One of the mutual aspects between lollipops and love is the sweetness you’d experience not only taste, but sense. A simple lollipop gifted by the right person can easily send someone to cloud nine, akin to the sensations from love. Love can be sweeter than the sugar melting you can taste on the surface of your tongue, as well as everywhere else.

No matter what dilemma you find yourself stuck in, neither one of them will fail to give you that one spur of bliss you need. But that’s not where all similarities end.

With sugar comes cavities, with love comes heartbreak.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Sehun snickered. The twenty-four year old barely nudged the side of the glass with his finger before the shorter girl hastily gulped down the brown liquid in fear the beverage threatening to spill onto her white gown any second. Lowering it from her lips once she finished the remains, Bom slapped the boy’s chest with the back of her hand.

“Shut up,” she growled in mock anger with a hint of a smile gracing her pink lips. “Chocolate milk usually calms me down,” Bom huffed, pursing her lips. “But it’s not working today.”

Alongside the ivory walls were vases of pastel coloured flowers, all in various shades and forms. The violin music started; cueing the groom from the other room and his parents to begin sauntering down the aisle and meet the priest at the nearly never-ending path.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Sehun smiled at her in reassurance, everyone else in the room suddenly fading into the air. “Luhan will love you; you look more than beautiful today—different from what I’m used to,” he smirked, earning another smack to his chest, more firm than the last. He took in the younger’s overall appearance. Her dark strawberry blonde locks curled to perfection, the crown and back of her head it were hidden by a sheer white veil. The flowery lace of the strapless dress ran up and over her right collarbone, connecting itself around her pale neck. Her rosy lips and cheeks contrasted softly from her light milky skin as her dark brown eyes sparkled with happiness that made her glow, Sehun noted, opposite to what his own pair held.

He wanted nothing more than to be the one getting married; to be the one wearing the black tuxedo. But in South Korea, a country all about image, it was forbidden and more than frowned upon to pursue with his emotions. Albeit, he came to accept the cruel fact that the walking perfection he loved was never his, what with it being spat into his face with venom, everyday. Sehun was lower than a mere chunk of dirt trampled on the ground for even thinking of someone in a way he shouldn’t. Someone who not only already had their significant other, but someone who he knew leave his love unrequited. Despite the harsh reality, his heart seemed to function on its own accord and drilled its way in too deep of an infatuation he couldn’t escape, despite the many times he tried.

Drawn in by her natural doll-like beauty, Sehun pulled Bom into a secure embrace. Unbeknownst to her, he was silently apologizing for all his wrong doings and inevitable feelings the latter was oblivious to.

Sehun was five years old and in kindergarten when he met his first friend. Luhan was outgoing, bubbly and quite liked among all boys and girls—contrary to Sehun, who was shy, hermit-like and feared by others. Luhan wore a button nose that was turned upwards just the slightest, radiating cuteness; Sehun’s was straight in a more mature and handsome fashion. Luhan’s signature doe eyes would freely exude every sentiment and thought running through his little mind, whereas Sehun’s pair lacked emotion and seemed to bore into everyone else’s, appearing cold, unapproachable and a ‘brat’. The smaller boy emitted innocence and was naïve in nature while Sehun always seemed to judge others.

To put it simply, Luhan was popular and Sehun was not. So why the admired boy chose to approach him one day was beyond him.

“Hi,” Luhan had chirped to the slightly younger boy, beaming brighter than the sun. Luhan had abandoned his small group of friends to tend to the one lonesome boy seated on the ground, playing with his toy trucks. When the Korean boy quietly peered up at him in slight curiosity, Luhan took that as an invitation to plop himself onto the grass beside the other. “My name is Luhan,” the child grinned, introducing himself as though he didn’t know his name was positively mentioned everywhere in the school. “What’s your name?”

“Sehun,” the younger muttered his answer, not meeting Luhan’s curious gaze. He silently hoped the deer-like boy didn’t take notice of his lisp. Giving the innocent boy a once-over, skeptical, he returned to his trucks.

Luhan nodded vigorously, watching him. “Sehun,” he repeated to himself, the syllables rolling off his tongue smoother than chocolate. Just as Sehun positioned himself properly to dig into the ground with the plastic digger of his red truck, his vision was suddenly disturbed by an equally red lollipop. Fully gazing at Luhan for the first time, he was met with a small smile. Still not comfortable enough with the other to put his voice to use, Sehun gave a questioning frown that appeared to be more of a pout.

