Waking up, darkness greeted me. Tired and confused, I rubbed my eyes. Blinking away the sleep, I was surprised to find myself back in my room.

The events at the dorm suddenly fell upon me, washing over me like a wave.

Sitting up, the words of Baekhyun continued to run through my head.  A spoilt heiress who cares about no one else but herself and will never amount to anything without her parents.  A spoilt heiress who cares about no one else but herself and will never amount to anything without her parents.  It was an echo repeating engraving itself into my mind. But I wasn’t like that at all. Was I…?

The glowing time on my alarm by my bed shone four o'clock. In less than a few hours, I was expected at the company.

Lying back down, I tossed and turned. Left and right. Nothing felt comfortable at all.

Sighing, I lifted myself out of bed.

It was only now did I realise I was still in my clothes from last night. How I feel asleep in them was a miracle.

Changing into more comfortable sleeping clothes, I hoped a glass of milk would make me feel a little sleepier and get rid of the heavy feeling in my heart.

Walking into the lounge room, the television was still on. Frowning, I moved over to close it. I didn’t remember anything past leaving Baekhyun Oppa’s room and waking up just then but maybe I had watched a little television and had just forgotten to turn it off.

Holding the remote, I clicked the off button.

A stirring from the couch made me spin right around.

On my couch, sleeping soundly was Lay. Relaxing, I put the remote down before pulling out the blanket I kept handy in the room for watching late night movies.

Spreading it over him, I studied his expression. He was peaceful, at ease and was lost to the world. Staring intently at his face, his eyes suddenly shot open, making me fall over in fright.

Sitting on my behind and staring at Oppa who was rubbing his eyes tiredly, the sinking feeling returned. He didn’t want me to associate with EXO. He had left last night.

I stood up hurriedly as Lay did the same. It seemed that he had finally realised where he was.

Standing in my lounge room in complete silence with a person that may or may not hate you was not on my ‘to do list’ yet here I was doing exactly that.

An awkwardness filled the air between us. It was certainly a first. Unsure of who was breaking the ice, I hesitated before blurting out my words.

“I’m really sorry Oppa. Really, really sorry. I know you probably won’t forgive me either but I want you to know I was going to tell you yesterday.”

He merely stared at me. Blinking. It was almost like he was studying my words, trying to detect the lie.

With a heavy sigh, he sat back down, patting the seat beside him.

“I believe you. I always suspected there was more to your life than the store but I didn’t want to know so I suppose some of the fault is on me too.”

Disbelieving of such an idea, I sat down, staring wide eyed at the observant male.

“Did everyone know I had a secret but never told me?”

Returning my words with a small shrug, he smiled a small smile. The first sincere one I had seen today.

“I guess everyone knew there was a secret but wanted you to have your privacy. We all have our own stories and we didn’t want to pry.”

They had already suspected and had never called me out on it…

Tearing up, I sniffled. They were too good for me. Really.

“Then how about you tell me your story. The secret’s out so why not tell Oppa why you did all this?”

Immediately calming down, I began fiddling with my fingers. The reason… The reason…

“Oppa might think of the reason as stupid and weird.”

A hand appearing in my field of view, before it inched closer and flicked me on the forehead.

Holding my forehead in pain, I looked up at the male smiling innocently.

“If you keep saying stupid things like that, I can only punish you.”

Shaking my head at his surprisingly childish move, I took a deep breath.

“Well I assume the only way to do this is to start from the start. It all began at the Academy…”

It didn’t take much for me to remember the school.

“It was a beautiful school filled with the top teachers. It was more of an Arts Academy so that’s why the video was online. It was a program to promote the students as future stars. A lot of the others were chosen as models and singers.”

Lay Oppa only looked at me with confusion.

“If you could become an artist from the school, why did you run away? Was it a bully? Or a mean teacher? Bad grades?”

Giving him a sad grin, I shook my head.

“I told you my story was shallow. None of that happened to me. I had a great life in the school. It wasn’t even because I had a life changing epiphany. One day, I woke up realising that my life would never be what I wanted it to be. I could become a dancer but after I achieved the dream, I would be forced to go back home and get married before taking over the company. I wanted to have an adventure so I ran away, leaving behind a note from my ‘parents’ saying I was leaving for a while.”

A flicker of sympathy crossed Oppa’s face but I knew he didn’t understand. A life constrained by my own self.

It was then that Zhang Yixing, Lay, learnt something about Park Eunmi. Even if she herself did not know it, the girl had developed feelings for Byun Baekhyun. Feelings of more than just friendship. So he was going to make her forget.

Reaching over, he wrapped his arms around the confused girl, whispering into her ear.

“Park Eunmi. If there’s one thing you should know, it’s that you could never do anything stupid. Feeling trapped and escaping is normal. One day, you’ll prove to everyone you’re more than just a rich heiress and you’re parents will come around. Until then, Oppa will be right here, supporting your every move.”

In the darkness, two shadows stood next to each other, listening in. As one quietly left the couple on the couch to their own accord, the other followed more hesitantly.

The real question? How was this cluster jumble supposed to be resolved?

A.N.

So who might the two shadows be~

I hope you're all happy with this chapter.

I wasn't sure how to show Eunmi as just a girl wanting to escape so hopefully I did a good enough job at being all deep... and stuff.