Leina’s POV:

  The music ends, and our vocal teacher, Mr. Go, presses the speaker button from the other room. “Very well done, kids. Although I haven’t asked much since this is just the first recording, it’s very good. Just a few reminders: Kyungsoo, try not to be distracted in the middle of the song; and Leina, you might need to work on inserting more emotions in when singing. As for Baekhyun and Jason, you two are doing just fine. Keep it up! Now let’s take a ten.”

  As the four of us put our headphones down and step away from the microphone, I feel a light tap on my shoulder. “Leina.”

  I spin around, and try to hide my disappointment when I see who it is. “Hm?”

  “Would you… like to take a walk with me? Outside?”

  It’s been a week, since the ice cream incident.

  Well not incident, but… the me running off after crying situation. And yelling at Violet situation. I feel bad everytime I recall what I did. I apologized to Violet, but she just shook her head with a warm smile, saying ‘It’s okay, I understand.’

  ‘You like Baek oppa.’

  ‘You’ve fallen for him, Leina.’

  Is that so? Is that why I cried? Is that why every time I see him, I feel as if my whole day has lightened up? Is that why I want to see him more than wanting to see Kyungsoo, every day?

  Is it why I’ve been avoiding Baekhyun this whole week?

  Every practice this week, I practiced with myself. Mr. Go gave me permission to do so, so I could lock myself in my own training room and only meet the other three when it was a must. If I had problems, I would ask Mr. Go, or even Kyungsoo.

  But never Baekhyun. I can’t face him… not when I have suspicions of what I feel for him; not when Kyungsoo and I still have unfinished business.

  “Leina – “

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now, Kyungsoo.”

  Kyungsoo sighs. “Leina.”

  “I told you – “

  “Then what did you think I asked you to take a walk with me for? To just… take a walk?”

  “Ne.”

  He sighs again and steps in front of me. “You wanted answers, Leina. You were the one who kept asking me that day last week. But now you don’t want to ask me the most important question?”

  “And what is that?” I look up at him. “What is the most important question?”

  He studies me. “You know what I’m talking about, Leina.”

  “Maybe I do, but that doesn’t mean I want to know the answer.”

  “Wae? Because of Baekhyun hyung?”

  My heart stops for a moment. “T-this has nothing to do with him.”

  “You like him, don’t you?”

  Suddenly irritated, I throw my hands in the air. “Why does everyone think I like Baekhyun?! Just because I feel sad for him doesn’t mean I like him!”

  “But you feel, right?” Kyungsoo puts both his hands on my shoulder. “You feel something whenever you’re with him, right?”

  I scoff. “I’m a human, Kyungsoo. I feel every time I’m with anyone.”

  “Really? So you also feel as if every single movement of yours has maximized and suddenly turned clumsy when you’re with anyone? So you also have the feeling as if your heart has grown into a size too big for your rib cage when you’re with anyone? So you also have the feeling that the loud, fast beating of your heart would be heard by anyone else you’re with? Or do you only feel those when you’re around Baekhyun hyung?”

  I feel my eyes widen. “How do you know…?!”

  “Because that’s what I feel when I’m around you, Leina.”

    Violet’s POV:

  I should’ve listened to Chohee. I should’ve just stayed in the building and watch TV with the girls, instead of going for a ride on my bike for a few minutes.

  “Jason,” I snarl his name as I lock up the bike in the back of the SM building. “What are you doing here?”

  A smirk makes its way onto his face. “Watching you park your bike.”

  I roll my eyes. “Stalker much?”

  He shakes his head. “I just happened to see you when I came out for a smoke. Such a wonderful coincidence.”

  “You smoke? Aren’t you like, twenty-six or something?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  “Ah, see, smoking makes you look older.”

  “It’s how I get the girls.”

  I shove the bike keys in my pocket. “The smell of smoke is just plain choking, Jason. And it’s bad for your lungs and heart.”

  “Mm, caring about my health? I am touched, Violet.”

  I try to ignore his steps toward me. “Actually, I was going to say ‘no wonder your heart is so oily black.’”

  Jason doesn’t respond; instead, in a movement so quick, he’s suddenly inches in front of me. I gasp inwardly and stumble back. “Stay away from me – “

  “Maybe I do have a black heart.” He backs me to the wall. “Maybe I am an ‘,’ or whatever you call me, but I do everything for a reason, Violet.”

  “And what is it?” I shoot back, now angered. “What exactly do you want, Jason? You threatened me, and then you provoked Baek oppa on purpose. I know you made him hit you on purpose. But why? What do you want from us?!”

