Socialite. That was the one word to describe the exact opposite of you. You were the girl who didn’t matter, the one who remained invisible to the students as you made your way through the halls. It wasn’t that they didn’t know you weren’t there, they did, it was just that you had spent so much effort into remaining quiet that they didn’t care anymore. You had a few close friends that you would talk to at school, but to the rest of the school, you were just the quiet girl that would sit in the back of the class with her head in the books. No one understood how you became friends with your friends, since they weren’t exactly the most silent of students, but everyone stopped caring after a year. Jongdae, one of your best friends, was the class clown, always cracking some joke and getting into some kind of trouble. He had a desk with his name on it in detention, but he was one of the sweetest dorks you had ever met. Luhan and Minseok, local soccer heros, were the other two best friends that you harbored. Sweethearts to you but typical jocks to the rest of the world. The three of them protected you with a ferocity that only came from that of older brothers. There were others, the other friends of your best friends, which you hung around, but never really talked to. Zitao was definitely your silent hero and Baekhyun always made sure you had chocolates on White Day. You didn’t talk much to them, but they were like silent shadows, stalking and protecting you from anyone who harbored ill thoughts towards you. You were content living in the shadows of your high school, not socializing with anyone. Until him, that is.

Kim Joonmyun. The day he walked through those front doors, you knew your whole world was changing. It was as if all the planets aligned and everything made so much more sense. You wanted to know everything about him. His name, his favorite color, his childhood… but being who you were, the introvert, you pulled your books to your chest and went the other way, a blush prominent on your cheeks. You didn’t find out until later that day that his name was Joonmyun. Yixing was in his music class and said he went by Suho, but you preferred the name Joonmyun. It was pretty and fitted his appearance very well. For the next month, you admired him from afar, keeping your crush secret, even from your three best friends. Soon they all but adopted him into their group and it became harder to hide your feelings. His smile sent butterflies hammering into your chest and the first time he spoke your name it took all the strength you had not to pass out. He was everything you ever wanted and more, you just couldn’t say anything. He was popular with the school, but especially the girls. He just had the appearance that screamed boyfriend material and with him surrounded by all the pretty girls at your school, you figured you didn’t really stand a chance. Over the next few weeks, you found yourself falling even more in love with him. He was caring, the father of your group, and took great care of your best friends. He even cared for you, or so you thought. He would great you separately; greeting you by your name while everyone else was just the ‘guys’. You had especially loved when he did that because it made you feel like he saw you more than just one of the guys, something the others didn’t know you hadn’t. While you were quiet and introverted, you had not liked it when the others just thought about you as one of the guys. You were a female after all. You were just as delicate, and appreciated when you were treated as such. Joonmyun made a point of the boys acting like gentlemen around you, claiming that you were a lady and deserved to be treated like one, not allowing them to cuss around you and monitored their conversation topics around you. On occasion you walked up to them teasing him about liking you more than a friend, but they would always shut up when you arrived, so you figured it wasn’t true. He always made a habit of picking up your trash when you were done and taking it to the trashcan, demanding that he was just being efficient and saving you the trip for something he was going to do anyway. You learned that he had a gentle personality, but had was a spitfire when someone treated someone else wrong. Three months after he had first showed up, you knew there was no going back. You were madly in love with him and didn’t want to get out any time soon. He was your sunbae by one year, so you didn’t really have classes with him, but whenever your classes were near each other, he would take the time to walk you to class, just rambling off about something the boys did that day.

Four months exactly; the fateful day that you felt your demise arriving. You arrived late today, your mother’s car had been broken down and you had to wait for your dad to get ready to take you to school, since it was raining and they didn’t want you walking. When you finally got to school and straightened your school uniform, you were thirty minutes late. You rushed into class, ignoring the look Zitao sent you and handed the teacher your slip before returning to your seat. Once class was over you rose and rushed into the hall, running to your locker with Zitao hot on your heels.

“Why were you late?” it was one of those rare moments when Zitao would try to have a conversation with you, throwing you off even more today.

“Mom’s car broke down,” you mumbled, throwing your books into your locker and grabbing your next class’s books.

“Oh.. The boy’s missed you at breakfast,” he commented, leaning against the locker next to yours. You chuckled softly, casting him an amused glance as you shut your locker.

“Did they?” you shook your head as he nodded, grabbing your bag off the floor and gesturing for you to start walking, “Did you really miss me that much, Zitao, that you must follow me to class, carrying my stuff?”

“Of course!” he let out a soft laugh, slinging his arm around your shoulder as you led him to your classroom. Unbeknownst to you, you passed by Yixing and Joonmyun, the latter with an angry scowl on his face.

“What’s up with you, Suho?” Yixing commented, grinning as he watched the other glare after Zitao.

“Shut up,” he replied, slamming his locker shut and storming off the other way.

Later that day during lunch, you definitely noticed Joonmyun’s change of attitude. He seemed to have a black cloud over him as the others crowded around you, worried about your earlier absence. You wanted to ask him what was wrong, but never had the chance to. Lunch was soon over and it left you wanting to hear his voice, to make Joonmyun happy and forget whatever he was upset about. School passed by pretty quickly and you found yourself outside the school, waiting for your father who wouldn’t be there for another thirty minutes. Some of the boys who had their own cars offered to stay to make sure you were safe until your father arrived. As you sat by Zitao, who was riding home with Kris, talking about nothing in particular, you noticed Joonmyun standing off to the side, looking angrier than he did at lunch. You excused yourself and stood, walking over to him and tugging on his sleeve gently. He turned to you, his scowl back.

