!” I pointed my fingers at them. “What is this? What are you doing at my school?”

“Hi!” Kris sang and Su Ho and Chan Yeol smiled at me. The three of them were actually wearing my school uniform. Amazed at how they’d even gotten a pair, I walked up to them and tugged at Kris’s uniform.

“How can you just touch ego like that?” A girl, I think it was Kyung Ja, argued behind me.

“Where did you get those?” I asked, ignoring what she said.

“I went through hardship to get these”, Kris wore a proud smile that made me suspicious. “I even broke a nail.” Now that, established my right to be doubtful. If Kris went through hardship to get something and even broke a nail while doing it, it meant that he did something bad.

“You beat a couple of students up didn’t you?” I asked him as quietly as I could. Kris’s eyes widened.

“How did you know?” He whispered.

“You did what?” Su Ho asked.

“I didn’t really beat them up”, Kris explained himself. “They got away with one kick each.”

“Hyung!” Su Ho said. “How many times do I have to tell you not to hit innocent people?”

“To my defense”, Kris looked at the three of us with a - what I did might be wrong but I’m still proud because it was awesome face, “They were smoking at a non-smoking area and being disrespectful. I had to do something.” I tried holding back a laugh but failed miserably. “What?” He had the same face expression and I had to give him a shoulder clap.

“Oppa, you’re the best.” I said.

“Thank you”, he smiled. Once the laughing phase passed, I was back to me.

“But really”, I looked at the three of them. ”What’s going on? Why are you here?”

“We need to talk in private”, Su Ho looked around in the classroom. Everyone was looking at us.

“Mr Lee”, I called. “Is it okay if I checkout for a while since it’s break time?”

“No one was studying anyway”, Lee Tuk said. “self-study time is over.”

“Let’s go”, I grabbed each one of Kris’s, Su Ho’s and Chan Yeol’s arms and pulled them out of the room before the girls would block their way out. The four of us went to the school’s rooftop where we could freely talk without any major distractions.

“Before you tell me what you came here for”, I began, ”Have you guys seen Chen lately?”

The boys looked at each other in surprise.

“We were about to ask you the same question”, Kris said. “You haven’t been in contact with him either?” I shook my head in concern for Chen. If they hadn’t seen him either then things were really bad. I mean they lived together.

“When was the last time you saw him?” Chan Yeol asked.

“New years eve”, I answered. Immediately there was an awkward pause. It was as if they had a common understanding of something and I was left out.

”Our manager put us on a mandatory break for two week because”, Su Ho cleared his throat, ”Chen has been acting strange for a while now. Ever since…” He looked at the other two.

”Before Christmas?” Chan Yeol said and Kris nodded.

”Anyway”, Su Ho continued. ”It was obvious he needed a break. So we thought he’d just be staying at the dorm but he left a note saying he was going to do thinking and to not be worried. But his mom called our manager yesterday asking about Chen’s whereabouts. Apparently he hadn’t called for a while and you know he calls her everyday, so we got worried.” Hearing everything Su Ho said and knowing exactly the reason why Chen had been acting the way he had made me feel sick to my stomach. I had been going around living life in glee, while he had gone under the radar by himself and cut everyone out.

“…” I tried to say something but I didn’t even know where to begin.

“Did you guys fight?” Su Ho’s tone had changed into the same one from the night he warned me about Chen. The look in his eyes made me nervous.

“We... didn’t really fight. W-”

“What did you do this time?” Su Ho interrupted me. The way he spoke and the tone he used immediately brought my defence up. 

“This time?” I asked back. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Su Ho’s eyes grew intense and I responded back by shooting fire at him with my eyes.

“Chen isn’t the kind of guy to get angry or sad at anything”, Su Ho said. “No matter how hard his life is, he is always nice to everybody and positive about things around him, but ever since he met you he’s been miserable inside.” Hearing Su Ho’s words hurt me so much. I wanted to yell at him and tell him to shut up but I couldn’t; I couldn’t because he was right. I could clearly remember the first day I met Chen and the Chen from then and the Chen whom I haven’t seen in a while were definitely different. I tried to say something, anything. But I couldn’t. Su Ho continued anyway, “He’s been out of focus during practice. He’s been spacing out during our shoots, not to mention he is very distant when around us. I hate watching him suffer without being able to do anything about it and it’s all because of you!” My lips started uncontrollably trembling and I felt the tears welling up my eyes.

