“Hey guys, guess what?” Luhan clapped the backs of his best friends, Sehun and Krystal as he sat down between them.

Both turned to look at him “Why’re you so excited, Lu?”

Luhan held up two tickets, “I got the tickets to the musical The Phantom of the Opera. Awesome, right? I queued for two hours straight just to get them!”

Krystal raised an eyebrow, “Considering there are only two tickets, I’m assuming they’re not for the three of us?”

Luhan frowned, as if the idea had never occurred to him, “Of course not, what gave you the idea? I’m going to ask Im Yoona out for a date.”

Sehun’s smile slipped.

Krystal’s eyes widened, “Omo. You mean the senior Im Yoona? The really pretty one? Do you like her?”

Luhan nodded shyly, “Well, it’s only kind of a crush right now, but I’m really hoping she’ll accept me.”

Krystal grinned, ruffling Luhan’s hair, “Aw, come on. You’re Xi Luhan! No girl in her right mind would reject you! I bet even guys would accept you!”

Sehun forced a smile, “Krys is right, Luhan. I bet she’ll accept you.”

Luhan looked happy at their encouragement, “You think so?” He gave an excited little hop, “I’m going to ask her out today after school!”

Krystal laughed at seeing how excited was. After a moment, Sehun forced a laugh as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Krystal was busy shopping with her sister when the call came. She glanced briefly at the caller ID before answering, “Hello? Luhan? What’s up?”

There was a yell of excitement that nearly deafened her, and Krystal jerked the phone away from her automatically. She frowned and spoke, rolling her eyes, “Yah, I can’t hear you when you’re yelling as if you’re at a football match.”

“SHE ACCEPTED ME!” Luhan shouted into the phone, ecstatic, “She accepted me, she’s going out with me to the musical tonight!”

Krystal grinned, unsurprised, “I told you so. Have you told Sehun?”

There was a pause before Luhan replied, his voice a little more subdued than before, “I did, right before I called you, but he hung up on me immediately without saying anything.”

Krystal frowned, “He’s probably busy with something else. Work, maybe. Don’t worry, I’ll make him give you guys a proper congratulations later!”

Luhan laughed, “Thanks!” Krystal heard him give a little whoop before he hung up. She chuckled in amusement.

Jessica, who had been busy checking out a winter coat, glanced at her, “Was that Luhan? Did he get accepted?”

Krystal was surprised, “How did you know?”

But Jessica just shrugged, “I saw Sehun as I was leaving my classroom, and he told me about it. He seemed a little down, though.”

Krystal frowned, “Really? That’s odd. I would have thought he would be glad for Luhan. I wonder if there’s something wrong with him…” her voice trailed off.

Jessica nudged her, “Still having a little crush on that boy Sehun?”

Krystal blushed uncharacteristically, “What? No! Since when did I…I never had-” She broke off abruptly at Jessica’s knowing look, and her older sister rolled her eyes, “Please, do you think I wouldn’t know? I’m your sister, for god’s sake! Not to mention, how many times have I seen that picture of Sehun in your wallet?”

Krystal looked away, her face suffused with blood. Jessica laughed, patting her on the head, “It’s all right, this is all part of being a teenager. You don’t have to be embarrassed! Just make sure you confess before it’s too late!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Oh Sehun was sitting in the corner of the library alone, scribbling something on his notepad. His expression was one of intense concentration, completely focused on it.

“Yo, Hun!” Luhan lifted a hand in greeting, Krystal right behind him. Sehun looked up, startled; there was a flash of alarm in his eyes. He slammed the notebook shut and quickly shoved it into his bag.

“You won’t believe what happened last night. We kissed, man! I kissed Im Yoona!” Luhan hooted.

There was a ‘shh’ from somewhere on the other aisle. Krystal shoved Luhan, whispering fiercely, “Yah, we’re in the library!”

Luhan ignored her, grinning, “I think Yoona and I are going steady now!”

Sehun took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Then he opened them, smiling so brightly that it hurt his cheeks, “That’s great, Luhan, I’m happy for you.”

Luhan nodded ecstatically. Sehun turned to Krystal, “You want to meet up for our project this afternoon after school? At my house?”

Krystal nodded, “Sure thing. You free, Luhan?”

Luhan looked chagrined as he shook his head, “Sorry guys, but I’ve got a date with Yoona this afternoon. I’m really sorry, I’ll make it up to you guys another time.”

Sehun looked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sehun’s mother smiled at Krystal as she entered the house, “Hello, Krystal. It’s been a while since you’ve visited our house. Sehun just stepped out to buy something for me, he should be back in a short while. You can wait in his room for him first.”

Krystal bowed her head in greeting before going up the stairs to Sehun’s room.

The room was just as messy as Krystal remembered it. Clothes were tossed all over the bed, the books on the shelves messily arranged and there were even sweet wrappers left all over the floor. Only the photographs in the rooms were neatly arranged, pictures of Sehun, Luhan and herself.

Krystal picked up a picture placed on Sehun’s desk; it was a picture of Sehun and Luhan, their arms slung around each other’s shoulders, wide smiles on their faces. Krystal smiled.

As Krystal put the photo down, she noticed a notebook peeking out from under a pile of papers. Krystal frowned, “Wasn’t this the notebook that Sehun was using in the library?”

Out of curiosity, she fished the notebook out and flipped it to the first place. Her eyes widened in shock. Disbelievingly, she flipped through the rest of the book.

