As the orange glow from the sunrise filter into my room through the sheer curtains, my finger curled, grasping the empty sheets. I slowly opened my eyes to see only dried rose petals surrounding me. My chest tightened as I let my mind drift back to the previous night.

                “How am I supposed to get you to listen?” I murmured softly into the crisp morning air. ‘How was I going to get him to understand? Should I have Kris talk to him? Kris still doesn’t know that I remember.’

                A groan escaped my lips and I sat up, raking my hair back with my fingers.

                “Well, I guess the first step is going back to the guys.” I sighed and got up, shuffling to the bathroom. Upon looking in the mirror, a huge groan left on my breath. I had a cut just above my temple from the wall, as well as a dark, purple bruise along that brow, not to mention slightly swollen lips from the roughness of Chunji’s kiss. I cursed under my breath as I realized my wrist was bruised from how I fell, and possibly Chunji’s grip as well. With a sigh, I cleaned up the cut haphazardly and placed a band aid as best I could to cover it up.

                After fixing myself up, I searched for a pair of good clothes in my room. The only thing I could find were some dance clothes, Quickly, I changed, grabbed my other clothes, and left my room. Just as I stepped into the living room, my phone’s ringtone blared from my purse.

                “Hello?” My voice came out shaky and I shook my head, trying to regain my strength and senses.

                “Jihyun? Ji, where the hell are you?” I let myself relax at the sound of Kris’ voice, despite the worry and anger in his words.

                “I’m in Korean, but I’m coming back right now.” My words were true enough; as I held the phone to my ear I was stuffing my clothes into my purse and crossing to the door.

                “Okay.” Hearing a sigh of relief on his end, I smiled to myself. “We’re going out to pick up some things, and then we’ll be going to practice.”

                “I’ll be there in three hours or so. See you soon.”

                “See you, Ji.” Hanging up the call, I left my apartment and sighed.

                Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the taxi and made my way into the building. As to avoid any questions, I quickly walked to the practice rooms, not looking at anyone. When I opened Exo-M’s room, I felt a wave of relief was over me. I was alone.

                After setting up the music and placing myself in the center of the room, I started practicing to Exo’s songs. I had already practiced ‘History’ four times through, and as it came to an end again, I sat myself on the floor. Applause met my ears and my heartbeat flared. Reaching up, I ruffled my bags and moved them to hide my injury.

                “Mei-Mei still looks amazing!” Tao cried out happily and rushed over. He sat behind me, hugging me tightly around my shoulders. I mindlessly stiffened at the tough, wincing slightly. “Mei-Mei?” Tao asked worriedly and I forced myself to relax. I had realized how painfully taut my shoulders were.

                “Sorry Tao, I didn’t sleep well last night. Stiff muscles, you know?” Honestly, I didn’t know what they were so sensitive; I thought that answer was the best. I offered an apologetic smile over my shoulder and he happily nodded. “Let’s practice, yeah?” With another nod from the youngest, we got up and restarted the song. The others stood back to watch as the two of us danced through ‘History.’ As we reached about halfway through the song, it stopped. Tao whined at whoever stopped the music, but I averted my gaze to look at the ground. I faintly heard someone hush the maknae, but I was more focused on the footsteps nearing my figure.

                “What happened in Korea, Jihyun?” I cringed at the strong voice and turned my head away from him. He sighed and took my elbow, lifting my arm and pointing at my wrist. “This doesn’t happen from sleeping on it wrong. What did he do?” I in my bottom lip and bit it gently to keep from speaking. As he saw this, he lifted my face, let go of my arm, and brushed the hair from my eyes. My frightened eyes searched Wu Fan’s face, only to see anger begin to contort his features. “Jihyun.” His stern voice caused me to cringe again and I pulled away from him.

                “It’s nothing.  Just fell and accidentally hit my head on the wall.” Though it was the truth, my voice came weaker than intended and Kris dryly laughed. Without another word to me, he stormed away and I looked over to see him rifling through my purse. “Hey!” I ran to him and snatched it away from his grasp.

                “Give me your phone.” He held out his hand and I took out my phone, but hesitated. “Jihyun.” He warned and I sighed silently.

                “Who do you want to talk to?” I opened my contacts and looked through the list.

