Eunbi felt a sense of relief when school ended Monday afternoon. It was less than a week now, till the seniors would graduate, which meant she wouldn’t have to run into either Yixing or Luhan again. At least not in the hallways. Speaking of the latter. Luhan approached her during lunch break when she was looking for a place to sit. He’d told her to meet up with him in Hongdae after school. Eunbi ignored him at first, just like any other sane person would have. But then he said something that sparked her interest. He promised to tell her about Sehun’s secret if she came. Still. Having been really suspicious, Eunbi was hesitant. It could simply be one of Luhan’s tricks. On the other hand, she wanted to know more about Sehun. And seeing as Sehun himself kept quiet, Eunbi agreed and told the older male she would be there.

The address she’d got from Luhan lead her to a nightclub, which was a stark contrast to the rundown bar she first expected. He was already waiting for her and was right by her side once she stepped through the door and entered. The place was empty, or close to, as some workers were cleaning the floors and preparing things behind the bar. It was still some hours left till it opened.

“I’m here. Now tell me what you promised.” She didn’t want to be there longer than necessary and therefore stood her ground when Luhan told her to follow with him. Eunbi shook her head, she wouldn’t go anywhere. This irritated Luhan, who latched onto her hand and tried to drag her along. An unsuccessful try for Eunbi pulled back and glared at him.

“Are you serious? If you aren’t going to tell me anything then I’ll leave.” Having made that very clear, the girl waited. If he did not speak within a minute, Eunbi would go home. She had other things to do for their parents were returning from Japan the following day and the house was in dire need of cleaning after her grandmother and Kyungsoo’s visit.

“Fine. But don’t come and tell me that what I’m about to say should’ve been kept private.” Luhan stated and glanced around him, as if trying to convince her to take it privately without the curious onlookers that might hear. Eunbi scoffed as she watched him, certain that it was nothing but a trick to lure her. It didn’t surprise her the slightest seeing as he was a ing ert.

“You think I’ll fall for that?” She was growing increasingly more irritated that he was stalling and not keeping his promise. Then again, she should’ve understood that it was a way for Luhan to mess with her. That he wasn’t going to reveal anything about Sehun. Furious that he’d once again lured her, Eunbi lashed out at him, thus attracting the attention of everyone around. She ignored that though, her focus entirely on Luhan. The latter grinned, obviously satisfied that he’d gotten her worked up, before he spoke.

“Okay, okay. I was just trying to be considerate.” Eunbi rolled her eyes at his words. She found no reason for him to suddenly be considerate. In fact. She didn’t even think the word existed in his vocabulary. And to make matters worse, Luhan laughed and said that he was kidding. That he didn’t care at all if anyone heard. He would gladly share Sehun’s secrets as long as he got something in return. That something was this time Eunbi, whom he’d wanted to have a little fun with. Much to his disappointment, everything wasn’t working out. He hadn’t been able to pull her aside, which now meant his intentions most likely would fail.

“So? Are you going to say something?” The tone of her voice showcased just how impatient she was. Luhan took the whole thing with ease, his expression unchanging as he told her to calm down. Eunbi realized then, whilst he made yet another excuse, that it’d all been a lie. He knew nothing. Liar and ert. Two words that described Luhan with such accuracy it was sad. Why couldn’t he simply understand that his personality was a huge problem? That he needed to change.

“Fine then.” She gave him a hard glare and then her heel, ready to go home. Eunbi managed to take one step before Luhan reached out and latched onto her arm. Thereby causing her to come to a halt.

“Alright. you’re impatient as hell.” He heaved a sigh and cleared his throat as the younger girl spun around to face him. A frown was evident on the other’s face and Luhan thought it looked cute. Eunbi was far from excited though, and made that very clear when he tried to tell a joke.

