~My POV~

‘What the hell do you think you are doing!?!’

I was jolted back to my senses with a shock and both of us turned, only to see Junhyung oppa standing at the door.

‘I’m done for. Out of all people it had to be him seeing us like this?’

I pushed Minhyuk oppa with all my strength and stood up.

“J-junhyung oppa, it’s not what you see..” I stuttered but that seemed to make him even angrier.

“Not what I see? Then what is?” He hissed and walked towards Minhyuk oppa who was by now standing.

Before I could even say a word, he punched him. I stifled a scream and ran forward to stop Junhyung oppa. He pushed me away harshly but I stood in front of Minhyuk oppa protectively, afraid he would hurt him again.

“He’s my brother’s bandmate! DON’T. TOUCH. HIM,” I emphasized every word angrily and pulled Minhyuk oppa with me.

I searched for the first aid kit in my wardrobe and stormed out of the dorm, leaving everyone in the living room confused and baffled. I didn’t let go of him until we reached my usual spot downstairs, in a secluded spot in the park that no one would go. I loved the serenity there and it was where I would always be when I needed to calm myself down.

“Mianhae oppa, I.. had no idea he would do that..” I mumbled as I fumbled in the box for tissue to wipe away the blood which had formed on his lips.

“Gwenchana, it’s not your fault,” He smiled.

‘People should stop smiling when they don’t mean it. It hurts for the person who cares’

“Isn’t it the same for you?”

“Huh?” I looked up at him, confused.

“People should stop smiling when they don’t mean it. It hurts for the person who cares” He smirked.

“Y-yah!” I had no idea I had said that out loud.

He chuckled and continued, “But yeah I meant what I said. Aren’t you like that too?”

I froze before quickly changing the topic.

“Aish stop talking! I can’t dress your wound like that!” I raised my voice and dabbed at the cut using a cotton bud which I applied medication on.

“Ouch!” He winced in pain.

“Ah mianhae! I’ll be gentler..” I whispered and slowly poked at his lips, gentler this time round.

“There! All done! But it’s still gonna hurt if it comes into contact with water so be careful,” I started packing up, oblivious to the fact that he was staring at me curiously.

“Don’t you know why Junhyung hyung’s reaction was so big just now?”

I froze for a split second and shook my head.

“Are you sure you wanna go back to your dorm? Oppa’s gonna ask.. He’ll kill you if he knows what happened,” I sighed.

“But if I don’t go back, everyone’s gonna ask, especially hyung. Oh gosh, he can be scary at times..” He muttered.

“Arasso.. Go back and have some rest okay? I’m sure you have schedules tomorrow,” I smiled and slowly made my way back to the dorm.

“You’re so dense.. pabo,” He whispered.

“Yah! Wait for me!” He shouted.

We stepped out of the lift to see Junhyung oppa sitting at the doorstep of my dorm. I sighed and signaled for him to go back into the lift but before I could walk back in, someone grabbed onto my wrist, stopping me from leaving.

“Where are you going?”

“Oppa’s place”

“You should go back to your dorm, it’s late,” Minhyuk oppa nudged me and gave a knowing nod.

“Arasso. Oppa oyasumi!”

He looked surprised before nodding and waving me goodbye. I didn’t move even after the lift closed and went down. I just stood there silently. After a while spoke.

“Mianhae you ah. I.. didn’t know why I did that. I didn’t think..”

I turned and started walking to my dorm, ignoring him. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around me and I flinched involuntarily despite knowing it could only be Junhyung oppa. I guess he noticed because he let go suddenly and turned me to face him.

“Mianhae, I didn’t mean to remind you of.. But you should know I will never hurt you..” He cupped my face with his hands, staring deep into my eyes.

“Forgive oppa pweaseeeeee?”

Shock was registered in my face before I burst out laughing and nodded my head while he frowned.

“Ne ne. Omg I got a shock! You were so serious and out of a sudden you did aeygo?!,” I laughed uncontrollably and added, “Maybe you should show your fans this side. I’m sure they’ll be super happy!”

“Yah what’s this! Talking rubbish again!” He retorted and hit me on the head.

“That hurts!” I pouted while rubbing the spot where he just hit me.

“That’ll teach you not to talk nonsense again. Go back to your dorm quickly, it’s getting late,” He chuckled.

I nodded and waved goodbye to him before disappearing back to my dorm.

The next day when we went for practice, CEO nim gathered the five of us to tell us that we were going to debut end of this year, meaning we still had slightly more than six months to prepare everything. Our teaser videos, first ever official music video, album recording and dance choreography, not forgetting the image our group was supposed to portray. All of us got really excited at this news and couldn’t stop talking about it. Also, he gave us a few days off for us to spend time with our family since there wouldn’t be much time for us to do so once preparations were ongoing.

That same day I flew back home without Peniel oppa because he had schedules to do. Once I reached the airport, I saw my parents waiting for me at the arrivals hall and I was so happy to see them again. Another surprise I got was that YY was waiting there for me as well!

I ran to her immediately after I collected my luggage and hugged her.

“I missed you chingu!” I shouted.

“I miss you too!” She hugged me back.

“How’s school?”

“Girls, why not you talk on the way home? YY’s staying with us for the time while you’re here,” My mum smiled.

“Omo jinjja!?” I turned to YY and gasped.

She nodded and started asking me about everything that happened in cube, as we were making our way to dad’s car. It seemed like mum told her about Peniel oppa and how everyone in school who knew me were making a fuss out of it.

“Do you want to come to my university tomorrow? My class starts in the afternoon so I can bring you around in the morning before that!” YY asked excitedly.

“Ne, that’ll be awesome!” I skipped around happily.

I had already gotten used to waking up early so I had no problem when the alarm rang. In fact, it was the first time in ages I got to wake up at nine instead of the usual five or six. YY was already up preparing and kept rushing me. I laughed at how excited she was and quickened my pace.

We finally reached her university after half an hour or so. The moment I stepped into the university, I saw a few familiar faces, even those popular kids from my previous college. I didn’t really like them, because of stuff that happened. Thanks to them, I didn’t have much friends and I couldn’t enjoy college life to the fullest. I rolled my eyes and continued walking with YY.

That same day I reached home, my mind was in a mess, mostly due to what I heard earlier on in the morning. I made up an excuse to fly back to Korea early the next day. I needed Peniel oppa’s advice.

‘Did I make the wrong choice after all?’ I sighed in my seat as I watched the clouds fly past.