Seungwan ran towards the main building. She had taken Taeyeon to the infirmary right after they left the auditorium. The latter had said she just wanted to lie down for a bit so after she’d been given some Tylenol, Seungwan had left her with Soojung and rushed to collect their things that had been left behind.

What had caused Taeyeon to panic like that? That and a number of other questions were running through her mind but she had yet to ask them to her cousin-sister.

Seungwan gasped as she suddenly lost balance, having stepped on uneven concrete in her hurry, and stretched out her hand to brace for impact.Only, instead of her face meeting a hard rough surface it got buried into wool. Wool that smelled like soap and sea salt. She opened her eyes to the feeling of somebody’s strong arms around her, breaking the fall that had almost occurred.

Kyungsoo. Her heart jumped to as her eyes met his and she stopped breathing for second seeing him, in all his perfection, this close.

…………………………………………….

For a moment, Kyungsoo felt like everything stopped. His breath hitched seeing Seungwan so close, his heart hammering in his chest as he half hugged her. He gazed into those endless orbs of hers and realized how beautiful she was.

“You okay?”, He asked, not breaking the enticing gaze.

"Yeah, I-I'm fine", Seungwan stammered as she lifted herself back up from the cage of his arms, pulling away from him, her face a darker pink than it was a minute ago.

Kyungsoo woke up from the trance he was in as she left his embrace, and looked away. What am I doing?

"Where were you going in a such a hurry, Seungwan shii?", He inquired after a beat, clearing his throat.

"I was just.....going to fetch my bag I left at the auditorium earlier", she paused " So that I can take Tayeon home"

"How is she?", Kyungsoo asked, concerned about what happened earlier. God knew none of them had expected such a drastic reaction from her in response to seeing Baekhyun.

"She's......better", Seungwan answered uncertainly. "I haven't been able to ask her about what happened"

Oh, so she doesn't know……….Yet.

Kyungsoo could see how worried she was for her friend. Will she start disliking me when she finds out the truth?

"Well, I should get going then", Seungwan stated, having caught her breath.

"Yeah, Okay", He gave her a small smile. "Be careful". Seungwan bowed, returning his smile as she walked towards the main building of the campus.

Kyungsoo stood there for a moment watching her go, and he suddenly wanted to stop her. He couldn't understand why, but he didn't want her to know anything that happened in the past, even if he didn't have a major role in it.

As he walked to the BM block, he kept having flashbacks of how flabbergasted she had looked when he had caught her, her feline eyes, how beautiful she was.

Dude, you’re getting way too interested in her. A voice rang through his head and he halted, suddenly self-aware.

What was he doing? He couldn’t start doing what, feeling what, he hadn’t felt in years. He had enough responsibility as it was without the added weight of a new relationship. Maybe he’d been far too alone for too long. Get a grip.

_

"Here, drink this", Seungwan said as handed the mug of hot cocoa to Taeyeon. They were in their room now at home. Taeyeon had two blankets rapped around herself as she sat up in bed, sipping from the mug Seungwan had just handed her, looking sheepish now that she’d recovered from whatever mental state she’d been in earlier.

"So now can you tell me what happened?", Seungwan asked sitting on the bed across Taeyeon.

Taeyeon sighed and then started. She told her about what had conspired in High School, how she’d come to know that certain group of boys, telling her everything she had kept from her for so long.

Seungwan listened to her with a stoic expression, giving nothing away. She’d known there was something wrong when they’d first discovered Taeyeon after her nervous breakdown years ago, but she hadn’t known it was because of them, because of certain guy her cousin had seen today after so long. They had all tried not to touch the topic a lot considering its sensitivity, and for all she knew her cousin had put it behind her. Until today.

Kyungsoo. Her heart skipped a beat thinking of him, and she felt a load of guilt about liking him so much, and not even hiding it from her cousin. She hadn’t known.

"It wasn't anyone's fault really, what happened", Taeyeon said as she finished her cup of hot cocoa.

"But it could have been different if he hadn't…..“, Seungwan barely bit down on her anger.

"Yeah but, it still isn't his fault you know. Neither is it D.O.'s or anyone else's.", Seungwan looked up to see Taeyeon's face at the mention of Kyungsoo's name. "There is no reason to blame anyone in any of this. Love can't be forced you know", Taeyeon spoke gently, a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Yeah maybe", Seungwan shrugged. Taeyeon’s hand found hers and she looked up into her cousin’s eyes. “It isn’t his fault, Seungwan. I would hate it if you stop liking him on my account, I would much rather have not shared anything with you then”. Seungwan looked at her cousin and nodded lightly in understanding.

