You stared at him long and hard, your words choked up in the back of your throat. Luhan gently pushed your shoulder and you swayed but didn't respond. 

'Haneul?'

You stood there, unwavering, blinking. It dawned on you. Of course he'll have to move out. If he's a trainee, he'll live in trainee dorms, won't he? 

'Haneul-ah?'

You felt a rush of emotions flood back to you and you took off, running as fast as you could. Running had become the only defence mechanism you knew. Whenever something bad happened, you would run. Luhan chased after you but as soon as he realised you running in the direction of the dormitory, he stopped. Puffing and panting, he sat down on a nearby bench to collect his thoughts. His breath looked like smoke in the cold night air. He put his head in his hands and groaned. 

 

Lay happened to also be making his way back to the dorm and upon seeing Luhan, he sat down beside him. Luhan looked up and was surprised to see Lay who was sitting with his head back, gazing up at the sky. 

'Lay?'

'Oh, hyung. I thought it was you... You went out on stage tonight...'

'So did you.'

Lay shrugged. 'Guess I wanted to relive my past a little'

Luhan chuckled. 'Lay? Reliving his past? I'm not that stupid, Yixing'

'Then what's your reason? Wanting to prove yourself wrong? Even I know there's no way in hell you'd ever sing again. Not in front of all those people' Lay retaliated. There was more sting in his voice than he had expected there to be. Luhan kept silent. 'You like her, don't you?' Lay said. 

Luhan turned to look at the younger boy. 'How... How did you know?'

'It's obvious, hyung. I guess she's completely oblivious about it though, that pabo'

'I'm not that obvious, am I?'

Lay shrugged, 'You look at her differently. You got on stage again to sing for her. She gives you strength to do those crazy things you thought you'd never be able to do again, doesn't she?'

Luhan nodded and Lay sighed. 'I know how you feel'

Luhan let out a sarcastic laugh. 'How can you know what this feels like? You don't know how much it hurts to see her in the arms of another guy every time I turn around. How can you possibly know?'

'Because... I like her too, hyung' Lay said quietly.

Luhan groaned and put his hands on his face. Lay took out two cans of Hite beer from a plastic carrier bag, passing one to Luhan. 'Come on, let's drink. At least that way we can drown our sorrows and make it seem like we actually went to that stupid after-party'

'Where did you even get these?'

'I swiped them at the party'

Luhan opened his can with a satisfying click. He took a giant gulp from it and stared up at the sky, just like Lay had done earlier. 

'You know, Lay... I might have to give her up. I don't want to but... With things the way they are, it seems like I might have to.'

Lay took a sip of his beer. 'You expect me to be sad about that? The less competition, the better, hyung. I already have Taejoon to deal with.'

Luhan laughed and elbowed his friend. 'Ani... But at least be sad that I'm moving out...'

Lay looked Luhan. Tears had begun to form in the older boy's eyes. 'Hyung... What are you saying?'

He hastily wiped away his tears. 'I got scouted, Lay...' Luhan took another large gulp. 'I move out tomorrow night.'

 

***

 

As you slammed the door to your home, D.O looked out from the kitchen where he was busy writing a grocery shopping list. 

'Haneul-ah, ladies don't slam doors. No noise please!'

'Mianhae, oppa. I'll remember next time.' you said, bowing. D.O chuckled and returned back to the fridge to check everything over. 

Once you were out of your room from changing, Xiumin patted the seat next to him on the sofa and you thundered over, jumping onto the spot and settling down in front of the television beside him. 

'Did you get to speak to that Ahn Taejoon?' he asked

You nodded. 'I told him I need time to think. I want to make sure Sehun is alright before I decide anything'

Kai came out of his room, wearing his casual tracksuit bottoms and a plain grey vest. He had a towel slung over his shoulders and his hair was still wet from his shower. 'We're seeing Sehun tomorrow with noona. She says she has someone that needs to go to the doctor for a simple health check up. She's just a bit younger than Haneul but only by a few months so I said we should all go together'

You smiled. 'Sounds great! Who is she?'

Chanyeol shrugged, squeezing in between you and Xiumin who sighed and got up, sitting back down on the floor. 'Probably a new model or someone she's hired. She's been nagging at me for weeks to get your friend Jinri to join the agency'

You laughed. 'I'll remind Jinri about it for you'

'I'd be most grateful'

You carried on watching the television. Kris was seated at the dining room table, reading the book you had bought him. You assumed Chen was out with Seohee, rekindling their relationship. You thought it was incredibly cute that they were getting back together as they were childhood sweethearts. Plus, this meant that Chen's serial dating streak was over. 

