-august slipped away into a moment in time, 'cause it was never mine-

 He wanted to label it as love but there was Yerim arguing with him at the dinner table, telling him that, no, time. You need more time to decide on something like that. Only five weeks aren’t enough. The routine Irene had made for him hung on his wall in the company of clear tapes. She matched their schedules for convenience. There was texting time and there were free slots for potential dates, along with his daily chores time and his homework time and his bonding-with-your-sister time. Yerim mustn’t have seen this because then she would laugh at his face saying they didn’t need that. In this way, their lives merged day by day. He stored in his fridge the leftover yogurts of the day from the cafe so that he could see that big smile on her face. She told him her writing skills were improving because she had found a new muse now. 

i am going to do something really
idk
Something really overdue
00:39

Hmm and what might that be?
00:39

i’m going to talk with someone who has broken my heart
He’s been breaking my heart for years now.
00:40

 Sehun read that text twice. And then once more. How was he supposed to reply to this. With aggression or with sympathy? He felt both for her at the same time while he also wanted to know what she was going to talk about with the one who broke her heart.

Is your heart still broken?
00:43

no
00:43

Her answer came in a flash, calming his heart like a soothing gel.

i don’t feel anything for him anymore
so i hope i’m going to be fine
wish me luck. he gave me his number and i’m gonna text him now
00:46

Do you want the meeting place to be where i work at?
00:46

Mm no
Trust me i’ll be fine
Though seeing your face will really give me a lot of strength to end whatever i have with him
Whatever i had for him, it died. It was dead for so long i didn’t realize until you appeared in my life. Sehun do you think I really deserve everything you do for me? Or are you just being nice?
00:48

 Her texts kept coming. His heart raced in his ribs as he ditched his mechanics notes and found himself drowning in that little device in his hands. After spending weeks after weeks with her, Sehun had no idea why Irene was still asking him this question. But perhaps her heart was broken by the guy who she had liked in this very manner, because he had replied to her 'are you just being nice' with a cold 'yes'. Sehun bit his lower lip, wondering what would be the perfect answer that would make her feel good. Irene’s heart was so fragile, he was afraid he would say something wrong.

What I feel for you is very real, Irene. I really need you in my life.
00:53

 His phone buzzed with a sudden video call. Sehun almost dropped the phone. Pressing on the green icon quickly, he propped the phone against the mountain of books on his desk. Irene was sitting on her bed with the lights off. He heard the shuffling as she switched on the lamp beside her bed. His eyes sagged at the corner at the sight of her puffy face. She would just give sleeping all the blame but in his skipping heart, he knew she had shed some tears. With a large smile on her face she waved at him.

 Sehun tilted his head and waved back. Due to the weak connection, her face was a little blurry. He could guess she won't really be able to read his lips through these devices. Sehun grabbed a thick marker and turned to a new page. You're very pretty, he wrote in all caps and held it in front of his face, tilting his head to see her reaction.

 Her smile dimmed instead. Irene looked away before grabbing her own notepad and pencil. 

 It's weird. There will always be these pens and pencils and papers in between us.

 She was sad; it was evident in the curves of her on the paper and in her golden eyes. Sehun blinked at the sentence before putting the paper down, giving her a sad smile. Sehun wasn't used to this face of hers. But why was he expecting a person to be all-smiles all the time when he himself existed with so many emotions in his own body? 

 We won't need them for long, he told her, we'll talk with our eyes. 

 It made her lips curl up in a sweet smile. You're a very patient person. 

 And you're very kind. He wrote in his paper for her. Irene wasn't like everybody. When with her, he was never laughed at for the things he didn't know, nor was he judged for his inexperience. The door behind him suddenly slammed open and Yerim rushed in with her earphones hanging around her neck. She looked terrified. Sehun was about to write on his paper, what's wrong? but then remembered that Yerim wasn't like Irene. 

 "There is a freaking spider...uh, sorry..." her loud voice faded as she caught sight of Irene's face in his phone. And then with a huge smile on her own, Yerim enthusiastically waved at her brother's girlfriend. Sehun watched the exchange as Irene sat up and waved with the same bright spark in her eyes. Yerim grabbed the marker out of his hand and scribbled "Hi! I'm Yerim!"  and Sehun watched Irene write something similar back to Yerim. 

 "You get rid of the spider," Yerim shoved him out of his chair before taking his spot.

 "Careful. She's a little sad today," Sehun said, walking across his room towards the door.

 "Hmm hmm, okay. You go. Don't kill it."

 "Then...what am I supposed to do?" He asked but Yerim wasn't listening to him anymore. She was scared but she still wanted it to live because it wasn't the creature's fault that it was so ugly-looking. When he returned, Yerim had used half of his copy while speaking to Irene and his girlfriend was showing her around her room through the lens of the camera. That was the difference between the two of them. Sehun only made it to her house after talking to her for a month but Yerim did it in only five minutes.

 They waved each other goodnight. Yerim returned to her room with a satisfied smile as he turned the phone off. And then he settled on his bed to go over the things Yerim had said to Irene. 

 Why are u sad? Guy problems? My brother giving u stress?

 no, tell me. I wanna knowwww

 Look. That was just one guy who didn't deserve u at all. Don't be sad about boys who break. Break ur heart and ur head and ur house. YOU DESERVE BETTER. I'll teach my brother to be a real man for u. ok?

 School's alright. I still hold water bottles but now the manager lets me check the attendance of interns too.

 I know, he is a good man. U look reallyyyyyyyyy sad.

 U know, u look so pretty all the time. I understand why Sehun is so blinded by u. I want 1 nephew and 2 nieces. Okay? Please don't be sad. I'm sending u a lot of hugs.

 Yes, I want to seeeee

 Sehun reached the end. His shoulders relaxed and he s