“Well. I guess I should start then. Since you don’t care for my hilarious jokes.” Eunbi’s eyes widened ever so slightly and she strained her ears, careful to not miss a single word of what he would say. She was afraid he wouldn’t repeat himself and therefore listened intently. Seconds ticked on and Eunbi finally lost it when Luhan remained silent. It wasn’t even funny anymore and she was so furious that she punched him whilst at the same time muttering that he was an . She’d really thought he would have kept his word this time around. But his actions showed just how inconsiderate and selfish he was. And it’d come to a point where Eunbi had had enough. So she left.

Her anger continued to grow even after she’d left the club. Mainly because she couldn’t stop thinking about the whole ordeal. Did he really think she had nothing better to do than meeting up with him only to find out he’d lied? Eunbi was seriously not happy. How could she be when one and a half hour went down the drain. It was time she could’ve used to other, more important things. He didn’t seem to understand that though, or else he would have told her the truth.

She managed to relax a bit on the bus ride home, which ultimately lead to Eunbi falling asleep. And she would most likely have missed her stop if it hadn’t been for that her cell phone sounded and let her know that she’d received a text. Eunbi pulled the device from the pocket of her jacket, only to shove it back again when she saw that the text message came from Luhan. She ignored it, certain that it wasn’t important. Another text arrived moments later. This one also from Luhan. Curiosity sparked within Eunbi as a result, seeing as it was quite unusual for the older male to send two texts in such a short timespan. But with her bus stop approaching, she waited till she’d gotten off before reading them.

“Sehun’s secret is something no one knows about. Whether you want to share it with the world is up to you. But I don’t think he’d like that.” Eunbi stopped in her tracks after she’d read through the first of the two texts. She even reread it twice in order to fully comprehend it. And even then it was hard to understand. At the same time her pulse increased for she realized that the second message probably contained the secret Sehun didn’t want her to know of.

“He tried to hang himself when he was fourteen. But dad found him in time. And if you don’t believe me, just look at his neck. There should be a scar there from the rope.” Eunbi was speechless. She didn’t know what to think about this. Maybe it was nothing more than Luhan’s screwed up way of getting back at her for leaving him at the club. If so, then he was more messed up than she thought. On the other hand. What if it was true? What if Sehun really tried to kill himself? The information was overwhelming for Eunbi, who couldn’t imagine how life would’ve been without Sehun.

The rest of the walk home, which normally took no more than five minutes, were slow. Eunbi saw no reason to rush anymore. Not when she knew it was going to be hard to face Sehun. He hadn’t done anything wrong. But just knowing that he, at one point in life didn’t want to live anymore, bothered her a bit.

Eunbi sprinted up the staircase and hid away in her room when she got home. Unfortunately, the house needed to be cleaned, which meant she couldn’t stay locked in there much longer. So with that in mind, Eunbi changed her clothes and then made her way down again. She hesitated and froze in her track when she heard the tv. With much care, Eunbi leaned forward and looked inside the living room. Sehun sat in the couch, his head tilted forward and eyes closed. He was sleeping. She chewed at her bottom lip, unsure if she was supposed to take this opportunity and confirm Luhan’s words. But what if he woke up and saw her? Eunbi cringed at the thought because it would be embarrassing having to explain herself. Then again. This could be her only chance to check if it was true or no without arousing suspicion from Sehun.

“How hard can it be?” She tried to work up some courage, telling herself that he was asleep and wouldn’t notice, before she tip-toed her way over. Her heart swelled in her chest when she saw the dark circles under his eyes. A clear sign that he hadn’t been sleeping well. Feeling bad, Eunbi reached over and turned the tv off before letting her gaze move back to Sehun. Her eyes flickered down to his throat, and she began to feel nervous as she looked for any visible marks that confirmed what Luhan said. A part of her still hoped that it’d simply been a ed up joke from Luhan’s side. Hope that vanished the second she saw it. The faint red mark that stretched around his neck. It wasn’t immediately noticeable unless you knew what to look for. But now she knew. And the truth hurt more than ever.

~~~

Author’s Note
Feel free to check out this one shot I’ve written. It’s for a contest and quite different from this story. Well. A lot different to be honest.