The women came in with the police trailing after her. Failing to run away from her at the speed of unicorn, Zelo and I were arrested, shipped off to a prison for teenagers somewhere in Papua New Guinea, and never saw our friends again.

Just kidding.

The women stepped inside the closet and closed the door behind her as I began to panic. She was going to report us, wasn't she?

But the sentence that came out of was the last thing I would have expected. "You guys should know you aren't very good at sneaking into a building."

"Noona, what are you doing here?" Zelo cried.

"In order for me to work undercover here, I had to take up the job as the janitor of this place." The woman held up a key. "Anyways, after you told me to disable the cameras in the building, I was worried you'd do something stupid and expose yourself."

"I may be stupid, but not that stupid." Zelo grinned and turned to me. "This is Hyosung. She's my personal undercover agent here."

"I figured." I said, bowing to her. "Nice to meet you, Hyosung."

She smiled a gummy smile. "Same. So, did you guys find the files yet?"

I nodded and held up the stack of papers I had removed from the safe. "Yep, right here."

"Wait, are you saying they were in this janitor's closet the whole time?! Oh my god... I never even bothered searching here!" Hyosung exclaimed, hitting her forehead with her palm. "You guys should leave now. There's nobody outside since it’s closing time but I'll distract anybody who comes your way, just in case."

"Thanks, noona." Zelo replied, giving her a hug.

"No problem." She replied, winking at me. "Now, go take those files and get the hell outta here. I can't stand the smell anymore."

As Hyosung had said, the building was now empty and the hallways were almost pitch black, only a few lightbulbs still remaining on. She showed us the back door and left to go back to the security panel room. "I have to do something about the cameras, remember?"

Leaving her to do her thing, we carefully went home to our apartment. Zelo kept the files under his arm and we entered our apartment quietly, making sure we wouldn't make any noises and wake the others next door.

I had so many questions to ask the blonde maknae, I didn't know where to start. "Zelo..."

"Yeah?" He said, removing his shoes.

I peered back at him and waited for him to look at me. When he did, I continued. "Why did you decide to do this for Seohyun?”

He stared back at me at my question. "Huh?"

"You like Seohyun, don't you?" I continued, guessing. "Why else would you try so hard to help her family out?"

"I..." Zelo stayed silent and looked away, not meeting my eyes. He didn't have say anything; I already knew his answer.

"There's nothing wrong with liking her." I said "Your parents may not approve of it, but it's not wrong."

He slowly nodded. I was about to ask him some more questions about her but he suddenly stood up and headed to the front door. "I... I have to send these files to Seohyun's father. I'll be back soon."

"What?" I replied. "I'll come with you-"

"I'll be fine. And you've done enough, Eun Mi." Zelo put on his shoes and looked at me with a solemn expression. "Just go to sleep. I don't want you to be tired tomorow at school."

I nodded, my eyebrow furrowed with worry. "Fine. Just be careful, okay?'

"Okay. It'll be quick anyways. Good night, Eun Mi." He told me one last time before closing the door.

Sighing to myself, I heard the faint click of the door locking and headed to bed. I found it really weird that he was calling me by my name instead of 'noona'. Why the sudden change?

My guess was right. He really was in love with Seohyun... Why? Since when? And why was he keeping it a secret?

I scolded myself; Stop it with the questions, stupid mind. I can always ask him tomorrow.

Climbing into bed, I pulled the covers over my head and stayed there, trying to block more questions from invading my mind. Eventually, my mind became restless and the only question lingering in my mine was will Zelo be okay?

-- ♥ --

"Noona, time to wake up."

I felt someone's hands shake me lightly to the side. Reluctantly opening my eyes, I saw Zelo sitting right aside my bed.

"It's time to go to school now." He said.

I just stared at him and blinked a couple times, staying silent. The mission last night was still on my mind. And the question about him and Seohyun.

"Noona, did you hear me?" He repeated. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "When did you get back?"

"Not very late, you don't have to worry." Zelo replied. "Now, get up, noona..."

I ignored his request and instead asked him a question. "Do you want to go skip school and go somewhere?"

Zelo looked surprised. "You want us to do what?"

"I have a place I want to show you." He wasn't mentioning anything about Seohyun. Does he not want to talk about her?

"But you never want to skip school... Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, wide-eyed at my request.

"I'm feeling fine." I tried to reassure him. I didn't feel like going to school anyways. The Queenkas were there, the fangirls were there, and... L.Joe was there. Even though I wanted to see him, I had this weird feeling that he didn't want to see me.

The maknae sighed and gave in. "Okay, I'll go with you. But to where?"

I finally threw the blanket off of me and stood up to go brush my hair and get ready. "To visit Seohyun."
 

-- ♥ --

"How far is it from here?"

"Not very far, it's just around the corner."

Zelo looked at where I was pointing, the cemetery at the end of the street, and nodded. The rest of the way we traveled in silence. It seemed like Zelo didn't want to talk about my best friend, but I was really curious.

"Have you always been in love with Seohyun?" I blurted out.

Zelo stopped walking and his rigid gaze on the ground in front of him. Crap, I think as I slap my hand over my mouth. I shouldn't have said that. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ask that..."

He nodded absentmindedly and looked up. "It's okay."