                “Either Ricky, L. Joe, or Niel.” I looked at him in confusion. He raised an eyebrow impatiently and I shook my head. After starting the call to the one I thought would pick up the fastest, I held out the phone and Kris snatched his from my hand. He glared at me coldly before taking a few steps away. Luhan came to my side and gently wrapped his arms around me. I smiled gently at him and he shrugged. “No, this isn’t your noona. It’s Kris.” I closed my eyes and shook my head slightly. “I need to talk to you three. Are you still in Beijing?” My attention focused on Kris again and I found him pacing. “Good. I’ll have Jihyun text you the address. Come as soon as possible.” Kris ended the call and handed the phone back to me, shooting me a pointed look. Not wanting to anger him further, I quickly texted Ricky the address, floor, and room we were in. Kris pulled out two foldable chairs from the wall and sat them facing each other.

                Just as I slipped my phone back into my purse, Kris took my shoulders and guided me to one of the chairs. I sat down nervously and he sat across from me in the other, scooting his chair forward to be closer to me. He pushed back my bangs and turned my face from side to side before lifting my arms and inspecting my form. He took the hem of my shirt and I grasped his hands, stopping him.

                “Look, I’m fine Kris. I just fell in the apartment and hit my head.” He glared at me and shook his head.

                “You didn’t come home last night. How do I know that he didn’t hurt you or touch you?” Kris harshly pointed out and I huffed in annoyance.

                “Fine. I snapped at him and peeled the tank top from my torso furiously. “Is this what you wanted to see? Congratulations, you finally saw it after two weeks of knowing me!” I yelled at him as he blushed bright red but still glared at me, though obviously flustered. As I pulled the tank top back on, I stood and shook my head.

                “I just had to make sure you were okay!” He yelled after me and I scoffed at him.

                “No, Kris. I told you that I’m fine and that I fell. You just don’t listen or trust me! How can you get all mad about Chunji when you’re just as bad as he is?!” He grabbed my wrist and brought me slightly closer, keeping me just at an arm’s distance

                “Because I didn’t cheat on you!” 

                “You still broke my heart!” I cried at him, tears escaping. I saw his brows furrow, then his expression changed, the realization dawning on him. An awkward cough disrupted my thoughts and I looked over to see five flustered men standing by the wall. In all honesty, I had been so caught up with Kris that I had forgotten they were in the room. As the fact that they just witnessed a fight between their leader and I as well as my being without a shirt, I blushed furiously. “I-I’m sorry guys.” My words came out as a stutter and I coughed awkwardly as Luhan did as well. Suddenly a knock interrupted the silence and we looked over to see Niel poking his head in. As he saw me, his expression turned to shock.

                “Noona! What happened?” The bright male rushed to me and took my hands worriedly. “Did he hit you?” His brows scrunched together and he shook his head. “Hyung isn’t that violent I thought.” I squeezed the male’s hands and weakly smiled at him.

                “He didn’t hit me. While he’s a little bit of a jerk, I doubt he hast the heart to do anything like that. I just fell and hit the wall. I’m okay.” He nodded at my words and hugged me lightly.

                “I shouldn’t have let you go, Noona. I’m sorry.” Hearing a sniffle, I rubbed his back gently.

                “Don’t be sorry.” Pulling back, I had him sit on a chair and I kneeled in front of him. Reaching up, I wiped the small tears away with my thumbs and smiled softly. “It’s not your fault that your Noona is a clumsy dork.” I ruffled his hair as he slightly laughed. “Besides, not I know a partial reason as to why he’s done all this at least.”

                “Please, enlighten us.” I shot Kris a glare as he spoke, and he looked down. Turning my gaze to my Teen Top friends, I gestured for L. Joe and Ricky to sit. L. Joe sat on the floor next to me and took my uninjured hand in his, while Ricky sat in the other free chair. Tao sat on my other side as the Exo-M members sat randomly about the room.

                “He’s jealous. I mean really jealous.” I simply stated and was met with silence. Knowing that they knew it wasn’t everything, I sighed. “He also thinks I slept with Kris since I moved in.” L. Joe squeezed my hand reassuringly and I nodded. “To be honest, I sort of understand where he’s coming from.”

                “Noona, how?” He’s really gone too far.” L. Joe spoke up and I shook my head before taking in a deep breath.

                “Put yourself in his shoes for just a moment.”

                “They’re too small.” L. Joes mumbled and I peered at him, confused. “His shoes, they’re a bit too small for me.” He chuckled lightly as I glared at him and nudged him. I looked over to see Luhan and Chen chuckling at the rapper’s silliness and I smiled.