“Hyung”, Chan Yeol said. “Stop it.”

“No”, Su Ho shook his head. “I warned you last time Ji Eun ah. I told you not to let him get emotionally unstable because it would not only affect him but it would affect all of us. I don’t know what you did to make him hide, but you’ll have to take responsibility for your actions.” As I was listening to Su Ho, the tears left their trail down my face.

“I think you’ve made yourself clear enough”, Kris stood in between Su Ho and I. “Back off, alright.” I heard Su Ho sigh.

“Are you alright?” Chan Yeol asked me. Hand shaking, I bit my lip and tried to calm down. I felt awkward crying in front of them and had to leave.

“Excuse me”, I said and made my way to the door.

“I’m sorry Ji Eun”, Su Ho apologised. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I was jus…” I opened the door but was unable to go any further as I was blocked by none other than Chen.

“You’re crying”, hearing him after so long made my heart pound hard from anger, frustration and happiness but mostly relief. I looked at him eyes widened in the dark staircase without being able to really see his face, but I knew it was him. Without hesitating, I knee-kicked him in the stomach - the only place he could have a bruise without it causing problems for his photo and video shoots. Chen groaned in pain as he bent down. I angrily shoved him to the side and continued my way to the fourth floor.

“Ya!” I heard him call behind me. His voice was very rough.  “Ji Eun! Wait!”

“Wait?” I stopped walking and faced him. He was struggling to walk normally. “I’ve been waiting for you to call me since new year’s eve. It’s been a month since then. A whole f****** month, Chen!”

“I know”, he said. “And I probably deserve that kick from earlier.”

“Probably?” Kris asked ahead of me. He, Su Ho and Chan Yeol had followed us. “You deserve worse for making everyone worry sick for you!” Kris grabbed hold of Chen’s left shoulder. Chen grimaced.

“Hyung!” He complained. “It hurts!”

“You’re lucky we’re in a public place”, Kris's eyes took a 180 degree turn into the hallways near the computer room and toilets. ”I would have kicked your .” Kris let go of Chen.

“When did you get here?” Su Ho asked. I wiped away my tears.

“I was here starting from he’s been miserable inside”, Chen looked at Su Ho.

“You heard?” Su Ho blushed embarrassedly.

“Yeah I did”, Chen looked at me. “I’d appreciate it if you don’t make her cry in the future. She’s cried enough already.”

“I’ll try not to”, Su Ho said.

“Let’s go”, Chan Yeol said to Kris and Su Ho.

“Why?” Kris obliviously asked. “I want to stay.”

“Hyung”, Chan Yeol said with aegyo. “We’ll see them later. Let’s leave them alone for now.”

“Fine”, Kris said. 

When the three left, Chen and I were the only ones in the hall. I leaned against the wall. Chen joined me and instead of talking, he just stared at me making me flustered.

“Don’t look at me”, I said.

“I’m sorry”, he said. ”I’m sorry I didn’t call or text and that I left the party like that. I just… seeing you and Kai just shoved all the feelings I tried to hide away right back in my face.”

“Chen”, I looked at him. I thought seeing his face was going to make me angry but it didn’t. Instead I felt like I had no energy. “I thought we had talked about you telling when I do things that hurt you. What happened?”

“I needed more time than I thought,” he finally answered. “That’s why I went MIA. Hanging with you right after we ended things was a mistake.” He took a deep breath meanwhile I reminisced about new year’s eve.

”I didn’t mean for you to see that”, I apologised. ”Kai wasn’t supposed to be there.”

”It’s fine”, Chen smiled. ”I shouldn’t stop you from hanging out with your boyfriend.”

”So how are you feeling now?” I asked. ”Did your timeout from me make things better?”

”I’m hanging in there”, he looked down. ”It was tough not seeing you everyday or talking to you but I managed somehow.” Hearing that he was doing better made me feel much better. Things between Chen and I hadn’t been like they used to be ever since feelings, and kissing got mixed up with our friendship. I was hoping maybe this was how we were going to go back to what things were. ”I missed you, though.” He awkwardly let out a sigh. ”Like, a lot.” I hesitated before pulling him in for a hug. Chen wrapped his arms around me and held on tight.

”I missed you too”, I said. For the first time in a while, I was reassured things were going to be just fine between the two of us.