Minyoung was lying with head down, feeling drained after her chat with Lay. The dramatics club head was really nice and easy to talk to; and he’d been kind enough to hear her unburden her heart.

‘You said it yourself,’ Lay said after hearing her out. ‘Mei knows how you feel and she will never do anything to hurt you.’

She pouted, still miserable but significantly less than before. ‘I know… but Sehun likes her‘

‘You don’t know that,’ Lay told her gently. ‘Why don’t you ask him about it?’

Minyoung ducked her head, mumbling. Lay leaned closer. ‘Hm?’

‘I asked him to keep his distance though…’

‘Because you were anxious,’ Lay countered, shrugging. ‘You can change your mind, you know.’

She turned to look at him, smiling. ‘Thank you.’

He smiled back easily. ‘You’re welcome. I have a class now, so I should get going.’

She nodded. He stood up, dusting off the confetti that fell off of him in a literal shower, shaking his head to get rid of the stray pieces, then left with a cute ‘Fighting!’ in her direction.

Minyoung sighed, closing her eyes and throwing her head back, leaning low in the chair.  She wasn’t sure if talking with him had solved anything but at least now, she didn’t feel like breaking down at the sight of her friends.

The door opened again. Minyoung didn’t open her eyes, figuring Lay had forgotten something – he was forgetful like that, according to Mei. Footsteps echoed but to her surprise, instead of going somewhere else, they came to a stop right beside her.

Slowly, she opened her eyes.  

Sehun stared down at her impassively. The bruises on his face had faded significantly, and the ones that remained served to make him look unreasonably attractive. Minyoung felt go dry at the sight and she sat up quickly, nerves filling her.  

There was a moment in which they silently appraised each other, Minyoung tense in her chair, Sehun eyeing her with an unreadable expression on his face.

Then he moved, reaching out and Minyoung instinctively closed her eyes.

There were dragging sounds, so Minyoung opened one eye to observe what Sehun was doing. He dragged a chair so it was right behind Minyoung’s, such that if they sat, they would be facing opposite directions.

She didn’t dare turn when he vanished from her sight. There was a quiet thump when he slumped into the chair behind her, sitting back to back.

Minyoung, already nervous, straightened even more, a little scared to lean back because she was sure she’d feel his body heat if she did so.

And if that wasn’t enough already, the chair scraped as Sehun leaned his head back and Minyoung held her breath as his hair tickled her.

There was silence in which Minyoung tried not to do anything, even breath, for fear of breaking whatever tension was building inside the room. Her back was straight as a board, shoulders stiff, and she clutched her fingers nervously.

Had Sehun talked with Mei? Had they decided they’d get together after all? Was that why Sehun was here? To break the news to her instead of Mei because she felt too guilty to face her? Minyoung’s heart felt like it would jump out of her chest, it was beating so hard.

But he didn’t say anything, seemingly content to just lean his head against her shoulder. She didn’t dare turn her head but from what she could see from a side peek, he’d closed his eyes, almost as if he was resting.

Minutes ticked by until Minyoung’s shoulders were starting to ache from being so tense. And yet, she couldn’t bring herself to relax, or breath easy. Every inhale made his hair tickle her neck and that made her even more tensed until it felt like she would start hyperventilating.

In fact, she was beginning to hyperventilate when he finally spoke up.

‘I don’t like Mei,’ he muttered quietly.

Minyoung squeaked, jarred, not expecting the silence to be broken.

There was a quiet snort and she blushed, finally daring to move and pulling away. She turned to find Sehun in the same position, head resting against the chair’s back, eyes still closed as he smirked.

Minyoung stared at him, willing him to repeat what he’d said. Surely, he hadn’t said what she thought she had, had he?

‘I said, I don’t like Mei,’ he said, almost like he could hear her thoughts. He turned his head, opening his eyes to meet her gaze. ‘Not like that.’

Minyoung blushed, feeling like her head was on fire. That only made him smirk evilly, as he straightened his head, closing his eyes again.

She stared at him, not daring to believe. He’d said he didn’t like Mei. Did that mean…?

‘I like you,’ he muttered, turning his head away, so soft that Minyoung would’ve missed it had she not been hyperfixated on him. ‘I have, for a long time now.’

She had no idea how to react, feeling like she was seeing everything happen from the sidelines. Her fingers were tingling, there was a strange buzzing sort of feeling in her tummy and every sound seemed muted, unreal.

He liked her. Oh Sehun liked her. How was that possible? Was she dreaming?

It seemed like he was waiting for something and when she didn’t say anything, he sat up, shoulders hunching.

‘I won’t do anything,’ he muttered, still looking away, but he sounded sad now. ‘I just wanted you to know how I felt. I will keep my distance, so… don’t worry.’

And Minyoung realized with horror that he’d mistaken her silence as rejection.

In her defense, she was too busy trying to come to terms with the fact that Oh Sehun, the guy she’d been painfully crushing on over the past year or so, had publically, humiliatingly, confettisioned on, liked her back.

He stood up, not looking at her, and moved – no, marched – toward the door and Minyoung stood up quickly to follow him. She couldn’t let him leave like that.

Of course, with her luck, she should have expected to slip on the copy of Macbeth lying on the floor.

Her foot snagged and she stumbled, the corner of the table digging painfully into her thigh, and she fell, face first. Her eyes closed instinctively and she grabbed…

A handful of Oh Sehun, apparently.

Her face smacked into his surprisingly hard back and she tightened her grip around his waist to keep her balance.

Sehun had stopped in his tracks, back stiff not only because of unreasonably hard muscles but because he was just as tense as she tended to be around him.

‘Min…young?’ he asked hesitantly.

That’s when Minyoung realized, with utter mortification, that she was back-hugging Oh Sehun like some shoujo manga heroine, clutching at him like he was her lifeline.

He tried to turn around but it was far too embarrassing and she was sure she couldn’t face him; at least not yet, so she tightened her hold on his waist and closed her eyes, willing for her heart to settle down.

She almost jumped out of her skin when his fingers touched her hands, gently trying to