“It’s for you,” The six year old boy’s grin did not falter, not even when Sehun’s dark brown orbs unintentionally pierced into his own. “I want to be your friend,” he added unsurely when the slightly taller boy made no move to take the strawberry flavoured treat, forming a small pout of his own.

“T-thank you,” Sehun stuttered as his cheeks were softly tinted with pink. Reluctantly, he accepted the lollipop and Luhan grinned in a mixture of triumph and satisfaction, placing his hand on his hip. The sight of the other’s cute expression and pose caused the corners of the inscrutable boy’s lips to gradually curve upwards. As they played together, Luhan’s eyes would gleam in delight whenever their fingers would softly graze each other while Sehun would just back away slightly, still not used to making friends. That didn’t stop the doe-eyed boy from advancing a few spaces; making up for the new distance Sehun would place between them.

Two months later, Luhan declaimed strawberry lollipops their ‘friendship’ candy.

At second grade, kids were teasing Sehun over his lisp until Luhan provided everyone with his infamous stink eye. Needless to say, his slight speech impairment was then unacknowledged for the rest of their school years, giving him more confidence when speaking.

At fourth grade, Sehun leant Luhan his shoulder after the older, but smaller, boy was yelled at for spilling paint on the teacher’s blouse.

At sixth grade, Luhan moved three houses from Sehun’s. They then started walking to and from school together.

At eighth grade, a few of their friends were joking about how the two may as well be a couple, taking into consideration how they were always attached at the hip. Luhan simply wrapped his lanky noodle arms around the younger’s slender frame in the middle of the hall and jokingly nuzzled his button nose into the nape of Sehun’s alabaster coloured neck, the touchy gestures free for everyone to see.

As time progressed and their friendship grew, Sehun learned various things about Luhan that he was not expecting. For example, Luhan was Chinese, older by a few months, was the son of the CEO of YG entertainment and so on. Despite the large amount of newfound discoveries about the older that only seemed to increase their differences by a tenfold, it did nothing to subdue their closeness.

Ever since that day way back in kindergarten, it was more than obvious that they were destined to become best friends. They had grown accustomed to each other’s behaviors and habits, always predicting what the other would do and in the end, being correct.

Sehun had always deemed that day to be the best happening of his life. Not once did he ever have regrets of obtaining the lollipop but as of right now, he’s not so sure.

Maybe if he never accepted the red candy, he never would’ve had to accept and welcome Luhan into his life. Then maybe, he wouldn’t be here feeling an odd sensation of emotions that, although were foreign, he knew he shouldn’t be feeling. Especially when they surfaced as he met the girl glued to his friend’s side like a koala.

“Sehun, this is my girlfriend, Bom,” Luhan bit his bottom lip, barely suppressing a smile as his brown orbs gleamed. Bom smiled gently as Luhan continued. “We’ve been dating for a few months now—I would’ve told you sooner, but…” he trailed off, shooting Bom a prideful grin. She blushed, averting her eyes to the ground leaving Sehun to shift uncomfortably in his spot. He suddenly felt out of place, witnessing such a simple, but intimate moment. “I wanted to make sure she was the one before letting you guys meet each other,” Luhan finally finished after returning his gaze back to Sehun, who nodded in acknowledgement of his words.

The Korean male grinned, turning to Bom, “Well, I’m Luhan’s best friend, so we’re a package deal,” he warned, stern but jokingly. “If you’re dating him, you’re dating me.”

The couple laughed, both revealing their perfect rows of pearl white. Sehun took that time to take in the sight before him, matching their similarities. They both contained a natural shine in their eyes that seemed even more prominent when they smiled. Bom’s strawberry blonde tresses matched Luhan’s sandy blonde locks—only, her black roots were coming in but it did nothing to draw attention from her obvious beauty.

Sehun chuckled until realization dawned on him. “Wait, you guys have been dating for a few months?”

Luhan nodded and Bom interlaced their fingers together. The brunette ignored the pang of jealousy from his chest and instead thought back on the many times Luhan turned down his requests to hang out like they usually did. The eldest of the three had pursued this for the past few months, leaving the reason unknown to Sehun. But ironically so at this moment, that reason was smiling directly at him.

“I hope we can become close friends,” Bom stated, granting Sehun yet another million-dollar smile.

