Lu Han had turned off the water in the shower when the door bell had sounded throughout the large apartment. He stepped out, drying himself and quickly pulling on his jeans. When his right hand grabbed his black t-shirt from the sink counter, he stopped himself. His eyes closed and a frustrated sigh escaped his mouth. 

            “Stupid...” he cursed himself under his breath. His hands released the t-shirt, leaving it to clench his fists around the marble sink counter as he glared at his reflection in the slightly foggy mirror. Voices from down the hallway came through the wooden door, one voice seemingly dominant over all the others: Yang’s.

           Three knocks on the door. It was her brother. His best friend.

           “Come on, Lu Han. You have to come out sooner or later...” Yi Xing’s tone was tired. After shaking his wet, light-brown hair a few times, feeling like a wet dog, Lu Han reluctantly pulled his t-shirt over his damp hair in reaction to the younger boy’s voice.

           “I’d rather come out ‘later’,” he muttered to himself as he pulled down the hem of his shirt. He slung the white towel over his shoulders and placed a hand on the door handle. He spoke under his breath, “old habits really do die hard...”

           “Lu–” 

            Before Yi Xing could call out to him again, Lu Han opened the door, seeing his hand poised to knock again. “I’m out. I’m out.”

           Chen was standing behind Yi Xing and Lu Han could see the Korean’s nervousness. 

He’s worried about me too...I need to stop worrying everyone...

            Lu Han risked a glance down the hall to see the couple cuddling and exchanging kisses, making him regret his choice almost immediately. He should’ve been the one sitting there. Cuddling and kissing that beautiful girl. His beautiful girl.

            Six months. It’s been six, long months since Yang had woken up from the accident and Lu Han was still just her “best friend”. He hated this, but going back on a conversation between him and Kris held him back:

           “How would you feel if someone else were with Yang?” Kris had asked, sounding like a truly concerned leader despite being younger. To this, Lu Han responded: “I would...I would definitely be heartbroken... but...I’d leave her be. If that was what really made her happy...”

            It was true. Yang looked truly happy with Kris, causing Lu Han to doubt her feelings for him before the accident. Had he really been the one in her heart? Or was it Kris all along? In his eyes, Kris wasn’t the villain, but he was himself; he blamed himself for not looking after her enough during her “times of need.” Kris was there to help her get through her memory loss while Lu Han was in the corner, sulking to himself. Neglecting his love.

            “Lu Han,” Yi Xing pulled the boy out of his saddening trance by placing his hand on his shoulder. “Come on, dinner’s here so we might as well go eat...”

            Yi Xing’s arm wrapped itself around his friend’s shoulder. After dropping the towel off in their shared room, the two boys made it down the hall where everyone else was. Upon entering the filled room, everyone’s eyes but Kris’ immediately turn Lu Han. Most eyes filled with worry, maybe even pity, all with the exception of the happiness and excitement in Yang’s to see her best friend. 

            “Lu Han!” the girl grinned, getting up from her spot on the couch and going to hug both her brother and her best friend. “What have you been up to, you little puppy?” she teased, playfully punching Lu Han’s shoulder–just like she used to before the accident.

          Lu Han brought out his cheerful facade, giving her a smile and a chuckle. He ruffled her hair like any other brotherly friend would do and came to sit beside her. He gazed at her sadly every time she would turn to her other side to talk to, to hug, or just to even kiss Kris.

          Yi Xing glanced at at the heartbroken boy as he set the dinner table with Chen. Tao couldn’t concentrate on his card game with Xiu Min as his eyes wouldn’t leave his best friend and his “girlfriend.” He opened his mouth to say something but Xiu Min caught him and shoved the younger boy’s shoulder, telling him to make a move. To this, Tao sighed. He really wanted to speak up. Compared to all the others, he was still just a child and being so, it was hard for himself to hold such a huge secret.

          Disappointment was a word that couldn’t even begin to explain how Zi Tao felt about Kris’ actions. Tao’s mind continued to wander until Min Seok shook him again.

          “Come on, Tao.”

          The youngest boy looked around to find everyone heading to the dinner table. Xiu Min waited for him as he placed the cards in his hands upside-down before standing up. 

          Dinner wasn’t as cheerful anymore. Chats were always at a minimum with the exception of Kris and Yang’s sweet talk. Hyun Kyun–their manager–would try to start up some small talk with the others, but even with his ability to excite talk out of them at the most random times, it always ended in failure.

          Eating dinner with Yang was always the hardest things for Lu Han. The grip on his chopsticks were all but firm. Each time Kris or Yang fed each other, or laughed together, it reminded him of his own past relationship with the said girl and his hands would tremble, dropping the plastic utensils. Looks of pity from most of the others didn’t go unnoticed by Lu Han who chose to ignore them. He was totally fine... maybe not totally, but he will be, right? Right? He would move on, right?

         At least he wished so. But it was so difficult.

         After another few minutes, Lu Han excused himself from the table, saying he had become full. Yi Xing glanced at Lu Han’s bowl of rice. The small bowl was barely even touched. He let out a quiet, stressed sigh, turning his head to watch the older boy stumble down the hallway to their shared room.