“You were really concerned for me though weren’t you?”, Taeyeon smirked.

“As if”, Seungwan rolled her eyes and started to move but Taeyeon tightened her drip on her hand, making her halt and turn to her. “Thanks lot, for everything”, She said sincerely. Seungwan smiled at her. “I’m always here for you, Tae. Always, no matter what the circumstances might be. Promise me you will share all your burdens with me from now on?”

“I will”

…………………………………………………………………

"Are we interrupting something?", came Sehun's voice as he stood at their room’s door with Yixing. Taeyeon and Seungwan both turned to look at them listlessly, without responding. Yerim appeared at the door with a tray at that time and came in. “Yes you are, get lost”, She replied to Sehun’s question, and after settling the tray on Seungwan’s study table, turned to Yixing, smiling. “You can come in Oppa”

“Who the hell asked you for permission?”, Sehun followed Yixing into the room. Yeri didn’t even acknowledge him.

"How are you, Taeyeon?", Yixing asked as he sat down on the other bed, across from Seungwan and her, the former getting up a beat later to help Yerim serve tea. Sehun made a show of lying down on it to Yeri.

"I am fine", she replied, giving him the best smile she could manage.

"What happened? Are you ill Taeyeon noona?", Sehun asked.

"Nah-I'm okay Sehun-ah. How have you been though? Yeri told me you haven't been paying attention to studying", Taeyeon inquired, eyeing him disapprovingly as she ruffled his hair.

Sehun made a face at the mention of his arch nemesis. "She is always bad-mouthing me. Is she jealous of my grades or something?"

"What's there to be jealous about in your grades, Sehun? They a little bit to be honest", Yerim snapped.

 "No they don't!", Sehun protested, annoyed. Yerim lolled out her tongue at him.

"So what happened?", Yixing turned away the younger one’s banter to Taeyeon.

"Nothing. I just.....got nervous I guess", Taeyeon shrugged, not meeting his eyes. She still needed time before she could share her past with Yixing, because the repercussions in this case would be more grave. He and Baekhyun were friends.

"Really? I find that hard to believe", Yixing eyed her suspiciously. "I’ve seen you give speeches many times in the past few years, you never had stage fright”

"I...I just wasn't feeling that well today either. Biscuits?", She tried to revert his attention elsewhere. Yixing didn’t look convinced but he didn’t press further.

"Shall we go out for bowling this weekend Yixing hyung? I had so much fun the last time you took me", Sehun asked Yixing excitedly, as he munched on a cookie.

"Well, I can't promise Sehun-ah, but I'll try", he replied, reverting his attention to his younger cousin.

"Can I go too?", Yerim asked her eyes twinkling with childlike excitement.

"No you can't, it’s a normal-people thing. Nerds are not allowed to have fun on weekends", Sehun  mocked, looking at Yerim teasingly and she threw a pillow at him. He laughed, happy to have been able to get to her.

"Well I'll leave now too", Yixing got up after finishing his tea. "Please thank Aunt a lot on my behalf, tell her I'll take her on a date soon" 

"Thanks for dropping by, I know you're busy.", Taeyeon said gratefully as she gave Yixing a side hug. "Don't worry about me, I am fine"

"Sure?", Yixing asked looking at her as she left his embrace. She nodded smiling weakly at him.

 _

You're perfectly fine. Forget what happened yesterday. Taeyeon told herself as she looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror the next morning before leaving for college.

You have grown up and moved on. All those feelings you had for him are gone. He is no one to you now.

There was a knock on the door, and Seungwan half-opened it to reveal herself "Shall we leave?"

"Yeah, you go downstairs. I'll come in a minute", Taeyeon replied.

"Okay", Seungwan closed the door. Taeyeon looked at her reflection one last time and took a deep breath. Okay. Let's do this.

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A/N: So how did you guys like this one? What do you think actually happened between Baekhyun and Taeyeon? And do you guys like where WenSoo is going? Much more to come, keep your seatbelts fastened.

Merry Christmas to you all! Thanks for reading this. Do comment and share your thoughts.