And just like that, he had become the couple’s third wheel. Sehun would often times joke about it and more often than not, the couple would dismiss his words, referring to him as their best friend to which Sehun would smile bitterly at.

A best friend.

That was all he’d ever be to the one person he wants.

                                                                   *****

“Stop!” Sehun pleaded, leaning as far as possible from Bom.

“No,” she answered in between giggles and through her strawberry lollipop (courtesy of Luhan), leaning closer as she played with the older boy’s face. Just as she reached out to squeeze his nose, Sehun swatted her hand away—careful not to hurt the doll-like girl. He gulped when he felt Bom’s soft breaths hit his face, ears reddening as she tugged at his cheeks, her perfectly manicured nails grazing the skin.

“Stop,” he repeated, shrugging her off as he rose from the staircase. “You’re going to give me early wrinkles!” he whined before Bom broke into an untamed fit of laughter and giggles.

Unexpectedly, Luhan scampered his way into the room, tray in hand, holding up three mugs of coffee and Sehun was quick to jump behind the older boy for protection. The blonde Chinese boy looked at the two in question, but said nothing and set the tray down with a small smile of content spreading along his pink lips.

“What were you guys doing?” he inquired knowingly, as though he was speaking to his children who had worked together to sneak into the cookie jar just before dinner.

“Nothing,” Sehun deadpanned but it fell upon deaf ears as Bom responded with a “Sehun was bullying me!”

“Oh was he?” Luhan played along, jokingly narrowing his eyes at the other male as the said boy scowled to himself. Luhan took a seat on the couch with the other two following suite, Bom plopping herself beside him and Sehun taking the single seat diagonal from them. Suddenly the air had become thicker and tenser, Sehun noted. All signs of amusement no longer evident on their faces.

“So,” Bom started, awkwardness audible in her voice. “There was something we’ve been meaning to tell you,” she glanced at Luhan for help.

Luhan nodded, subtly wiping his palms on the thighs of his skinny jeans. “Well, there’s no easier way to say this so…” The couple raised their left hands up beside their heads in unison, leaving the brunette wordless with confusion.

“I—uhm… what?” he stammered, puzzled but then he saw it. The way they both wiggled their ring fingers; the way a certain silver band on both of their said digits seemed to hold a small crystallized form of luster, light reflecting off of it.

His mouth hung agape as the couple before him smiled at each other lovingly. Did this mean…

“So,” his voice cracked as he attempted to pull the correct words together. “You guys are… engaged now?” he asked incredulously.

Luhan chuckled, nodding. “Yup, we wanted you to be the first one we told. And,” he paused, meeting Sehun’s eyes. “I also… want you to be my best man.” He smiled genuinely. “That is, if you want to be,” he added hopingly.

“I—of course I do,” he insisted, still trying to absorb this new information. He looked at Bom, who simply smiled at him, her eyes turning to crescents.

                          

*****

“Sehun, this is my best friend, Dara,” Bom introduced the two with Luhan by her side as they took their seats in the fancy restaurant. “She’s going to be my maid of honor.”

Dara was a petite woman at the age of twenty-three who had brown hair and that still looked like a high school student. She seemed like she weigh no more than 90 pounds, had a V-shaped face, perfect porcelain skin, and double lidded eyes. Overall, she had every physical aspect those in Korea could only wish for. She was the epitome of perfection, yet sitting across from her at dinner, Sehun’s eyes didn’t bother to linger on her for a second more than necessary. Not when someone whom he found much better was right beside him.

Rather than looking into Dara’s eyes, he chose to focus on the slender feminine hands that were doodling on the napkin from his peripheral vision. But Bom and Luhan’s voices always pulled him out of his trance to draw his attention back to Dara. She was talking about herself, explaining that she was single, what she did for a living, what her ideal type in a man was, and so on.

It was only when she and the couple beside them asked him about his own preferences and interests that revelation dawned on Sehun.

This was a date.

When Bom and Dara left for the bathroom together—the usually blank faced boy was more than sure they were going to discuss the subject of him—Sehun spoke informally for the first time that night. “Are you setting me up?”

“Excuse me?” Luhan asked, taken aback.

“I said, are you setting me up?” he repeated, this time more clearly. “I can tell you guys are trying to fix me up on a date. I appreciate it, but I’m not looking for anyone right now.” Not when I already want someone else.

