Baekhyun hated seriousness. He loved chaos. Smiles on the faces of the people he loved were all he ever wanted. His sense of humor helped him in doing that. His random jokes and comments in any situation never failed to evoke happiness in other people. He had no idea how he did it. He would just voice his thoughts and the next moment people would be laughing. His laugh was contagious. He was the mood maker and trouble-maker of his family. But today was different. He did smile and laugh but the usual twinkle in his eyes was missing. It was like he forced himself to react to everything, like he was hiding something inside. He did speak but it was as if he was pushing the words out of his mouth.

Seo Hyun just wanted to go hug him and comfort him. She knew he was hurt behind that smile that stretched to his cheeks. She wanted to use a time machine to reverse what was done. She wanted to stay true to her feelings and let him know the truth but the thing was she couldn’t. The thing was that she was reason of him being broken. He said that it will be fine and this wouldn’t change anything between them but it clearly did. Her breath got caught in the moment his chocolate brown eyes met hers. They clearly lacked the sheen. She wanted to look away considering the fact that his eyes would do weird things to her heart, but she couldn’t.

Baekhyun hated himself. He knew he shouldn’t have just blurted out his emotions. That’s what he hated about himself; he would never think twice before speak, he would just speak whatever was in his heart and mind. His mind was blank and all he could do was think about the words Seo Hyun told him. Still he hoped deep down his heart that she would change her mind and just come to his arms. It was weird how he couldn’t think of anything to say. He couldn’t be ecstatic like before or tease Chanyeol or just feel anything. He was numb. He just gave her a small smile and looked away.

The breakfast was awkward. Chanyeol was the only one to run his mouth. The other two were just eating in silence. It was clear that they were avoiding eye-contact. Chanyeol wasn’t a fool. He knew something had happened last night which had affected both of them. He knew something was wrong when his best friend just went straight to bed quietly without shouting something or bothering Chanyeol. He decided to just keep speaking gibberish to keep the ambience alive by him.

“So when are you going to tell me what happened between you and Seo Hyun?” Chanyeol asked Baekhyun who had been spacing out the whole time. “Nothing happened. I just took her to our paradise; we talked, played monopoly and came back.” Baekhyun answered nonchalantly and didn’t budge from his position. The taller male slammed on the brake and stopped the car making the shorter one look at him in confusion. “Baekhyun, don’t lie to my face. I know you are upset and something is bothering you since last night. And don’t you ing tell me that I am wrong because it is written all over your face so why don’t you tell me because I am not starting the car until you do.” Chanyeol spat and Baekhyun knew there is no escaping now. He heaved a deep sigh to get ready for what he had to say. “I….I confessed to her that I like her and she told me that she didn’t have any such feelings for me. I told her that it was fine and we will just stay friends.” Baekhyun felt each word getting heavier as he spoke. He had been rejected before but this one hurts more because he knew what he had for her was not just a mere attraction.

Chanyeol just sighed and looked at his friend who was looking outside the window. He had never seen Baekhyun so dull and listless. It was like he was in a parallel universe. He knew that her sister had the same feelings for Baekhyun. He had seen it in her eyes. He could read her like a book and he was the only one who could do it. He knew that she liked to dwell on things and keep her real-self to herself. She never liked to take the first step and overthink everything. “It will be all right. I will always be there when you need me.” Chanyeol assured Baekhyun and the latter could only nod his head. “Why don’t we go to the bar today? It’s been a while. What do you say?” It wasn’t a bad idea and he needed to get things off his shoulder. Also, he needed some time with his friend.

“We should go to the bar today.”

The faintest memory of a traumatic experience that Seo Hyun had was when she got into a car accident with her parents. They were leaving for their aunt’s