"Chaekyung! Lee Chaekyung!"

Heads turned along the corridor as they eyed the red haired handsome dude rushing through the masses of people while trying to get to his supposed girlfriend. Whispers turned louder and it was no doubt a fairly scandalous happening in their mundane student lives and some people even whipped out their phones to post a picture of the scene on SNS.

L.Joe didn't notice any of that, his gaze fixated on the girl he was pursuing as his heart sank with every step he took.

He was such a fool, what the hell was he thinking when he said those words? No, he wasn't even thinking at all. How could he speak so brainlessly, gosh he so wanted to strangle himself to death. If Chunji knew what happened, L.Joe was sure that his best friend would even take the first coach over to Seoul to strangle him personally

Chaekyung seemed to run faster when she heard his voice and L.Joe cursed under his breath. That girl looked so soft and fragile but who knew she could be so stubborn. Apparently what he said about her not being determined the previous day was absolutely false.

Because Lee Chaekyung sure seemed determined as hell to avoid him as best as she could.

"LEE CHAEKYUNG!" L.Joe hollered once more, pushing past the crowd and slowly closing the gap between them. Chaekyung risked a glance back and gasped when she saw that he was getting closer and closer to her. She turned the corner and ran towards the sports equipment storeroom which was usually isolated before training started after school.

Chaekyung rushed into the storeroom and slammed the door shut behind her just before L.Joe could get in. The stale smell of rubber and sweat was exceptionally strong and she desperately wanted to get out of there when she remembered stories of how dead rats were found in the storeroom, but avoiding L.Joe was more important at that point.

"Yah Lee Chaekyung!" L.Joe banged on the door. The door shook while it's hinges creaked dangerously, signalling the end of it's lifespan within any second. Chaekyung gulped and leaned heavily against the door for fear that it might give way.

She couldn't let him see her now, crying for the second time.

Who did he think he was to hurt her once and again? Was yesterday not enough? Was pride that important? To think that she was ready to forgive him after a two days cooling off period and she found him sprouting such harsh words towards his friends.

A tear trickled down her cheek as she remembered what he said again.

She could never be comparable to Jaekyung, ever. No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried...she would never, ever come close to being comparable.

She shouldn't even be angry with him should she? What he said was the truth after all, there was no wrong in being truthful was there?

L.Joe stopped hitting against the door when he heard soft sniffles coming from inside. He groaned inwardly and leaned his forehead against the stale wooden door. He never thought a girl's tears would affect him so much as it did then.

L.Joe whipped out his phone, his fingers flying across the keyboard in a swift motion. He sent a quick text to Ricky and hoped he would act quickly. He leaned back against the door and frowned when he still heard Chaekyung crying. was there something wrong with him? Was his mouth not connected to his brain or something?

"Chaekyung, please listen to me." L.Joe leaned against the door, swallowing hard. "I really didn't mean what I said okay? I wasn't thinking at all everything I said was rubbish, so wasting your tears and emotions on those stupid words isn't worth it please."

He could still hear Chaekyung sniffling on the other side of the door and he glanced behind him, cursing under his breath. Where the hell was Ricky?!

L.Joe clenched his fists and stared at the door, willing it to disappear. He couldn't stand the feeling of being just inches away from her but not being able to do anything while she cried her guts out. Because of him. It was the first time in ages that he felt like this: helpless.

L.Joe would have smiled if he could. Lee Chaekyung was really something huh, causing him to feel emotions he never experienced for a long time coming. Guilt, panic, helplessness...

"Chaekyung, please open the door." L.Joe murmured, his limbs trembling. "You shouldn't let my words bother you, you should know better than that right? I talk without thinking, whether or not you want to pursue L isn't my problem." he swallowed. "In fact, you stepping back for your sister's happiness is really admirabl-"

"Not your fault."

L.Joe stopped speaking, straining to hear her soft voice. His brows furrowed. "What?"

"I said it's not your fault." Chaekyung muttered softly from the other side. "It's not your fault for pointing out the truth."

L.Joe's eyes widened in shock. That was not what he expected her to say. He expected vulgarities and cusses, he expected her to be extremely pissed for his probing, but not this. He NEVER expected acceptance and defeat.

"You're right." Chaekyung whispered softly, such that L.Joe had to plant his ear against the door to hear her. She wasn't talking to him right now, more of murmuring to herself. It was her inner, most honest thoughts.

"Unnie is so much better than me." her soft words pierced through L.Joe's heart. "Everything about her is better than me. I can never match up to her no matter how hard I try. No matter how bright my smile is and how well I seem to portray myself, one day everyone will catch on to the fact that I'm incomparable."