         “Yang?... Yang Yang?” Kris tilted his head curiously at his girlfriend who seemed to be zoning out. The rest of the table shot quick wondering glances at the couple before continuing with their own meal, a little more relaxed than before now. Yi Xing’s eyes widened slightly in realization when he saw that he wasn’t the only one who had noticed the uneaten rice. Yang was looking at her ‘best friend’ stumbling back to their room. She hadn’t even heard Kris’ voice. “Yang Yang...?”

         “Huh? Oh, sorry, what were you saying?” the dark-haired girl snapped out of her trance, standing up from the table.

        “What’s wrong, baby?” Kris stared up at her.

         “What’s wrong with Lu Han? Did something happen?” Yang asked, ignoring Kris’ own question. Yi Xing could see the concern and the love hidden behind her eyes and he couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.

          When no one knew how to answer her, she started down the hall. After contemplating on going or not, Yi Xing followed his own sister.

         “Wait,” Yang stopped and turned around as her brother approached. He stopped next to her. “I’ll go with you.”

         The door was left a crack open and the two siblings could hear the 2nd oldest member of the band cursing himself for not letting go. Yang turned to her brother in confusion. He was staring through the crack in the door, like she had been just seconds ago. 

          “Letting go of what?” she whispered, but he didn’t answer. Instead, he knocked on the door, but Lu Han’s head didn’t move, it was as if he hadn’t heard anything. Yi Xing sighed, Yang watched curiously. Something was going on and she couldn’t tell what it was. “Ge ge...”

         Slow steps. Steady steps. Silent steps. Lu Han hand’t heard him coming closer. When Yi Xing placed his hand on the 22-year-old’s shoulder, he didn’t flinch. Instead, he looked up with hopeful eyes. The strange emotion, confusing Yang even more.

         “X-Xiao Yang-ah...” Lu Han stuttered. He reached his hand up to touch his roommate’s cheek. Yi Xing couldn’t help but let a tear fall from his best friend’s broken voice. He placed his hand over Lu Han’s. He moved his hand to pull the boy’s hand away as he spoke,

         “Lu Han–”

         “Y-Yang... are you... are you crying?” his thumb gently caressed Yi Xing’s cheek and the boy sighed sadly, pulling off the older boy’s hand. “Why are you...? Did Kris–”

        Lu Han was cut off when Yi Xing hugged him tight, “I’m sorry, Lu Han... I’m so sorry...”

         “What are you–” he stopped short when his eyes looked straight ahead to find an utterly confused Yang staring at the sight before her. Thousands of questions swimming through her head. “Wait.. why are there two of you?”

         “Ge ge... what’s... what’s going on?” Yang asked softly, so utterly lost in the situation. She stepped in, her bare feet brushing against the warm carpet. 

          “Shh...shh...” Yi Xing shushed his roommate. He dropped Lu Han’s hand back in his lap, placing his own hands on the latter’s shoulder. “Just sleep...I’ll be right here when you wake up, okay? Sleep alright?”

         Lu Han took one last glance at the real Xiao Yang before him before looking at Yi Xing and lying down on his bed. After tucking him in, Yi Xing ran a hand through the older boy’s hair gently, in a caring manner. He made sure the older boy was a sleep, before he stood up from the bed and made his way over to his sister.

           “Come on, Yang... Let’s go...” He grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of the room. His voice had changed. “I’m taking you home.”

           She let herself be pulled, slipping her shoes on while her brother did the same. Just as the two were putting on their coats, Kris walked up to the two, his tall physique towering over them both. Before he could ask what was going on, Yi Xing stopped him. There was no way Kris hadn’t noticed the death glare from her older brother, and it was most certainly the first time Yang had seen so much disdain and anger in his eyes. Unlike her, Kris was rather familiar with the look now. The scene before her only caused even more confusion. 

            “I’ll go get the car. Meet me down there. If you are not down in 5 minutes...” Yi Xing sent another glare at the taller male. “You need to fix everything before there’s nothing to fix, Dui Zhang,” he growled before stalking out the apartment door. 

            Yang turned back to her boyfriend after watching her brother storm off. Kris could see the clear confusion written across her forehead. Her expression screamed that she was lost and he wanted to keep it that way, no matter how horrible that sounded. He wanted to keep her innocence. He wanted to keep her as his. He didn’t want her to leave him. He didn’t want things to fall apart either. But one can’t be to selfish right? He needed to give something up. But if he told her, he’d loose everything. He couldn’t. Not like this...

             “Kris...I’m so confused. What is going on?” she whispered to him when he pulled her into a tight hug. The leader said nothing to her and the two stayed in silence for a little while more before Yang pulled away.

            “You will understand in time...” Kris whispered, choosing his words as wisely as he could. As much as he would hate for that to be true he knew it might not last too long. “Hurry. Your brother’s waiting. He’ll kill me if you’re not out there,” he let out a sad, dark chuckle.