“Bom and I aren’t trying anything. We just wanted our two best friends to finally meet each other and get acquainted.” Luhan spoke words of cheap plastic (that Sehun could see right through), dismissing the other’s accusations. “Although, whatever happens between you two after tonight is up to you guys. Remember that she’s single.” The older not-so-subtly hinted.

The night progressed with Luhan, Bom and Dara talking about anything while Sehun threw in half-hearted phrases when necessary.

It was this night in particular that realization dawned itself on the twenty-four year old that he had reached his peak. If he were to continue with this unhealthy infatuation of his, there would be nowhere to go but fall deeper into the pit of despair and may never even escape, given that the one person he coveted was taken and soon to be wedded. Coming to the conclusion that all he needed was a distraction, anything to maybe help him see someone else rather than just that one person, Dara’s number was easily obtained.

Months had gone by with smiles and laughter—whether they were genuine or just feigned happiness, it didn’t matter to Sehun—and they soon found themselves at the wedding ceremony. Sehun, Bom, Dara and a few others were standing freely in the hallway, outside of the room where the ceremony would take place. He peaked into the room to see Luhan fidgeting slightly as he stood by the priest. Too many times, he would smooth out the non-existent wrinkles on the white jacket of his white tuxedo or fix his hair that was styled in a messy, yet chic, manner. Sehun admired the sight for a few seconds longer, realizing only now how a simple change of clothes and hairstyle could easily change the effeminate boy to look actually his age and gender (although nothing seemed to help rid him of the baby face everyone loved).

Turning back to the others that stood in the hallway with him, Sehun watched silently as Bom’s parents attempted to comfort and relieve her of her anxiety. Dara poured more chocolate milk into her glass, but it clearly wasn’t enough for Bom as it barely reached half the glass.

“Well too bad! That’s all you’re getting for now,” Dara snapped after the taller girl complained. “I don’t want you to get so nervous, you wet yourself,” she muttered under her breath as she placed the carton on a nearby table, earning a light shove to her bare shoulder.

Sehun chuckled, scanning Dara. Her pale apricot dress (picked by Bom) hugged her stick-like figure, showing how thin she really was. Her long dark hair was up in an elegant bun, exposing her light neck and shoulders. Beside her was a girl named Chaerin in the exact same dress, who had slightly more of a figure. But neither of them compared to how beautiful Bom was, with the white dress complimenting her alabaster skin and blonde hair, looking more comparable to a goddess rather than a bride.

“Sehun, are you ready?” Joonmyun, a close mutual friend of Sehun’s and Luhan’s asked. The younger nodded after giving Bom one last friendly hug, letting her flowery scent fill his senses.

“Good luck,” He muttered in her ear, before pulling away. Casting her one last glance, he and Joonmyun strolled down the aisle, meeting Luhan and walking to his side. Moments had gone by, and he failed to notice Dara smiling at him as she made her way down. Instead, all he could see was Bom walking down with the veil slightly covering her face. There a natural grace in her steps, the glass in her hands was now replaced with a bouquet of pastel colored lilies, matching her overall appearance. He watched the perfection that was Bom, stopping in front of Luhan and the priest.

He could only stand idly by and watch as they exchanged loving vows. Luhan lifted his bride’s veil, revealing her tear-streak face that somehow managed to not wreck her makeup in any way.

“It’s okay,” Luhan whispered, only loud enough for Bom to hear but it was still audible to Sehun’s ears. “I love you,” he whispered and the girl smiled, sniffling before the Chinese male bent down slightly to press his lips flush against hers.

Sehun saw her relax and lean into the kiss as everyone began clapping. The brunette felt like he could break right then and there as jealousy coursed through his veins, pain spreading throughout.

Sehun gazed sadly at the couple, promising to himself to not shed a single tear of those that threatened to fall. He failed to suppress it and one lone tear rolled its way down his porcelain cheek. Like always, it was warm. But it did nothing to thaw the block of ice that was now his heart.

As heartbroken as he was in the moment, it didn’t change the fact that there was still a tinge of anger hidden somewhere beneath it. He had to restrain himself from glaring at the bittersweet woman who stole his best friend, and his best friend who stole his heart.

Sehun didn’t have to see the front of Luhan’s face to know he was in heaven; a heaven that once included him years ago, but was now replaced with Bom. Looking past the couple, he met Dara’s joyous eyes that had shaped to crescents and forced yet another smile.

As long as Luhan was happy,

He could pretend he never hurt.

K.Will's Please Don't