Chapter03

You didn't know what to say.

Should I punch her in the face right now or…? No, I can't. You can't, Ashlee. If you do, it'll cause this huge mess and you'd be in the middle of all of it. It's not worth it. Just keep calm.

You just put on a smile and walked out of the room. Hearing the door slam shut behind you, the rest of the girls were silent. After a moment, they started laughing amongst themselves.

"Nice one, Haneul," Mi Sun said, high-fiving the maknae.

The EXO-M members were astonished at their lack of loyalty. Immediately, the boys bowed politely and walked out of the room, too.

{Luhan's POV}

What was that? Aren't they in a group? Aren't they supposed to be one? Isn't Haneul younger than Ashlee? What kind of respect was that?

"Why were they so mean to Ashlee? She seems nice," Kris said quietly, walking next to me.

"I don't know, but I agree. She is. Pretty, too," I said, trailing off while thinking about her.

The leader nudged me slightly. "Wake up, Luhan. You don't even know her yet."

Kris was right. I don't know her, but why do I feel some sort of need to protect her?

On our way out of the building, we saw Ashlee in the lounge area with her head in her hands.

"Hey, it's Ashlee," Kris said.

"Wasn't that one of the girls from before?" Lay asked.

I nodded and started walking towards Ashlee. The rest of EXO-M followed.

"Hi," I said lamely as I sat down next to her on the couch. Kris sat on the other side of her and the other members sat on the other chairs. She looked up quickly to see who we were and then placed her head back into her hands.

"You okay? We saw what happened," Kris said.

"Who didn't?" she groaned into her hands.

"It's okay," I said, patting her back gently. "They'll warm up to you soon."

She stood up quickly and looked away. "Thanks. I have to go back now."

I looked at her closely. Was she crying?

Seeing that I was staring at her, she quickly wiped away her tears and any excess signs of crying. It was still obvious because of her red eyes.

"If you need anyone, we're here. You are part of our sister group. Remember that, okay?" I said, smiling at her.

She smiled back genuinely. I like it when she smiles.

"Thanks again," she said as she walked away.

"I feel so bad," Xiumin said when Ashlee was out of sight.

"Me too," Chen said.

"Maybe it'll get better. Who knows?" Kris said positively, but I could sense some doubt in his voice.

{Your POV}

You liked the way Luhan smiled at you. His eyes looked… warm.

You peeked into the room you were just in, but saw no one there. Quietly, you turned the knob and walked in.

You stared at the practice room with its blue background and white clouds on it.

                                                                                    

                                                                      [This is EXO-M's practice room, but all SM practice rooms are the same^^]

So I trained for four years alone to end up in a group that doesn't even like me…

"Yah! Ashlee. What are you doing just standing there?" Hyoyoung yelled at you. "We're supposed to be in dance practice right now."

You turned around and saw all five girls there with their arms crossed.

You smiled slightly and bowed a little. "Sorry."

You all walked to the practice room together and you followed behind with your head lowered.

When you got to your practice room, the dance instructor was already there.

"Yah. What do you guys think you're doing strolling in here late?" the instructor scolded all of you harshly. "You didn't even debut or have one single day of training together and you're already slacking off?"

"Sorry," you all said, bowing 90 degrees.

"Truthfully… It's Ashlee's fault that we were so late." EunA said.<