“What do you want?” his voice sounded as if he was angry with you, leaving you confused and hurt.

“J-Just wanted to see if you were okay…” you felt your heart aching, as if it were starting to be ripped from your chest.

“I’m fine, not that you care. Just go back to him,” he waved his hand towards Zitao. You took a few steps back at the malice and meaning behind his words as it began sprinkling again, matching the tears that wanted to come from your eyes. “Why aren’t you gone yet?”

“I-I…” you didn’t know what to say. He had never been like this before, especially not to you. You didn’t know what happened, but you felt as if he was stepping on your heart with every word.

“Why can’t you just leave!?” his voice was louder this time, calling the attention of all the boys who had now rose from their spots on the bench, angry expressions on their face.

“I… O-Okay..” you turned as the tears began to stream down your face, rushing to grab your bag from beside Zitao and run off the other way, in the direction of your house.

“What the hell was that?!” Zitao rushed over to Suho, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him slightly.

“Oh, like you don’t know?” Suho spit back, growling underneath his breath and grabbing onto Zitao’s wrists, “How could you do that me? You knew how I felt!”

“What are you talking about?” he scoffed, letting go of Suho as pushing his hands away.

“You and ______!” Suho yelled back, pushing Zitao, “How could you pursue her? You knew how I felt! You all said she was nothing more than a friend and little sister to you!”

“Me and ____!? Are you insane?!” Zitao looked at Suho like he lost his mind, “There is nothing going on between her and I. She’s my friend, little sister, and classmate. That’s it!” Suho stopped, furrowing his brow, “You actually thought that we… that I and her… oh my gosh, Suho!”

“Y-You’re not?” he felt his blood run cold as he looked in the direction you ran off.

“No!”

“And I…?” his heart pounded, aching more than it ever has before at the thought that he hurt his precious ______. His… You’re not even his and he feels like his whole world just ended.

“You screwed up big time.” Zitao moved out of the way, pointing towards the direction you ran. It didn’t take Suho very much longer to run after you, forgetting all his stuff in the rain as he rushed to your house. He ran up your steps and knocked on the door quickly, hoping you would answer the door.

‘Who could that be?’ you thought as you sniffled, wiping at your tears and standing up, walking to the door and opening it, tears filling your eyes again as you saw Joonmyun standing on your doorstep. “What are you doing here? You made it pretty clear you didn’t want to see me.”

“Wait!” he called, putting his hand on the door to prevent you from closing it, “J-Just hear me out… please?” You nodded and watched him release a breath you didn’t know he was holding, “Can I come in?” You shook your head, not wanting him inside, not after he hurt you. He looked above him where the rain was falling harder, drenching his school uniform, “Fair enough. I-I’m sorry.”

“For? You just spoke the truth,” you cut him off, rubbing your nose gently, “You don’t want me around, I understand.”

“No!” he said quickly, causing you to step back at the volume of his voice. He calmed down a bit, his voice lower, “No.. They were lies. Spoken in anger. I want you around. I always want you around.” You furrowed your brow, opening your mouth but he held his hand up, “Let me speak… without interruptions, please?”

“Okay.” You nodded, waving for him to continue.

“I like you.” He said simply, causing your eyes to widen, “I like you a lot. Hell, I’m pretty sure I can say I love you. You’re all that I’ve thought about for the past few months. You’re in my dreams, in my thoughts, constantly running through my mind. You’re like this tune that I can’t get out, or don’t want to get out. You’re perfect.” He took a deep breath, feeling his heart beating out of his chest, “I can be myself with you. You’re quiet and shy, but you’ve got so much to say. You say it through your actions. You tell the boys how you feel about them, not through words but through the things you do for them and that’s so much better. You’re everything I could ever want and knowing I hurt you back there… it’s killing me, ______. I love you and the thought that Zitao was taking you away from me just made me angry and hurt. I wanted to hurt him as much as he and you hurt me, but I took my anger out on you. The person I love.” You felt your chest fill with butterflies at his confession and your cheeks turned red.

“Joonmyun…” he shook his head, cutting you off.

“I probably lost any chance I had with you, but please, just think about it, okay?” he pleaded, “Don’t just shut me down automatically, please?”

“Joonmyun,” you began, cutting him off from another rant as you came forward to wrap your arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, “I love you too.” You felt his arms wind around your waist, holding you against his chest.

“I’m really sorry! Please forgi- Wait…” you felt him suddenly pull back far enough to look at you, “Y-You do?” You nodded, smiling softly at him, “You love me too? You love me!” you chuckled as his smile grew big and his grip on you tightened.

“I do love you,” you smiled and hugged him again, resting your face against his neck as he spun you slightly, “I have for quite some time.”

“I love you,” he replied, setting you down and smiling before pressing a kiss to your forehead and then resting his forehead against yours, “I love you.”