We continued walking and got to the front gate of the cemetery when he suddenly spoke up. "I should tell you, shouldn't I? It makes me feel bad for keeping you in the dark."

We walked along the familiar path to the stone engraved with my best friend's name. Zelo continued. "That day I met her, at that meeting before Thanksgiving... I thought she would be like every other rich kid who was to inherit the business, all snotty and rude and cold. But she wasn't. Instead, she had taken my hand and dragged me outside of the meeting room, complaining about how boring and unnecessary the meeting was."

We had finally reached Seohyun’s grave stone, where the flowers I had bought her laid on the ground, wilted and gray. Seohyun’s name was as clear as ever on the cement block and Zelo crouched down beside it. 

"At every meeting we were forced to attend, she and I would just go play by ourselves. Our parents didn't like it at all, but we didn't care. We understood each other, and that's what counts. We both wanted to escape the fate of becoming business owners and achieve our dreams instead. We even made a promise, a vow."

I silently watched him as he lifted his right hand in front of him, as if he was reciting a pledge of some sort. “We, Choi Joon Hong and Seo Joo Hyun, swear to become singers and not boring business owners who have no lives.”

Zelo let out a sad laugh. “We were so foolish back then. Always thinking we could do what we want…” I opened my mouth to object but then he stood up and looked at me. “Did you know I was there that day?”

I looked back at him. “Huh?”

“That day Seohyun was to leave for Seattle. I was there at the airport when she passed away.” Zelo told me, this time turning his whole back to me.

“You were?” I questioned.

“Yeah.” Zelo’s voice grew quieter now. “In fact… I was in the very car that caused her death.”

I was shocked at what he had just said. “You were what?”

“My parents had sent a butler to pick me up from school to make sure I came straight home and nowhere else. They had their minds set on making me study and enter their company.” The maknae explained bitterly. “But I had my mind set on not doing what they wanted. I tried to get out of the car and the butler tried to stop me, losing control over the wheel and forgetting all about the gas pedal and brakes. The next thing I knew, we had hit somebody on the road.”

He turned around one last time and I could see him trying not to break down. “And that ‘somebody’ happened to be my closest friend. And yours too.”

"Zelo..." I started. "It wasn't your fault, you shouln't-"

"It was my fault, Eun Mi!" Zelo cried. 

"Zelo!" I said, watching as a tear slipped down his cheek and he didn't bother to wipe it away. "It's not your fault. Do you think she wanted you to feel this way? Do you think she wants you to feel guilty for something you didn't do?"

He stayed frozen in his position and didn't say anything, so I continued. "Do you think she'd be at peace, knowing she caused you to feel this way for all these years?"

"She loves you too." I said softly, and Zelo grew quiet for a moment. He looked at me with his puffy red eyes and I couldn't help but reach out and hug him. He had gone through so much all by himself, it was a wonder how he was still standing strong. "Her password was the day she met you. That means you were important to her. She cared for you too." 

Hugging him tighter, I stared at Seohyun's grave behind us. "Everything will be okay." I whispered this time. "Everything will be okay. Seohyun is in a better place and you're going to be just fine. I'll make sure of it."

I felt Zelo raise his arms from his sides and hesitantly brought them up to rest on my shoulders. His eyes closed as he began to cry, aloud, for probably the first time in his life.

This boy was the same boy who smiled everyday, making sure his hyungs were happy and that they got things done. He was the same boy who was always upbeat and cheerful and looked forward to the tomorrow that would come. He was the same boy who had struggled to live on his own, convincing himself he was the cause for something he didn't do. The guilt that was eating away at him from the inside out, he covered it with his laughter and his jokes.

Behind that bright smile he had plastered on his face, he was hurting. And he was waiting for someone to remove that mask. To reach out to him.

"I-I'm sorry..." He choked out. "I-I..."

"It's okay." I said, hugging him tighter. "Everything will be okay."

-- ♥ --

We had stayed at the cemetary for a while and I didn't want to rush Zelo to leave. He probably had a lot to tell Seohyun. 

"Eun Mi." He suddenly stood up and wiped his eyes. "We've been here long enough. Let's... let's not bother her anymore."

"Zelo..." I started to say, but trailed off and decided to let him be. I didn't want him feeling guilty towards me anymore.

I walked a few steps behind him as we exited the cemetary in silence again. Zelo's back was slumped and he was dragging his feet on the pavement. What was I supposed to do now? What could I say to help him?

I continued to watch him as we walked along the path back to our neighborhood. I began to quicken my pace so I could walk along side him when I felt someone grab my wrist and jerk me backwards. My eyes widened in surprise and I tried to call out, but they used their other hand to cover my mouth. All that came out was a muffled noise.

I squirmed around and made more noises to get Zelo's attention. But the moment he turned around, the person had pulled me behind the last corner, holding me against the wall. 

"Eun Mi?" I heard the maknae call out from the other side of the wall. "Where'd she go? She was just behind me..."

"Mmmph!" I let out another muffled noise and heard his footsteps nearing us. The stranger must have sensed this too because then they dragged me back over to a nearby car parked on the end of the road. Realization hit me and I panicked, trying my hardest to get away but to no avail.

~Ljjang창조♪