'He lives!' Luna commented when Sehun staggered into the living room the next afternoon. 'You should be very happy that Mom and Dad went to go look at wallpaper all day.'

'You lecturing me, Miss... Miss Liar?' He sat down, grabbed the box of Cocoa Puffs off the coffee table and shook some into his mouth. 'These things are loud,' he said as he chewed.

'Not so much is you use milk,' Luna said, taking a bite of cereal. She looked as wasted as he felt. And judging by the cereal on the table at three in the afternoon, she'd slept pretty late herself. 'The spoon actually feels heavy,' she complained.

'After last weekend, I thought you'd be smart enough to cut back on the drinks,' Sehun commented.

'All I had was o.j... All night.' Luna yawned. 'Do you think somebody could have slipped me something?'

'Maybe a bartender. At your request,' Sehun suggested. 'You didn't really go the whole night with no alcohol?'

'Yeah, I did,' Luna countered. 'And you should be glad I did. Because it meant I was sober enough to drive you home!'

'You don't have a license,' Sehun reminded her.

Luna lifted her hands up and down like she was weighing something. 'Sober and unlicensed, or drunk and licensed? Hmm...'

She had a point. 'Thanks. I guess,' Sehun managed. He ate another mouthful of Cocoa Puffs, then decided the CRUNCH, CRUNCH wasn't worth it. 'Great party, huh?'

'The best. I'm wiped, but feel really blissed out, even without the drinking,' Luna answered, smiling happily.

'Me too. No wonder everyone wants to do the DeVere Heights parties.'

'Who wants to look at the new hall wallpaper we picked out?' their mother called as she and their dad came into the house.

Sehun and Luna both groaned.

'You go,' Sehun said. 'You owe me for the "shhh".'

'Well, you owe me for the...' Luna made a steering motion. But she stood up. 'Coming,' she called.

Sehun stretched out on the living-room floor and stared up at the ceiling. The room made a slow rotation. The position felt familiar. An image of Yuri ripped through his mind. Yuri walking away from him. His stomach turned over and a sick feeling flooded his body as another image exploded in his brain: Yuri looking at him coldly. Like she hated him.

Why? Sehun couldn't remember. He ran his hands briskly through his hair, trying to think. The sensation brought up another memory: other hands in his hair - gentle fingers sliding through it - and a wet mouth on his throat. Sulli. Dancing with Sulli. Sliding his hands over her .

Sehun sat up suddenly, hot bolts of pain stabbing into him. Shards of memory from the night before came flooding back. Tao running his hands over Yuri's body. And Sehun himself calling Yuri a ! Did that really happen? He climbed slowly to his feet. He had to get some air. He had to figure out what he'd actually done - what he'd done to turn Yuri into an ice queen.

An hour and two bottle of Evian later, Sehun was jogging along the top of the bluffs overlooking the ocean. He was so tired that each step felt like swimming through quicksand, but he didn't allow himself to stop. He needed to sweat out the alcohol. How much had he drunk last night? Too much, that's all he knew for sure. His legs were made of rubber. Really heavy rubber. But he pushed himself to go faster, fast enough to leave behind the disturbing images of Yuri. And yet they kept pace with him. He saw her walking away with every step, saw her face with every breath. It was miles and miles later before Sehun allowed himself to slow down, to rest.

Sehun climbed down a pathway from the bluff to the beach. He pulled off his sneakers and walked into the surf up to his calves, letting the cold water of the Pacific ease the strain on his muscles. Running usually invigorated him, but he still couldn't shake his exhaustion from the night before. Slowly, he walked toward home, ignoring the cries of the seagulls and laughter of beachgoers drifting over the dunes. The sun was low in the sky now, making his shadow stretch out a long way to his left.

As he neared the stretch of beach near Luhan's house, Sehun spotted the last thing he wanted to see: a group of people from school. More specifically, a group of girl's from DeVere Heights, spread out on blankets and beach towels. He'd bet Yuri was one of them. And maybe Sulli. Sehun slowed down, squinting into the sun to get a better look at who was there. Did he want to see Yuri? Or Sulli, for that matter? It would be awkward with either one of them.

He hesitated, wondering if he should climb back up to the bluff so he wouldn't have to walk right by them. But then it occurred to him that if he could see them, they could see him. And he didn't want them to see him scurry off like a puppy with his tail between his legs.

So Sehun kept walking. His heart began to pound when he got close enough to actually pick Yuri out of the crowd. She and the others had begun packing up picnic stuff, a volleyball net and some surfboards. They were clearly leaving. Maybe she'd just go...

But, no, she came heading right toward him. Obviously the potential for awkwardness didn't bother her. Maybe she wanted to yell at him.

Sehun in a deep breath and walked over to meet her. 'Hi,' he said.

'Hi.' Her voice was flat and emotionless, giving him nothing. Well, he deserved that.

He glanced at the boards. 'I didn't know you surfed,' he said.

