"_____," Kibum called, knocking on your dorm room, anxiously waiting for you to answer the door. "I brought Chocopies!"
            But to his disappointment, it was Song Qian who opened the door. "Sorry, Kibum. I don't know where she is right now, either."
            Kibum bit his lip. "Okay. Here, you can take these. If she ever comes around, let me know, alright?"
            "You know I will," Song Qian said gently. He probably looked really pathetic to her, hunting for _____ like a lost puppy. But you were the most important person in his life, his best friend and the girl he was in love with, and he would do anything, everything, and more, for you.
            Kibum walked off, shoving his hands in his pockets. Damnit. Why was he the only one who cared about _____? Henry Lau was gone; he had no idea what happened to that guy now. Ryeowook was off gallivanting with his pretty freshmen friends, and Song Qian was useless.
            Screw that, he was going to find you and put you straight, if no one else would.
            But he hadn't seen you in so long—a full week. You were in the middle of your exams right now, probably off studying, but he couldn't find you anywhere in the huge SNU library. Qian said you hardly ever home, and you never once came to his apartment. 
            Kibum walked more quickly, more frustratedly. He would spend the rest of the day searching for you in this endless library, even if he failed all his exams.
He ducked through row after row of bookshelves, trying to see if you were curled up in between them when he couldn't find you at any of the desks. He went through every single floor, searching every nook and cranny for a sign of you, but to no avail. He literally spent hours carefully scouring the library for you, but again, but met with no success. He trailed hopelessly to the very top floor, his feet dragging behind him. If you weren't here, he had no idea where to look for her next.
            But—wait, wasn't that your bag? He moved closer the corner of the top floor, taking step after slow, careful step…and finally found you, curled up in a ball on the floor, fast asleep. He sighed, exhausted, and slid onto the floor next to you, gently changing your position so that your head was resting in his lap. He closed his eyes, telling himself, Just for a second. Just a quick rest.

                                                                                                                           ~*~ 

            "_____! I'm home!" He called into the house, carefully closing the door behind him and stepping into his house slippers.
            "You're home! Appa, you're home!" three cheerful, high-pitched voices answered, as the owners of those voices bounced around his legs, tugging on his clothing, begging to be picked up.
            You walked into the scene, smiling warmly. Kibum felt his heart race at the simple sight of you. 
            "Bummie," you said, cupping his face in your hands. "I'm glad you're home."
            He leaned down to kiss you, taking you by your waist, "It's good to be home."
            "Ew!" the three children shrieked. "Umma and appa are kissing!"
            Kibum laughed and started chasing after to them, pretending to be a monster. 
            You called after your little family, "Yah, you all better be getting ready for dinner!"

                                                                                                                            ~*~ 

            You, on the other hand, were having a very different dream. It was a nightmare from the start; you knew it as soon as you found yourself in the club. You've had this nightmare several times before; although the locations were different, the subject was always the same.
            It was always him, kissing some other girl. Sometimes he was with more than one girl, sometimes they weren't kissing, sometimes they were doing more than kissing, but the main point was that each and every time, he wasn't with you.
            That wasn't even the worst part of the nightmares. The worst part is that he would look up and see you, and he wouldn't do anything. Not an apology, a look of remorse, not a single damn thing except to smirk that ridiculous, haughty smirk of his, and continue kissing some random girl.
            It broke you, every single time. No matter how many times you saw it, the pain never decreased. It was heartbreaking, as if your heart couldn't be any more broken.
            In one dream you finally snapped. You grabbed him and dragged him away from his horde of girls. Surprisingly, he didn't make a single protest, just watched you with those wide, knowing eyes of his. You shoved him into your car and started driving, wishing he would protest or yell at you or snap something sassy, but he said nothing. The look in his eyes told you that he knew exactly what was going to happen, even though you yourself didn't. You wanted to yell at him, but something just pushed you to drive faster, avoiding his gaze, ignoring all the feelings that were close to driving you insane. 
            And then you drove a cliff.
            In the real world, you somehow slipped off Kibum's lap, startling both you and him awake. You shot up into a sitting position, while he moved more slowly, still groggy from his meager nap.
            When he finally focused, he saw your wild eyes and heaving chest and gently drew you to him. Holding you close, he murmured, 
            "Nightmare?"
            "Yeah."
            "About…?"
            "Yeah," you buried your face in his shirt.
            He breathed deeply, the sound of his steady heart slowly calming your own. When you finally collected yourself, he pulled away to look at you and ask,
            "What was it about?"
            Your bottom lip shook. "The same thing." You didn't tell him you had barely been sleeping with studying for finals and the added pressure of the nightmares. You were just so, so, so tired, you could barely think or feel anymore.
            Kibum held back a sigh. He pressed you close to him again and said quietly, partly to soothe you and partly so he wouldn't disturb anyone else in the library,
            "_____-ah, you have to stop thinking about him. It's not your concern anymore."
            "That's a lie," you croaked. "It'll always be my concern."
            "I thought you were doing better," Kibum said, your hair.
            "I thought I was, too," you confessed. "I thought I'd found a way out…but with the way everything ended with Henry, it reminded me so much of him."
            Kibum rubbed your back and told you, "Don't think of him. I try not to."
            "Aren't you afraid?" you asked. 
            "Afraid to forget?" Kibum asked, even though he already knew what you meant. "No. I'm not, because I can't ever forget. But I don't let it ruin my life."
            "But I ruined his," you whispered.
            Kibum's eyebrows furrowed. "You know that's not true."
            "I don’t know what to believe anymore," you felt yourself tear up.
            "You need to forgive yourself," Kibum said sagely. "Then you need to give yourself a second chance. And most of all, you need to stop running away from everyone. We care about you, believe it or not."
            You felt horribly guilty now, thinking of the "we" Kibum implied. You thought of Song Qian, who must've worried her heart out alone at the dorm, and you thought of Ryeowook, whom you'd been ignoring, despite his phone calls.