  Jason merely clicks his tongue. “It’s yet too soon to reveal that now, Violet.”

  “You – “

  “Jung In!”

  A voice that seems right and wrong at the same time rings through the whole parking lot. “Jung In!”

  I snap my head toward his direction. “Sehun – “

  “GET OFF OF HER!” As soon as Sehun reaches us, he grabs Jason forcefully and pulls him off of me. When he does, I see the pure anger in his eyes. “DON’T YOU EVEN DARE – “

  Jason smirks. “Touch her? ‘Don’t you even dare touch her’? Sorry, but I think you’re a tad bit late for that, Sehun.”

  “Jason Lee,” Sehun bares his teeth, “I swear – “

  “What, huh? You gonna hit me just like Violet’s precious ‘Baek oppa’ did?” Jason taunts. “Well, at least you have the right reason since Violet’s your girlfriend.”

  I try to pull Sehun back as he trembles, looking as if he wants to rip Jason’s head off. “STOP – “

  “Did he just say girlfriend?”

  “Isn’t that Kim Jung In and Oh Sehun – “

  “And that’s Jason Han!”

  “Did you hear that? Jason Han just said that Kim Jung In is – “

  “Oh Sehun’s… girlfriend?!”

  “OHMYGOD.”

  “The rumors are true! Hurry, take a picture of them!”

  The blood in my veins run cold as I hear the whispers. With wide eyes, I turn around –

  And the thing I feared most becomes true.

  We got caught.

  By fans.

  Or, to be exact, a whole swarm of fans, with cameras in their hands, pointed at me, Sehun, and Jason.

  I immediately let go of Sehun, but I know that it’s already too late.

  “Uh oh,” Jason says behind me in a sing-song voice, the smile obvious in his voice. “Looks like someone has been caught.”

    Leina’s POV:

  I stare at him. He stares back. I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

  “Leina? I like you, Leina. I’ve liked you ever since we were children; yes, and I still do.”

  This isn’t how I once imagined it. It isn’t how I once imagined his confession. There were no rose petals in the air, no shining light, not even myself being picked up in his arms. Only his shy smile and words. The words that felt so right in my dreams but now, doesn’t even strike a chord in me.

  “Ani…” I take a step back. I’m supposed to feel happy. Thrilled. Up in heaven. I’m supposed to be spurting rainbows and seeing unicorns, because Kyungsoo just said he still likes me. Just like I had wished for so many years.

  But, frightening, I don’t feel anything.

  I don’t realize I was thinking out loud until Kyungsoo says, “See? I knew it, Leina. You don’t harbor a crush on me anymore.”

  “But – “

  “You came here for me.” Kyungsoo smiles, me cheek gently with his fingers. “And I’m so grateful to know that, Leina; I can’t explain what I feel.” He chuckles. “But when you were on your journey to me, you met Baekhyun hyung in the middle of the road. He entered your world, changed it, tipped it, and now… the lower end of your seesaw isn’t on my side anymore.” Putting his forehead on mine after placing a gentle kiss on it that somehow felt like a goodbye, Kyungsoo whispers, “It’s on Baekhyun hyung’s side now. So go, Leina.”

  Strangely, my voice is strained, and I feel like I’m about to let go of an anchor deeply intertwined inside of me. “Go where?”

  “To his side.”

  “But he – “

  “You have to fight for him. Fight himself for him. I now it might sound weird, but… the only thing between you and him, is Baekhyun hyung himself. Show him… that he can love another person. Give him the courage to let go of the rope he hasn’t realized is already torn, and to take a leap of faith.”

  As soon as he says all that, it’s as if he has pulled off a blind that has been covering my eyes the whole time. I see, crystal clear, what I should do, what I have done, and what Kyungsoo is doing.

  He’s letting me go. Because he knows my heart isn’t his anymore.

  And he’s doing it because he wants the best for me.

  That part of him, the part of him where he always thinks for me first, is a part of him that hasn’t changed.

  I hug him, and he hugs me back. I cling to him so tight I swear my knuckles have gone white, but after I let go of him, it doesn’t matter. After the feeling of letting a big part of my heart off the hook with a hint of relief invades my heart, the pain doesn’t matter anymore.

  After Kyungsoo places a gentle kiss on the side of my mouth, so dangerously close to my lips, the pain in my hands mean nothing anymore.

  I feel a bubble of giddiness inside if me as we both smile at each other. Should I go tell Baekhyun now, that I like him? Should I break it to him now, before time goes on and my courage deflates by every passing second? Feeling nervous but somehow brave, I decide to just walk up to him and reassure him that I’m willing to help him walk out of his heartbreak, if he allows –

  Until Kyungsoo and I turn at a corner, and see Baekhyun crouching down on the floor, with Violet sobbing violently in his arms.