'You don't really know that much about me at all,' Yuri countered.

'True,' Sehun acknowledged. He wanted to reach out and touch her, just to break through the barrier he could feel between them. But he knew that would be a bad idea.

'Yuri, come on. We're heading up,' Hyoyeon called.

'I'm going to walk home,' Yuri shouted back. 'Stow my stuff for me, okay?'

'No way, carry it yourself,' Hyoyeon said, tossing her a towel with a grin. 'Lazy girl!'

Yuri smiled back at her, but the smile never reached her eyes. She was not happy. Without a glance at Sehun, Yuri started to walk away. Again.

'Can I walk with you?' Sehun asked.

Yuri shrugged. 'If you want,' she replied.

The sun was sinking as they made their way across the velvety sand in silence. Sehun suddenly realized they were only about a hundred feet from Yuri's house. He didn't have much time left.

'Look, I'm sorry,' he said softly.

'For what?'

'I said some horrible things last night,' Sehun answered. He couldn't remember exactly what he'd said, but he knew he'd hurt her.

'The word I'd use is outrageous,' Yuri corrected. She stopped and turned to face him. 'I'd call them outrageous things.'

I saw you up there with Tao. Outrageous! The words sliced into Sehun's mind. Suddenly, he could hear himself saying them to Yuri. But the words brought back something else: the memory of Yuri and Tao together in that couch, Tao's hands sliding over her curves. Jealously crashed over Sehun, like one of those waves that knock you to the ocean floor.

'I shouldn't have said that,' Sehun told Yuri.

'But you meant it. You still feel that way. I can see it on your face,' Yuri accused, her eyes darkening until they were almost black. 'As if you weren't doing exactly the same thing with Sulli.'

'Yeah, okay, I was. But at least I wasn't cheating on anyone,' Sehun said.

'Right,' Yuri snapped back. 'So when you saw me with Tao, you were thinking about Luhan? How I was treating Luhan so badly?' she inquired, wrapping her arms around herself.

'No,' Sehun admitted with a sigh. 'No, I wasn't thinking about Luhan at all. And what I said... it was because...' But he couldn't continue. How could he tell her that he'd said what he had because the sight of another guy's hands on her made him insane with jealousy? Sehun knew that Yuri was right. He really didn't know her. Yeah, she was beautiful. But so was Hyoyeon. So was Sulli. Malibu was filled with beautiful girls. What made Yuri so different? It was like she could reach into his chest and touch his heart.

'I was an idiot,' he said helplessly.

'Yeah, you were,' Yuri agreed, but she smiled and took a step closer to Sehun. 'You wanted some time with me last night. You got time now. Are you finished?'

She was so close he could smell that apple-ocean-vanilla scent of her. 'No,' he murmured. 'No, I'm not finished.' He reached out, wanting to touch her face. But hesitated, his fingers inches away from her, close enough to fel the heat of her skin.

Yuri turned her head slightly, closing the distance between his hand and her cheek.

He was touching her. That was all the invitation Sehun needed. He took her face in his ands and kissed her, tasting her, taking her in. Yuri's mouth responded to his, and she ran her hands up his chest to lace them around his neck.

And then... Sehun forced himself to pull away. They stared at each other for a long moment, before Yuri wordlessly turned toward her house on the cliff above them. Sehun watched her for a moment as she climbed the steep stairs cut into the bluff. Then he turned and raced down the beach, his body alive with heat and passion and hope.

He veered toward the water, picking up speed, needing it, needing the motion to channel all the emotion and energy those few minutes with Yuri had created. Fast, faster. His arms pumping, his heart pounding with the rhythm of his feet on the wet sand. Spray from the ocean hit his face as he ran along the shoreline. It cooled his skin, which still burned with the memory of Yuri's touch. Now he was sprinting, running flat out - so fast that there was no chance to stop when he saw it.

Sehun's bare foot hit the chilly flesh, and sent him sprawling into the cold, wet sand. His mind spun, shock filling his body. What had he tripped over? It couldn't have been-

He scrambled up and turned around, praying he'd been wrong about what he'd seen. But the girl's body still lay there. Face down. Her flesh cold and blue.

CPR, Sehun ordered himself. Move, go!

He dropped to his knees next to the girl and tried to roll her onto her back, but she felt heavy, waterlogged. A wave splashed onto the shore, its undertow pulling her out of his grasp. Sehun felt the setting sun hot upon the back of his neck as he reached for her cold arm again.

He waited for the next wave and used the of the water to help him roll her over. Sohee's blank eyes stared up at him.

It was too late for Sehun to help her. Too late for anyone.

She was dead.

*Note - Woah~ So much happening in this chapter! Yuri and Sehun made up with each other... with a kiss?! And Sohee washed up on the beach!

Also, if you guys haven't noticed that I have added another story, Initiation, which is the follow up of this story, Bloodlust.