Oh Sehun is hard to know. 

Maybe it was better to say he was hard to understand. But, to him he felt like there are a lot of things that can't be understood, and thus are considered unknown--it was different to be understood but still feel like you are unknown. His best friend, Byun Baekhyun, understands why Sehun is the way that he is...but he doesn't know everything that happened after; the things that made all of Sehun's issues seem real and not just like some sort of possibility. 
He was also hard to know in the sense that getting him to agree to plans was a fight every time, thus often he just wasn't around if the group was larger than just him, Baekhyun, and occasionally his other friends. That's why everyone had been shocked when he decided to attend the party hosted by one of Baek's flings. 
It was also confusing how he'd been so adamantly against it, up until the point that he wasn't. Which happened to be a couple of hours after Byun Jinsol left his house. 

He prayed that nobody would connect those dots. He'd kept everything hidden for so many years, it would be a waste if he threw it away just because there was a possibility he could get her to look at him. Thankfully, nobody said anything, and instead they were just excited he'd decided to join in on the fun. 

Except it wasn't fun. Not to him and he could tell not to Jinsol either. He made small talk with people because it was expected of him, and he too wasn't able to avoid the enticing feeling of being liked and accepted by strangers. But all of his facade of interest cracked when Jinsol's friend walked off, and he started overthinking whether or not he should approach her. Immediately he knew the answer was no. But then she pulled out her phone and stared at it; he didn't know if she was reading a text message or what, but he felt as if he could use it as an in. When he got closer, he heard her ringtone. "Are you going to answer that?" 

He tried to forget everything that happened after that, because he knew he had no right to wonder about her life now. He was the one who'd removed himself from the picture. He was the one who had regretted it, and then forced himself to be angry with her for not listening to him after everything was said and done. He held onto anger because he'd learned quite young that it was a powerful numbing agent. 

But still he thinks about what it felt like to be truly known. 

~~~~

~~~~

The rest of that week before school started was spent nursing her jet-lag. She might have used that as an excuse to be lazy--no, she definitely did--but she'd been able to also use the time to come to terms with her parents pending divorce. She still wasn't sure if she should be grateful that she'd already had the time to get used to not living with them. She had the ability to pretend everything was how it was supposed to be. In her head she could still act like she was at her aunt's house, and just FaceTiming her mom and dad at separate times. 
She learned four years ago that she wasn't good at dealing with her issues. Seeing is believing and sometimes it's easier to refuse to see anything at all.

 "Jinsollll! I'm leaving without you!" Baekhyun yelled from somewhere downstairs. She quickly grabbed her bag from her floor before heading downstairs. When she reached the last step, Baekhyun was already looking at her with a hand over his mouth, "Look at you, all grown up," he spoke in a fake choked up tone. 
Sol rolled her eyes, he was mimicking what their mother had said before she left for work. Jinsol can't say she missed how overdramatic they all are

"Shut up, we're going to be late." She walked past him, and tried to grab his keys out of his hands but he lifted them out of her reach before she could. She acted like nothing happened as she headed for the passenger seat instead. 

"You're a little weasel." Baekhyun said as he slid into his seat, "There's no way I'd let you drive my baby." 

She scoffed, "I took drivers Ed, and I used to drive myself around all the time." Her aunt had told her she was a pretty good driver, actually. 

Baekhyun snorted, "I've heard how people in California drive, I'm sure it's not too hard to be considered a good driver there." He said as if he heard her thoughts. Jinsol tsked at Baekhyun for blindly believing a stereotype. 

She was about to respond, but then her phone dinged. Pulling it out, she was greeted with not one, but two messages from two different people. 

From: Do Kyungsoo #2

Am I supposed to act like I don't know you today? 

From: Lee Yubi #1

Where are you? I'm already at uni, and so is Kyungsoo.

She bit her bottom lip as she hesitated on what to reply. She'd been ignoring Kyungsoo for two weeks, ever since their whole 'break-up' thing happened. Maybe she's not the worst person ever, because this is the message she's finally going to respond to. It didn't help that his name in her phone reminded her of when they first started dating, and Yubi found out and put the #1 to remind Jinsol that she should always come first, and not Kyungsoo. She quickly responded to both messages before putting her phone into her bag. 

To: Do Kyungsoo #2

No...

To: Lee Yubi #1

Almost there. 

~~~~

~~~~. 

​​​​​​I only have two classes today. Jinsol kept reminding herself as she walked through the halls towards her first class. The problem wasn't school itself, she didn't even mind it that much, the problem was that this place was crawling with people she didn't want to run into. People who made her fight or flight instincts flare up. That's why she flew past Baekhyun when they got out of the car, she just wanted to get where she needed to be and then leave for lunch. Even though, by so many people she really only meant two, and what were the odds she'd run into two people among hundreds? 

Despite the fact that she told Kyungsoo not to ignore her, that didn't mean she wanted to face him. Jinsol had managed to make it through most of her life thus far without being the problem, but she was the problem this time. 

The other person she didn't want to run into--it was really quite obvious--is Oh Sehun. The man she'd successfully spoken to once since being back. And the second most confusing part of being back home--rivaled only by her parents; who Baekhyun had informed her they'd be having dinner with tomorrow.  

Jinsol straightened h