'Ah, that's it! Where's Luhan-hyung and Lay-hyung? Did you see then when you went to see Taejoon-hyung?' Tao asked

You shook your head. 'I didn't see Lay anywhere'

'And what about Luhan-hyung?' said Chanyeol, gritting his teeth slightly. He had some clearing things up to do when Luhan got back and they all involved you. 

'I did see Luhan... I'm sure he'll be back soon'

'Should we wait up for them, do you think?' Suho asked. 

Baekhyun checked his watch. 'I think we should. It'd be nice to see them after that little surprise those two put on for us. Imagine that, Luhan and Lay both performed on stage just now!'

No one said anything but it was quite obvious what everyone was thinking. They all had their own speculations as to why they had both gone up on stage and the majority of those thoughts pointed to you and Taejoon confessing. You reached over and put the laptop on your lap. Xiumin crawled over to the plug and turned it on for you. 

'Thanks, oppa'

'Don't worry about it. I'm already on the floor due to someone squashing me and pushing me off the sofa' he said, glaring at Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol huffed and you giggled, logging into skype. You saw that Maddie was on and you unplugged the laptop, taking it to the dining room table and settling down to talk to your friend that you so dearly missed. 

 

'Moshi moshi! Mariko?' 

'Ew, why are you calling me that?'

'I miss you...'

Your best friend softened. 'I miss you too, Haneul. How's university? Enjoying yourself?'

You shrugged. 'It's alright. You?'

'Just about coping. Ah Ri's having a mid life crisis though'

'Really? Why?'

'Says she doesn't know what she wants to do in life...'

'Ah...'

'And she misses her brother big time, you know, with him being a trainee and all that'

You nodded. 'Yeah...'

Maddie cocked her head. 'Tell me what's up. I can see something's plaguing your mind'

You shrugged. 'Nothing. I'm fine'

'Liar.'

'It's nothing!'

Kris raised his eyebrow and moved to your side of the table. 'That Taejoon... I mean, Aaron! It's Aaron to you, isn't it? Yeah, Aaron confessed to her and Sehun's in hospital so she's a bit unstable and doesn't know what to do' he told her, in English. 

You hit Kris. 'Yah! What do you think you're doing?!' you said angrily in Korean. 

'What are you saying?! Haneul, I don't understand Korean! What are you saying?!' said a frantic Maddie from the other end of the phone. 

Baekhyun took the laptop away whilst you wrestled Kris to the ground. 

'Hey, Baekhyun! Long time since I last spoke to you!' you heard Maddie say. 

'He switched classes from Physics to English for you!' Kris yelled from the floor. Baekhyun stood up and sat on top Kris, putting his foot in his mouth. 

'Hyung! Shut up! Don't say such outrageous lies!'

You sighed and returned back to the laptop. Maddie giggled. 

'What's all that about?'

'Kris is being an idiot. I apologise, Mads'

'Ah, it's fine. It's fine.'

You plugged in headphones. 'Okay, we can now talk in privacy without Kris or Baekhyun or anyone listening. Oh and about what Kris said about Baek, don't listen to him. I'm not sure what he's been taking but it certainly ain't good'

Maddie laughed. 'That's fine. I'll pretend I didn't hear anything. But what's this about Aaron? He confessed?'

'Yeah, he sang a song in tonight's show and he dedicated it to me'

'That's so romantic!'

'Yeah, it did make me feel kind of happy...'

'I'll say! So are you two not getting back together?'

'I don't know. Everything's going wrong, Maddie'

You looked around you to see if anyone was listening. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were both sitting on top of Kris who was pinned to the floor. Xiumin was watching the news, sprawled out across the sofa. No one was paying attention to you. 

'What with Sehun's accident and... Maddie, I really don't know what I'm doing.'

'What happened to Sehun?'

'He was up in the lighting tower and it must have been unstable or something because it toppled over. I'm pretty sure he must have flown out of it because he ended up being crushed under'

'Oh my God, Han I'm so sorry'

You sighed. 'That's not all'

You took the laptop into your room, settling it down on your bed. 

'Can't talk out there, huh?'

You shook your head. 'Not with everyone around me. They might not look like they're listening but you never know'

'Haneul, you know you can tell me what's wrong. Let it all out, girl.'

'Well first of all, there's Sehun.'

'There's nothing you can do about him though. I'm sure he'll be fine'

You nodded. 'I'm seeing him tomorrow.'

'Well then. Anything else?'

'Aaron... I don't know what to do'

Maddie sighed. 'Han, I can't tell you what your heart feels. I'll let you know something though- when you left, he begged me for days to find out where you had gone. He even gave me a letter to give to you but I gave it back to him seeing as you said you didn't want any contact with anyone.'

