“Sehun, where are we going?” Byul demanded. His hold on her wrist kind of hurt and it was hard keeping up with his long strides. “Sehun—”

“Are you okay?” he dropped his hold to turn and ask her once they were a good distance from the scene.

Byul rubbed her elbow with a hand sheepishly. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“I cannot believe you!” Sehun threw his arms down in exasperation.

She blinked. “Wait, are you mad at me?”

“Yes, I’m mad at you!” he said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Why didn’t you defend yourself, Byul? You could have done something. Anything would help. Kick him, slap him, scream for help, whatever! Why didn’t you do anything? Don’t be so useless! You have hands and legs for god’s sake! Use them!”

Byul was speechless, not expecting Sehun to explode at her like that with such stinging words. She felt herself shrinking in front of him. “I tried,” she defended weakly with an uneven voice.

“Well try harder then! Dammit, Byul. Stand up for yourself!”

“You saw me, I was!”

“Then—” Sehun dropped whatever he was going to say when he looked at her face. He went from angry to concerned in the span of half a second. His mouth fell open to speak, but it took him a moment to form words. “A-Are you okay?”

Byul felt a wet tear run down her cheek and she furiously wiped it away with the back of her hand. “Quit yelling at me!”

“Don’t cry, don’t cry. Oh, jeez…” Sehun glanced around him in a panic, as if looking for help. He had no knowledge about what to do when a girl was crying. Especially since it was Byul and he had caused it. He had his hands out in front of him, but he didn’t know what to do with them.

Chanyeol appeared at their side in the next second, breathless from his run. He grabbed Sehun by the shoulders in excitement. “Dude! Those people over there are talking about what you did to that guy. He— Wait, why is Byul crying?”

Byul sent Sehun a glare. “He’s being a jerk! And I’m not even crying!” Byul wailed, just as her eyes were beginning to get watery again. She cursed herself for being the type of person who cried when angry.

“I was telling her that she should have defended herself more,” Sehun explained himself when Chanyeol sent him a look of disapproval.

Chanyeol snickered. “I think you’re angry not because Byul couldn’t defend herself more, but because you’re jeeaaaaloooouuss,” he singsonged mockingly.

“Pfft, shut up,” Sehun scoffed at Chanyeol’s remark and shoved him by the shoulder. “That is the stupidest thing I have heard all day.”

Chanyeol looked at him in skepticism with narrowed eyes. “Well anyway… That guy’s friends are looking for you.”

Sehun snickered, raising a brow and suddenly interested in everything Chanyeol had to say. “Really?”

“Yes, really!” Chanyeol was already rolling his sleeves up and beaming with excitement. “What do you say we go find them first?”

“Sounds like a plan. They don’t know who they’re messing with.”

Byul glanced back and forth between them, confused and feeling like she was missing something. They looked like they were up to no good. “Wait… What’s going on?”

“We’re going to beat up your loverboy’s friends. If they want to start a fight, then we’ll give them a fight.” Chanyeol was about to drag Sehun away with him.

“WHAT?” Byul clung on to Sehun and Chanyeol’s sleeves just before they got the chance to slip away. “You two are crazy! You’re seriously going to start a fight here?”

Sehun shrugged, as if he genuinely did not find anything wrong with what they were about to do. “Yeah, why not?”

“No!” she cried out. “Violence isn’t the answer to this!”

Chanyeol placed his hands on his hips, obviously annoyed that they were being delayed. “Then what are we supposed to do, Byul? Host a tea party, sit and chat with them nicely?” he questioned mockingly.

“Kind of? Expect the tea party thing.”

“No,” he deadpanned. “Sehun, let’s go.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Byul managed to grab on to Sehun’s arm and looked up at him desperately. “Sehun, don’t! This is crazy.”

Sehun sighed slowly. “You go ahead. I’ll meet you in five minutes,” he said to Chanyeol.

Chanyeol took off without another word, running down the hallway in excitement.

“What do you mean five minutes? Sehun—”

He was shoving Byul in the other direction before she could protest more. “Why don’t we go somewhere where you can cool down, huh?” Sehun suggested.

He guided her down the hallway deeper into the house. Knocking on a nearby door, they both waited for an answer. When there was no reply, Sehun unlocked it and they slipped inside. Upon turning the lights on, they realized it was a bathroom. It was complete with a marble sink and bathtub with golden-colored taps. Even the toilet matched.

“This is nice…” Byul observed, glancing around the luxury bathroom. “It’s so hot out there, isn’t it?” She dabbed her forehead with the back of her hand.

Byul sat at the edge of the tub against the wall. The walls were thick enough that the music was only muffled and pulsing. Following suit, Sehun sat on the other end of the tub from her. He was at least glad she wasn’t crying anymore.

“Seriously, Byul, I uhh…”

She stared at him curiously. It wasn’t often that she could witness Sehun so tongue-tied.

He directed his gaze elsewhere. “Are you okay? From what happened earlier, I mean.”

“I’m okay.” Byul shrugged, almost forgetting what had happened at that point anyway. Sehun had stepped in before anything went sour. “That guy was a creep. Urgh.”

Sehun shook his head. “Then you should have said I was your boyfriend so he would have walked away.