02. The Nice Guy

  Leah has skipped an entire week of classes since that horrendous Monday. The whole week was dreadful as she found her thoughts racing and heart bundling up. She even got lost while eating her meals and it would take her at least an hour to be done with anything throughtout the week. Her brain trying to convince herself that they're just messing around and making fun of her, all four of them, only because they found her innocent. However, to her greatest dismay, she had even sat down to research about werewolves and their existence in the current world. Each day prolonged into a whole year it felt like, and everyday was way too real to be a dream only.
 

  Staying home or looking for jobs are all she has done but no matter how much she wanted to distract herself from the sick feeling in her stomach, Leah failed to. She miserably failed. She was reminded of the four men frequently, with eyes close or open and the week was utterly frustrating.
 

  Classes are a must, she is paying for them after all--technically her father is which makes classes more mandatory. Her father's hard-earned money shouldn't go to waste only because she is too chicken to show up in front of some delusional men. That is why, she is out in the corridor of the fourth floor of Yanghwa University of Liberal Arts, keeping her face hidden with a face-mask and a ridiculously neon pink hoodie pulled over her head. She only has one hoodie, unfortunately. She grew out of her other ones.

  In her absent-minded trance, she finds herself flying off the ground for a milisecond-- Oh cool! It's a dream after all -- but her joy is short-lived as she lands on her and a pain kicks off up her spine. Someone has just bumped on her and here she is thinking it is finally time to wake up from her nightmare. That hurts more than the pain in her . She catches sight of countless books scattered across the floor and she instinctively reaches out to gather them. 

  "Hey, are you okay?" A guy gently takes the books from her hand, the two she has picked up. His eyes fill with worry as he moves closer to her body and offers her a hand. Out of some prior trauma, Leah gasps at his handsome face. Wondering if he too will blurt out 'Ah, I'm your mate' or something. She just can't trust handsome men anymore. 

  "Miss, are you okay?" he asks again, louder this time.

  Is it weird that she is staring at his lips? His string of apology soon ends with a "Are you okay, miss? Let's go to the infirmary if not--Miss, can you hear me?" He starts speaking in sign language, assuming she has hearing disability.

  Her cheeks redden. Leah swallows hard, embarrassed that he has made her so speechless. "I-I'm fine."

  "Again, I'm very sorry," he continues, "Get up if you will," he offers her his hand again. Leah blushes, placing her hand in his. Such a nice way to start a morning, even if her body hurts a little here and there. Nothing the sight of a handsome man can't fix.

  However, the guy loses his attention on her as soon as footsteps start thundering down the corridor. Before long, she is forcefully pulled to a standing position from behind with two strong arms. There it is again, the mushy gushy. Eyes wide, she turns around to a panting Chanyeol. "What are you..." doing here? she wants to ask because he shouldn't be ruining the moment. But she gives up with a sigh.

  "I don't see you for a week and when I do, you're on the floor," Chanyeol rants out, his curly locks slipping through the nike cap before he fixes it again on his head.

  Leah rolls her eyes, "I didn't die."

  "It was actually my fault--"

  "Right," Another voice cuts in. Leah looks down to see Sehun gathering books on the floor because none of them had. "We'll see you later," he hands the nice guy the books before turning his back on him, "Bye now." There is a fake smile on his face as he gathers both Leah and Chanyeol in his arms and walks them out of the whole situation so casually. Leah protests for a second, but he shuts her up with a soft glare. Leah casts the nice guy another look, hoping he would see how she would be anywhere but with her mates. But instead of coming to her rescue, he just innocently waves at her. 

  "I'll see you later," he says, making Leah nod.

  "Are you hurt anywhere?" Sehun's common-sense voice cuts through her thoughts again. Leah pushes his hand off her shoulder, trying to move away but Sehun gently pulls her back in.

  She rolls her eyes, stuck in between two tall pillars now, namely Chanyeol and Sehun. She fixes her hood on her head, the whole thing pointless now because she had only worn this to make them not see her.

  "I wanted to know his name but you guys had to mess it up," she grumbles.

  "Yeah, very sorry about that," Chanyeol replies sarcastically. "Why were you absent?"

  "Uh," Leah thinks for a second before thinking of throwing in a lie. They can't know that she was scared to face them. "I was on a vacation...with my boyfriend."

  The both of the snicker loudly. "Drop it already. We're not buying that."

  "I know, you thought you could chicken out of this," Chanyeol smiles a goofy grin. "Unfortunately, you can't unless we reject you or you reject us--"

  "Reject you?" Leah's ears perks up with excitement.

  Sehun clicks his tongue, as he walks. "You dumb piece of , stop giving her ideas." He barks at Chanyeol who rolled his eyes, as if he doesn't care.

  "Am I not rejecting you guys already?" Leah looks at Sehun, then at Chanyeol, back at Sehun and back at Chanyeol but they don't seem to be willing to tell her what is going. Leah sighs, "Fine, I'll just ask Baekhyun."

  Chanyeol heaves a sigh, "Like, you have to say it officially. I don't know how that stuff works. Yeah, Baekhyun would know. What does he not know..." he mutters before shutting up. Chanyeol's knuckles brush her hand as he moves closer so that the other students can pass. Leah doesn't like the fluttering of her stomach. The scent around her is an intoxicating mixture of her favorite things. She almost wants to ask what perfume they use, it willn't be her first time using men's deo. They just smell so good.

  "Fine then. I'll say it now," Leah shrugs, "I reject--"

  "Are you crazy?" Sehun's steely voice booms in her ears as his hand stays against . His eyes wide with fear. So are Chanyeol's. Chanyeol sighs before patting Sehun's shoulder and gently pushing him off of Leah who looks shaken by the loud outburst from the cool guy. "This is not a joke, Leah. I know you probably think we're...we're crazy," Sehun sounds frustrated now, like his patience has run out. "We know you need time. That's why we decided to be friends with you first before jumping into anything else. But at the end of the day, we depend on you."

  Leah gulps at the sight. They have successfully turned heads in the corridor. Sehun's wild eyes dance inside her brain as Chanyeol holds him back. He seems as if he would punch the hell out of her if she keeps this nonchalance up. "W-Why is it a big deal?" She finds herself asking.

  None of the two guys speak. One infuriated with her, the other clearly disappointed. Now, she does feel bad for them. "Uh, I'll just ask Baekhyun," she mumbles, curling up in her space against the wall. The guilt crosses her features. She can't look them in the eyes. So she quietly moves away from them, "I'll...see you later."

  She escapes that Tuesday but how long will she be able to?
 

 
 "Leah, Leah, Leah!"
 

  Baekhyun clears her table while she doesn't look up at him. Baekhyun is panting, placing a leaflet on the now empty space. "Soccer tryouts!" He says, excited. Leah smiles up at him. "So you wanna come with me?" He asks. Baekhyun pulls a chair closer and sits opposite her, straddling the chair.
 

  "Oh, I don't play soccer, Baekhyun." Leah tells him, making him laugh.
 

  Baekhyun places his glasses down beside her arm, saying, "It's for the boys only. I was going to try, I think even Chanyeol is. It will be so great if could come."

  "What will I do?" Leah goes back to scribbling on her notebook, pretending to study. Baekhyun sighs, the sound not her favorite. She isn't