The notebook was filled with sketching and drawings of Luhan from various angles, and, on the very last page, Sehun’s confession:

I love Xi Luhan

I love Xi Luhan

I love Xi Luhan

I love Xi Luhan

I love Xi Luhan

Crammed into every line, repeated over and over again, a confession so stark and painful that Krystal could feel it, the pain that Sehun must have felt when he had written this.

The book thudded onto the desk. Krystal staggered, suddenly unable to breathe.

“What are you doing?” Sehun’s voice floated in. He entered the room, and his smile faded as he saw Krystal clutching the table.

Then his eyes fell upon the notebook.

Quick as lightning, Sehun grabbed the notebook. He turned his wrathful gaze upon Krystal as he grabbed her by the shoulder, shaking her roughly, “What did you see, goddammit? What did you see?”

Krystal was silent. There was nothing to say.

Sehun released Krystal, collapsing onto his bed as if his legs could no longer support him. His voice was tired and resigned as he spoke, “Go. Just go.”

Krystal turned and stumbled out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the following week they did not speak to each other. Luhan found their behavior odd, but when neither would say a thing about it, he simply assumed that they had a quarrel, and did his best to make peace between them. But nothing worked.

Finally, Luhan decided that desperate times called for desperate measures. He decided to introduce Yoona to them, hoping that they would be happy for him, and in the midst of that happiness, make up with each other.

Krystal and Sehun were on opposite ends of the bench, silently doing their homework when Luhan came up to them, pulling Yoona along. He stopped and introduced her proudly, “Guys, this is Im Yoona, my girlfriend. Yoona, meet Krystal and Sehun, my best friends.”

Yoona smiled, bowing her head in greeting.

Krystal’s eyes flickered worriedly to Sehun, but he had already managed to force out a smile, “It’s nice to meet you, Yoona.”

Krystal quickly turned back to Yoona, “Hey, I’ve heard a lot about you from Luhan.”

Yoona turned to her boyfriend in surprise, but Luhan just blushed. Yoona laughed, kissing him on the lips.

Sehun’s teeth grinded, the tears momentarily welling up in his eyes. Automatically, Krystal reached out from under the table and took Sehun’s hand, clasping it tightly.

Sehun turned to look at Krystal as he felt the comforting warmth of her hand around his. He gave a melancholy smile of thanks, and she returned it, not as thanks, but as a warm, gentle comfort.

This exchange did not escape Luhan, who immediately thought that his plan had succeeded. He grinned, “Yoona and I are going for a date, I’ll see you guys later!”

As soon as they rounded the corner, Sehun’s smile vanished, and he bit his lip so hard that the skin broke, a droplet of blood appearing on his lower lip. A single tear escaped his eye, falling onto his hand.

Krystal stared at him silently. Then, without warning, she threw her hands around him.

Sehun frozed in surprise.

Krystal’s voice was passionate as she spoke, “Don’t think about it. Just don’t think about it. Use me, use me to hide your pain, to heal your pain. Let me heal and protect you, Sehun-ah.”

Sehun’s body was stiff, but his voice gentle as he tried to push her away, “How can I use you like that? You’re my best friend, Krystal. I can’t do that to you.”

“I don’t care!” Krystal responded fiercely, hugging him tight, “I don’t care how you use me, as long as I can help you take away your pain. No matter how little I may be helping, as long as I can do anything to soothe you, just use me! I just don’t want to see you hurting anymore!”

Sehun was silenced by her sudden confession. But for the first time in a long while, he began to feel a feeling of warmth and hope spread throughout him.

He wrapped his arms around her, whispering, “Thank you, Soojung-ah.”

---------------------------------------------------

Hey guys, here's the Sestal oneshot, requested by Veronica! I hope you all liked it!

This oneshot is actually a lot more light-hearted than the previous two, both of which were kind of morbid. Yes, Sehun is gay and all, but I didn't really go into detail about how he suffers as a gay, so I think this story is pretty much happier than the others. 

First off, a big part of the story is the three characters' friendship. It's a bit like a love square: Krystal likes Sehun, Sehun likes Luhan and Luhan likes Yoona. Of course, it's not a complete square since Yoona's not les and she can't like Krystal. But I digress; the point i want to focus on is how Krystal is willing to hide her love for Sehun just so she won't ruin their friendship, like how Sehun hides his love and suffering for Luhan so he won't ruin their friendship. Luhan, although not crushing on either of them, obviously cares deeply for them too, like how he wants them to make up and all. 

Krystal's love for Sehun is, I find, also very touching. I have known a male friend who liked this girl in my class, but, after the girl told him that she was les, he was immediately disgusted with her and announced her secret to the entire class, and, by extension, the entire school. This led to the girl being ostracised and eventually quitting school and moving to Australia. This story is kind of dedicated to that classmate. In this story, however, Krystal loves Sehun so deeply that she accepts him for what he is, and still continues loving him. And, despite knowing that he doesn't have feelings for her at all, she's willing to lt herself be used by him just to make him happy. That, I think, is true love. At the end of the story, Sehun, too, is moved by her deep love. The way I imagined the ending would have been that after she stays by him for a long long while, convincing him of her love, he eventually reciprocates and they end up together. Happy ending ftw! Hope you guys liked it! Please remember to subscribe and comment on this oneshot and what you think of it!

I'm currently editing the Kaistal oneshot, which is also quite fun and light-hearted, and I'm writing another JJCouple one; I really like the plot for this one. Hint: it's sageuk-related. Anyone else excited? 

I should be able to update the Kaistal one in two days, so please anticipate it!