The morning dawned bright, unlike Mei’s mood. It turned darker when she swiped her cellphone and saw there were still no response from Luhan.

Ugh, why did Sehun have to confess to her in front of Luhan? And why did Luhan have to run away like some heroine in an old romance movie? Why couldn’t he just stay there and demand an answer, ask her to choose between the two of them?

Granted, she probably would’ve chosen Sehun simply on principle. Luhan had been a jerk and she couldn’t stand them; plus, Sehun was her friend.

But he could’ve put her out of the misery this ongoing radio silence was giving her.

At least Sehun had had the courtesy to text her that he’d gotten home safely, thank heavens.

He was also waiting for her at the school gates, looking much better than before. The swelling had gone down considerably and he’d obviously cleaned up. The purple blue bruises on his face made him look stylishly badass rather than the mess he’d been looking earlier and with his height and broody aura, he looked positively intimidating.

Which disappeared completely when Sehun caught sight of her, eyes turning into tiny little crescents that changed his entire appearance, making him look youthful and bright.

His eyes flickered over her shoulder, probably looking for Minyoung since the two friends were always together but of course, Minyoung wasn’t there. Her mother dropped her off at school when leaving for work, which was at seven, so Minyoung was one of the earliest to arrive and she usually waited for Mei inside the classroom. Especially after accidentally confettisioning on Sehun.

That had been, what, six, seven months ago? Mei had started teasing Minyoung about him because she’d noticed how Sehun always seemed to appear wherever they went.

Of course, she had retaliated right back, throwing her crush on Luhan back in her face. Mei had defended herself vehemently because a) Luhan was the definition of highschool heartthrob, everyone had a crush on him; and b) she was over him.

Naturally, Minyoung hadn’t believed her, just like she hadn’t believed Minyoung when she said she had no idea why Mei thought she had a crush on Sehun. Of course, both of them had been right, as time had proven.

Minyoung had confettisioned when Sehun had shown up after a weeklong absence and, to quote her friend, scared the confetti out of her.

And Mei… well, her clock was probably ticking too, since she’d started re-crushing on Luhan. Just thinking about it made her want to throw up. And she still had no idea how to respond to Sehun’s confettision.

Sehun nodded in greeting and his feet, making a convenient path for Mei to follow, simply by sticking close to him.

There was the usual rush of people in the locker room and her corridor was filled as always. She took a bracing breath; Luhan would be there and she’d finally have a chance to talk to him.

She didn’t know what she would say but she figured she could just say hi and see where it went from there.

Except the locker beside hers was locked, no Luhan or his usual gang in sight. She turned to look back but there was significantly less confetti in the hallway and her shoulders drooped. Looked like she wasn’t seeing him today.

She moped all the way to class and her mood dropped further when she saw that Minyoung was absent.

She slumped into her seat with a loud sigh, laying her head on the desk. Minyoung hadn’t said anything at all about not coming; she was very particular about her classes. She was about to text her friend when there was a poke on the back of her chair.

She glanced back at Sehun. ‘What?’ she hissed under her breath.

He looked from her to the empty seat next to her, before looking at her again, eyebrows raised. Mei shook her head. ‘I don’t know,’ she muttered, trying to keep quiet. Sehun was in enough trouble as it was and the teachers here had proven time and again that they would jump at any chance to detain him.

Sehun slumped in his seat, much like Mei, and threw his head down. Mei faced forward, staring unseeingly at the board. The teacher was writing something, saying something but Mei paid it no mind.

After doodling by herself for a while, she quit. It was no fun when her friend wasn’t here to write funny comments on her drawings or to bug her to tell the story behind her doodles. She pouted, then sneakily pulled out her phone.

Where are you?

The phone remained silent for a long enough time that Mei was getting worried when Minyoung replied. Sorry, family stuff. Couldn’t come but I’ll fill you in tomorrow.

Mei let out a sigh of relief. She’d been worried her friend was avoiding her because she felt awkward. Heavens knew Mei felt awkward around Minyoung, knowing her crush on Sehun and Sehun’s confettision serving as the elephant in the room.

She’d taken the lead from Minyoung and done her best to be normal around her friend. And if Minyoung vanished the moment Sehun showed up, Mei understood.

There was another poke on her chair, the bottom dragging with a loud creak that broke the peace of the entire class.

‘Silence!’ the teacher intoned from her place, looking around the class firmly. She kept glancing around suspiciously, eyes landing twice on Sehun, lips pursing at his slumped posture, before she continued with her class.

Sehun poked her again. Mei glared at him in warning – he needed to stop poking if he wanted some information – before forwarding Minyoung’s text to him. His phone vibrated and he took it out, eyebrows rising in response before looking at her again, nodding his thanks.

Mei nodded back and faced forward.

It was confusing. Sehun still acted like he had a crush on Minyoung. Of course Minyoung vehemently protested this notion and Mei hadn’t exactly asked Sehun, so she didn’t know if it was true. But he’d always been… different with Minyoung. Where he ignored everyone else, he went out of his way to bother her. And call her a matchmaker but she thought her friends would make a cute couple. They had the perfect height differe