Chapter 37

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Hana’s always been a little observant. She can tell when her friends get their hair cut or when her mom changes her nail polish color. That’s why, as she approaches the boys after her much needed snack break, she can tell there’s a weird vibe hanging in the air. She can also tell that it probably has something to do with Baekhyun, because once she arrives at a spot next to Sehun, the older immediately looks in the opposite direction and refuses to meet her eyes. 

Hana awkwardly stares at him as she takes a sip of her drink, “What’s up with him?”

Suho rubs the back of his neck, “He’s a little upset.” At that, Baekhyun throws a glare at the older boy who, in turn, rolls his eyes.

Hana asks Baekhyun directly, putting her drink down, “What’s up, Byun Baekhyun? Why are you pouting at my party?”

He ignores her question, looking down at his watch and pretending to adjust the strap. Kyungsoo shakes his head at the immaturity.

Hana’s mind suddenly clicks two and two together when she takes notice of the giant elf standing at the dessert table with Kai, both piling on tons of sweets for what she assumes will be their second round. She looks back at Baekhyun and crosses her arms with a perfectly arched brow, “Is this about Chanyeol again? I swear, that’s all you ever get pouty about.”

At that, Baekhyun’s pout deepens and he continues to ignore her. No, you idiot! And also, stop mentioning that, it’s embarrassing!

Hana throws her hands in the air in defeat, “I don’t know how many times I gotta tell you, dude, but Chanyeol and I-”

“Aren’t dating, I know! Stop bringing it up!” Baekhyun snaps. The tension in his voice makes Hana step back for a moment.

By this time, Chanyeol and Kai make their way back to the group and Sehun hurriedly runs over, shoving a cupcake in this mouth while sputtering, “They’re at it again!”

Hana furrows her eyebrows in confusion, “Then why are you being so weird? Come on, Baekhyun, I’ve dealt with a lot tonight already. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“I know I was wrong about the Chanyeol thing, okay? So tell me that I’m wrong about this, too,” Baekhyun starts, finally making eye contact with the girl, “Is Yixing lying? Did you really give him your number?”

Hana blinks at his question in surprise and gauges the reactions of the boys around them. Kyungsoo nervously bites his lower lip while Kai slaps a hand over his face. Sehun throws his head back and sighs, while Chanyeol is expressionless while raising a macaron to his lips. Suho shakes his head and takes a sip of his drink. 

When she looks back at Baekhyun, she sees a hint of pain in his brown orbs. She calmly replies, “Well, yeah, I did because he asked for it to communicate with me about a project we were doing.”

“That’s not exactly how he made it sound,” Sehun mutters, earning a slap on the back of the head from Suho.

Hana’s jaw drops, “What did he say?”

Baekhyun, still looking disappointed, starts, “Well, he said-”

Before he can finish, the classical music that was playing switches to a slow song, the lights in the ballroom dimming. Everyone looks around to see that there are older couples leading each other to the middle of the dance floor, hand-in-hand, before claiming their spots and swaying to the music. Hana notices her parents out there too, and her mother excitedly points at her and Baekhyun before waving her over.

Reluctantly, Baekhyun holds out his hand with a sigh. Hana looks at him cautiously, still taking note of the hesitancy in his eyes and a dim to his usual energy. She slowly slips her hand into his outstretched one, and despite his current upset state, she notices that he still holds onto her hand firmly.

He leads her to the dance floor and, immediately, the other couples part to make way for Hana to be in the very center. All eyes on them, Hana awkwardly shifts in her place. Obviously he doesn’t wanna do this. How am I supposed to dance with someone who doesn’t wanna be here with me right now? She feels a pang of sadness hit her at the thought. Baekhyun softens at the sight of her uncomfortably avoiding the gaze of every pair of eyes in the room, so he pulls his hand away from hers. 

Hana looks up in surprise, but before she can get more hurt by his action, he immediately wraps one arm around her waist and picks the other hand back up in the correct placement. Hana relaxes at the slight smile that tugs at the corner of his lips, and she places her hand on top of his shoulder while squeezing his other hand in appreciation. 

Baekhyun begins to gently sway side-to-side, pulling her in closer to speak directly in her ear. She blushes at the close proximity but is mesmerized by the scent of his familiar cologne and the feeling of being in his arms again.

He softly says, “Yixing said that you gave him your number despite ‘dating’ me, and the way he questioned it made me feel like you had just forgotten about me. I know I hurt you, but I never went a single day without a thought of you popping into my mind. It made me upset at the thought of you moving on and flirting with someone else - doing everything that we had done, with someone else.”

For a second, Hana feels guilty. Sure, she gave Yixing her phone number despite him obviously being able to contact her through her work phone. And sure, maybe she knew that Yixing was making flirtatious advances, but it wasn’t like she participated in reciprocating his advances or his feelings. She thought about Baekhyun so much to the point that she had to leave the country they met in, for goodness sake!

Remembering the hardship she went through after the break-up, and all the pain leading up to it, something switched in Hana’s heart that suddenly made her feel hurt all over again. Looking at the ground, she finally mutters, “Well, what does it matter to you anyw