                “Anyways, think of it this way: if you had a girlfriend you were really in love with that was sent to a foreign country to live with a group of highly sought after guys, who look pretty decent, how would you feel? Especially if she were to seem to have become really close with them in only a few days?” A few of the guys nodded or ‘oh’-ed in understanding, but Kris folded his arms over his chest. “I mean, I’m with you guys day and night. I help wake you up, cook you breakfast, pack your lunches for the practices days, do your laundry often, practice with you, and so on. We’re all together so much; I’d be surprised if he wasn’t jealous.”

                “But what about the whole ‘sleeping-with-Kris’ thing?” Xiumin called to me and I pursed my lips in thought.

                “Well, we tease each other a lot. If he heard even half of that, that would be enough to cause him to get jealous or worry, but there’s more that he could’ve seen online. If you notice, she usually walks closer to me when we’re out, and Luhan and I were the ones who went to get here right after she found out about the other girl." Kris shrugged lightly as he explained and I nodded.

                “If he would just listen to me, I think we could sort this whole mess out, but so far he’s not willing to do that.” I sighed and my shoulders fell. “It’s my fault really; I should’ve explained the situation more or done something to make him feel better about my job.”

                “Don’t blame yourself, Mei-Mei. You’re perfect the way you are.” Tao hugged me around my shoulders and I weakly smiled at him before resting my head on his shoulder.

                “How had Chunji seemed these past few days, emotionally?” Chen piped up and I shot him an odd look. He just shrugged one shoulder and looked at the boys. They thought for a moment before Ricky tapped his chin and spoke.

                “Anxious, kind of ‘on-edge’, and slightly scatter-brained.”

                “And you let Jihyun meet him like that?!” Kris roared and I shot up to put myself between him and the boys. He glared at them as I put my hands on his chest, pushing him back.

                “Duizhang.” I sternly stated and he looked down at me, surprised. In these past couple of weeks I usually hadn’t called him that unless I was pissed. Raising an eyebrow, I pointed down and he rolled his eyes before sitting back down.

                “Noona, our flight back home leaves in an hour.” I looked back and nodded at the three boys. I gently hugged and bid farewell to Ricky and Niel, then turned to L. Joe. He shuffled his fee and sheepishly avoided my gaze. With a soft sigh, I opened my arms. HE lifted his gaze and I saw tears welling up in his eyes before he rushed forward and embraced me tightly.

                “I promised you I would protect you from that day on, even if he wouldn’t. I’m doing a crap job of it. I’m sorry Jihyun.” He hoarsely whispered against my hair as I tightly hugged me to his chest. Pulling back, I held his face in my hands and smiled softly, trying to fend of my own tears.

                “Don’t’ be sorry. Got it? We all make mistakes, trust me; I know.” We chuckled and he sniffled. “Watch out for yourself and kill the comeback, promise?” He held up his pinky and I twirled mine around his.

                “I promise.” He smiled and hugged me quickly. “Thanks Jihyun.”

                “Now go before you miss your flight. We’ll see each other soon, okay?” He nodded as I pushed him out the door and breathed heavily. I felt a hand on my shoulder and I lifted my gaze to meet Lay’s kind smile.

                “It’s been a long day, let’s go home.” I smiled at his words and nodded. Picking up my purse, I joined the guys on their way down to the van.

                “Thank you for dinner, Yixing. It was lovely.” Lay nodded with a slight grin as I dried and put away the last of the dishes. After grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, I walked down to my room. Entering, I found Kris sitting on my bed, eyes closed. “I’m really tired and don’t want to argue right now. You should probably go sleep.”

                “Can we talk?” He looked up at me and I sighed, let my eyes fall. “How about tomorrow then? We’re both free so we can go shopping or whatever.”

                “It’s a date.” I agreed, gently smiling. He got up and stood in front of me. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to my forehead before hugging me to his chest.

                “Don’t leave home without one of us with you, understand?” I nodded against him, and then he left my room, shutting the door behind me. I smiled softly as I lay down on my bed.

                ‘Home. I think I can be comfortable with this… no… them as my home.’

---

A/N:

Hey guys. I this chapter was more to help along with the understanding of why Chunji acts the way he is. I was mentioned to about Chunji not being written well with this issue, so I hope this explains it.

Sorry for any confusion or anything.

Thank you so much for reading and giving me feedback.

I love you.

~ Lynn