'Mads, am I a for doing that?'

'I can't say, Han... I know your intentions were right but maybe it would have been better to tell him. You have no idea what Ah Ri had to deal with'

'What do you mean?'

'Aaron's mom was over at Ah Ri's place every night talking to her mom about you. She kept demanding to know where you were and obviously her mom didn't know'

'So what happened?'

'Ah Ri stayed at mine for weeks so she wouldn't have to deal with Aaron's mom. She's a bit scary, you know... And Ah Ri said she couldn't go home if that woman was there because well, something like she has to respect older Korean women so she'd have to tell her where you were and yeah.'

'But you told him eventually'

'Evidently. Didn't you say to tell him after a few months?'

'Yeah' you laughed. 'I did... I didn't expect him to actually come here though'

Maddie shrugged. 'It wasn't much of a surprise to us. He'd been going mental cooped up in his room. I skyped him a few days ago and seriously, he looks a lot healthier now.' Maddie smiled. 'The day Baekhyun took you back home, Aaron saw you. He saw you getting into the car with Baekhyun and he stormed into the house demanding to know why we hadn't told him you had come back'

'He did?'

'Yeah. He was also pretty jealous of Baekhyun too.'

'Wow.'

'Haneul, it's not my place to tell you what to do but I can assure you that whatever he's told you tonight, he means. Honestly, there's something not right with that boy but he's willing to do anything for you.'

'Mmm...'

'You don't like him anymore, do you? Something's changed'

'Maddie, can a person like more than one person? If I liked more than one person, would that make me a bad person?'

'I don't think it's possible to like more than one person, Haneul. Or rather, it might be possible to like all of them but not to love all of them.... It sounds like it's not just Aaron you like'

'I don't even know if I like Aaron. I don't know if I even like anyone. Maybe I should just live alone with 12 cats for the rest of my life'

'You can't accept Aaron?'

You shook your head. 

'Well then there's obviously something stopping you. You just need to figure out exactly what that is'

'But I don't know!'

'Think, Han. You're clever. Think a bit, observe your own feelings and actions around the people you're closest to and you'll see.'

'Mads, I-'

'Haneul, I'm really sorry but I have to go. Call me or Ah Ri if you need to, okay? Oh and say hi to Baekhyun for me!'

You nodded sadly. 'Will do... Bye, Maddie'

'Bye Haneul. Oh and cheer up, chum. Go and see Sehun tomorrow morning and clear your head a little. Then you can decide, okay?'

'Yeah, you're right. I'll think it all over.'

'That's my girl'

 

You ended the call and took the laptop back outside. You noticed that Lay and Luhan had come back. Everyone was quiet. Tao looked at you, tears rolling down his face. 

'Haneul, Luhannie's leaving us'

You smiled. 'I know'

Luhan looked at you, slightly hurt that you were so calm. 'Haneul, I didn't get to tell you this before but... I leave tomorrow night. With the trainee schedule, I'll only be able to see you on rare occasions.'

Chanyeol watched you, waiting to see your reaction. You smiled again, wanting to look strong. 'You better get packing then, oppa.'

You returned to your room and huddled up under your blanket. Everyone stared in the direction of your room in shock. Suho sighed and patted Luhan on the back. 

'She's upset, don't take it to heart. She's not being cold with you on purpose'

Everyone dispersed to their respected rooms to study or call it a day and pass out. Lay took off into the night to go on one of his walks and no one thought to follow him. Chanyeol knocked on Luhan's door and Luhan opened it. 

'Yeol? What's up?'

Chanyeol bit his lip. 'Hyung...'

'Are you okay?'

'Hyung, we need to talk'

'So talk.'

Chanyeol shook his head. 'Not here. We need to talk privately'

 

 

---

aigoo, everything is starting to fall apart but all of the plot is starting to fall together! AH I'm an excited author-nim teehee ^^

I also have one teensy tiny request... *bows* In fact, it's not really a request. It's more 'please do it if you'd like to'.

If you'd like, would you nominate 'That Girl, That Boy ~그 녀석, 그 여자' as Story of The Year for the AFF Awards? It would really make me happy if I managed to get through to the voting (and I'd be ecstatic and over the moon if I actually won omg omg omg). It's the only category I qualify for and ah, it would just really be a lovely end to this year to win... I hope I don't sound conceited or arrogant to you guys but please, if you think the story should win (and only if, don't think that I'm pushing you to do it), I urge you to nominate it ^^ 

If you guys don't know what the AFF Awards are, please read this blogpost (just the first one I found on 'Friend posts') and cast your nominations! ^^