            “I’m the worst friend to ever exist,” you stated miserably.

            “_____, that’s not—“

            “No, Kibum,” you interrupted. “I know what I am. I’ve been like this for two years, haven’t I? I’ve only just started to see it…but I’ve made quite the horrible friend, haven’t I?”

            Kibum assured you gently, “That’s not it. We understand, and we want you to feel better not for us, but for you. I can’t stand seeing you hurt. I’ve told you a thousand and one times already, but I would never do anything to make you feel hurt. Up until now, you’ve always protected me, so now I’m going to protect you. I’ll do anything to make you smile, even if it kills me.”
            It’s not very often someone can squeeze so many words out of Kim Kibum. There were few things he was passionate enough about to talk about for so long, and you were touched hearing those words from him. You were at a loss for what to say, so you said awkwardly, "How is everyone?"
            Not trying hard enough to make you feel better like I am, Kibum thought. But he told her, "We miss having you around, of course."
            You took a long look at Kibum. For his sake, solely for the reason that you didn't want to worry him again, you decided you would do your best to move on. Now, looking at everything unspoken that revealed itself plainly in his eyes—some emotions you couldn't name—you believed you could walk to the ends of the earth for Kim Kibum. Even if it meant you would be suffering the whole way, you would do it for him.
            When you nodded in agreement, his grin lit up his entire face, the entire library. "Great!" he said excitedly. "Meet me outside of your dorm room later. I have a really big surprise for you."
            You weren't sure what he was trying to say, but your heart started to pound at his words, and you could even feel yourself smiling a little as you gathered up all your stuff.

                                                                                                                                ~*~

            "So you'll do it?" Kibum asked.
            He had never seen Kibum look so excited about anything. "I don't know…"
            "Come on! Please?" Kibum implored.
            He cocked an eyebrow. When did Kibum ever beg? "Are you sure I'm the one that should be doing this?"
            Kibum's jaw clenched unconsciously. "I can't do it."
            "Why? You're the one that's in love with her," he said matter-of-factly, not unkindly.
            Kibum was surprised he knew. Did everyone know, or did he and Kibum just become close enough as friends for him to tell?
            "I can't. Not when she only sees me as a brother. If she just wants me as a brother, then I'll be the best brother I can be," Kibum said determinedly.
            He stared at Kibum in amazement. "You really do love her."
            "Will you do it or not?" Kibum pressed.
            "I'll do it," he resigned, looking at the now-triumphant Kibum with eyes full of pity.

                                                                                                                                ~*~ 

            “Yiyun,” Song Qian addressed her little sister. “Did you get home safely?”

            “Yeah, yeah, jiejie,” Eunyoung said flippantly as she threw herself on her bed, cell phone in hand. “Of course I’m safe.”

            “I just worry about you.”

            “Jiejie, you don’t have to worry so much.” Eunyoung’s tone softened. “Besides, you’ve already been so good to me.”

            “I want you to be happy. I hope you can tell me that having Henry finally know the truth makes you happy.”

            Eunyoung said slowly, “It does. He says he’s still sorting everything out, but that he definitely feels something for me too.”

            “That’s good to hear, Yiyun.”

            “Yeah. Well, you should go study, jie. You have exams still!” In truth, Eunyoung still felt a little awkward about having put herself between her sister and her sister’s best friend, but Eunyoung knew that everything had been for the better. “I’ll call you again another time, okay?”

            “Love you, meimei.”

            “Love you, too, jiejie.”

            Qian thought to herself after she hung up the phone, I’ve done my part as the big sister. Now it’s time for me to be a good friend.

                                                                                                                                ~*~

            You bounded down the stairs of your dorm, somehow managing to be excited at the prospect of Kibum's surprise, despite breaking up with Henry and all the nightmares it caused. How could Kibum do it? How did he always manage to make you smile? You felt lucky beyond words to have a friend like him in your life. 
            When you burst through the front door, you accidentally stumbled into the person who was leaning with one hand against the other side of it. 
            "Oh, I'm so sorry—Siwon!" you exclaimed when you caught sight of him dusting off his neat clothes.
            "Hey, _____," he said with that easy-going, dimpled grin of his, bowing politely in greeting.
            You bowed in return then asked him confusedly, "What are you doing here?"
            "To see you, of course," Siwon said, not losing a bit of his charm.
            "Don't tell me—are you Kibum's surprise?"
            "That sounds about right," he replied, tucking his hands into his pockets smartly.
            "But…huh?"
            Siwon smiled again, looking like a prince straight from a fairytale. "Would you like to go on a date with me, _____?"

A/N: It’s been a whole month, I’m terribly sorry. I was on vacation and then each time I tried to update AFF was down. Well this is going to be a triple update (+ a special surprise) so let me just edit the other chapters and I’ll put them up :DDD

Did anyone notice how that opening is like the first chapter? We've come in a full cycle…onto the next part of the story. And omg! An article came out about Wookie's major…and he majored in composition OMG JUST LIKE I GUESSED. I know my baby so well<3 
One last thing. I was worried that this might confuse some, but the contradicting parts about how helpful Ryeowook and Song Qian are, are not contradicting because Kibum thinks they aren't helpful at all, while the Reader thinks her friends are quite helpful. I hope that makes sense x) 

I'm sorry this was such a bad chapter =/// I just wasn't feeling the story anymore when writing this XD I almost abandoned it in place of the new one I've been planning, but I decided not to, for the people who have said they enjoyed this story ^^ Thank you so much, your support means everything. I promise my next story will be LOADS better than this ^o^