  With nothing but pure, raw heartbreak in his eyes.

    Violet’s POV:

 [Flashback]

  “Babe. Baaaaabe. Jung In-ah.”

  Without opening my eyes, I replied, “Hm?”

  Sehun rolled from one side to the other on his back, his head still on my right thigh. “What’s on your mind?”

  “How do you know I was thinking?”

  “You stopped fiddling with my hair.”

  I opened my eyes, to see him staring at me. “I could’ve fallen asleep.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You never fall asleep when we’re here up on the roof.” Sehun reached out to my cheek. “So what is it?”

  “Nothing… just if I should paint my room pink today.”

  He scoffed. “Very funny, babe. You hate pink.”

  I silently laughed. “Why do you only call me ‘babe’ when we’re alone? Not even when we’re with, you know, the other oppars and unnies?”

  His hand suddenly shot up and flickered my forehead.

  “Ow – “

  “We have to be cautious, Jung In. What if a fan of the others or even ours overhears our conversation, and hears me calling you that? We can’t afford being caught, remember?”

  I rubbed my forehead and hit Sehun’s tummy in revenge. “Yeah, arra, I guess you’re right.”

  He scrambled up to tackle me to the ground. “I’m always right, babe.” I closed my eyes when he leaned down to kiss me, and for a moment we lost ourselves in the pleasant yet magical feeling, until I broke the kiss.

  “But seriously, oppa. What if one day we… do get caught?”

  “Jung In – “

  “I know, I know, ‘It won’t happen,’ but still. Have you ever thought of it?”

  Sehun sighed, and rolled down next to me, our backs on the ground and shoulders touching. “Ne…”

  I stared at the sky. “And?”

  “And… well, if one day that happens – which I promise you won’t – we’d be under lots of pressure – “

  “From Mr. Park, Sooman appa, and the fans.”

  “Ne. And it might severely affect out career, and… we might end up doing the only thing that’s best for us.”

  “What? Hold a press conference and deny our relationship, just because we’re still ‘young’ and ‘ambitious’?”

  Sehun nodded.

  I turned my head to look at him. “But we could still secretly see each other, right?”

  He didn’t speak for a moment, and I watched him as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Ani…” he slowly drew the word out, something flickering in his eyes.

  I looked away. “Mr. Park told you too, didn’t he? That if we got caught, we would have to – “

  “Break up. We would have to break up, for real.”

  My eyes started stinging. “But Sehun… I can’t… I can’t bear not seeing you again or – “

  “I know, Jung In.” A shuffle of clothes erupted, and then I found myself in Sehun’s warm, familiar arms. “I don’t think I could bear being separated from you, too. So I promise you, okay, Jung In-ah?” He pulled away, a warm yet loving smile on his lips. “It will never happen. We will never get caught, and will never be separated.” His breathing had turned ragged. “I love you, Jung In.”

  I grabbed his face and pulled him in for another kiss, deeply believing what he said, and felt like the most happiest girl on Earth. “I love you, too, Sehun.”

 [Flashback End]

  No.

  This can’t be the end of us.

  I feel the pain of my twisted ankle, a result of my rushing away from all the cameras and fans. I feel the hard floor on my face be attacked my all my tears, wetness merging with the coldness against my cheek. I feel someone pulling me up and wrapping his warm, recognizable arms around me as I sob as hard as I can.

  But it’s not him.

  And all those pain, none were more excruciating than the pain in my heart.

  Me and Sehun…

  Our beautiful relationship…

  It can’t end.

  It can’t end like this. Not now, not ever.

  We can’t be separated.

  NO!

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[Author's Note] So I have bad news, guise. I know that this story has gone to the now, but I can't update in a few weeks. Yeah, I'm going on hiatus, for a few weeks, maybe even for a month.

I feel so sad I'm sobbing just at the thought of not being able to write and update and see all your beautiful comments in a month but... I have to, for the sake of my studies T____T. Hope you guys would understand and... wait for me. Yeah.

 /gets bricked/

And that's why I made this chap super long LOOOOOOOOOOOL. Hope it wasn't too bad hahahaha<3

 /GETS JUDGES BY KYUNGSOO AND BAEK/

THANK YOU PEOPLE FOR SUBBING AND UPVOTING AND COMMENTING!!! Really, it makes me feel so thrilled to know that there are people enjoying my stories. THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!! <3<3<3 THANK YOU!!!!!