L.Joe stared at the door, silent. Did she really think that? Did she really think she was incomparable to Jaekyung in everything?

L.Joe could list down quite a few things about her which he thought was more admirable than Jaekyung, even despite how he was supposed to be in love with Jaekyung. 

Chaekyung was good in sports and cheerleading while her sister wasn't. She was adorably naive while her sister was learnt and wise. Even if her academic results were not as good as her sister's, there was no doubt that she was trying hard to keep up.

How could she ever think so low of herself?

Rapid footsteps came towards them and L.Joe snapped his head up, relieved and annoyed to see Ricky finally arriving. He ran to meet his dongsaeng and snatched the keys out of his hands. "What took you so long!" he grumbled.

Without waiting for a reply, L.Joe ran back to the storeroom, struggling to open the door. Ricky scoffed and stuck his tongue out when L.Joe wasn't looking, huffing and turning back the way he came from. He knew better than to probe on their private moment.

The door managed to open within the first try from the whole ring of twenty keys and L.Joe tumbled in in a less-than-glamorous manner. Chaekyung's eyes widened at the sight of him and she rushed to scramble away from him.

L.Joe slammed the door shut behind them and grabbed her wrist in a swift motion, tugging her back to him. Wordlessly, he circled his arms around her and brought her face to his chest as they both sank on the floor, tired from the emotion and the chase.

Chaekyung stuggled weakly against his grasp but soon gave up as his arms tightened around her. This was wrong, he wasn't the guy she wanted around but somehow his presence was awfully comforting, even if he was the cause for the pain in the first place.

"It's not true you know." L.Joe murmured softly, her hair in slow movements. He could feel her tears staining the front of his shirt and a wave of guilt rose within him once more. "You're not incomparable, Jaekyung isn't better than you."

Even though she didn't say anything, L.Joe could tell that she didn't believe him and he knew it would be hard to convince her of so within a few words. She believed she was inferior for who knew how long, it wasn't going to be easy to change her mindset.

"You are not your sister. The two of you are entirely different girls with different charms and different personalities, there is really no way to determine who is better in which way." L.Joe sighed softly. "If L doesn't know how to appreciate you, that's his loss. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. L may not find you attractive but so many other boys do. Some day, you'll find someone who loves you as much as you love them okay?"

Chaekyung nodded into his chest and L.Joe let out a short breath. Everyone had insecurities, but Chaekyung was the last person he would have imagined to bear such ridiculous notions.

No one was perfect, yes, but Chaekyung was pretty darn close. To think that she harbored such depressing thoughts was shocking.

L.Joe found a whole new reason to hate L all of a sudden, in addition to him dating Jaekyung. Because L broke Chaekyung's heart.

"She's not replying." Jaekyung stared at her phone, frowning.

L looked over at his girlfriend who sighed for the umpteenth time and he shuffled closer to her. "Hey, Chaekyung's a big girl now, I'm sure she's going to be okay."

Jaekyung nodded distractedly. "I wonder what happened between L.Joe and her." she muttered. "I really hope she's okay." Jaekyung had heard about the tiff between her sister and L.Joe, even notified from the pictures of a crying Chaekyung fleeing from L.Joe that was uploaded on SNS.

She hated that she had to get to know these things from other people instead of Chaekyung herself, but knew that her sister was probably to distressed to notify her of these things presently.

L on the other hand, found another reason to doubt L.Joe on top of his initial dislike. Even though L.Joe and Chaekyung were seemingly closer than before, L still found it strange that Chaekyung started dating a guy so easily without even looking like she was particularly fond of him. And not to mention how his guy's instincts told him L.Joe was interested in Jaekyung instead.

And look now, L.Joe was sending Chaekyung to tears. As an oppa, L would not stand for his younger sister getting bullied.

"Do you think we should convince Chaekyung to break up with L.Joe?" L asked, raising his brows. "Look they haven't even been together for long and they're already-"

"Break up?" Jaekyung frowned at L, surprised by his suggestion. "Why would we do that? I think they look happy together." L opened his mouth to protest and Jaekyung continued. "And besides, it's Chae's freedom to date whoever she wants to so she should be the one to decide on that."

L twisted his lips and sighed. Oh fine fine, that was true. And he knew if Jaekyung wanted to argue with him, he would never be able to go against her because he just loved her that much.

"Oh alright." L tugged on Jaekyung's ponytail playfully and leaned against her table with a sly expression. She looked at him with raised brows, still distracted by her phone. "Yah Mrs Kim."

"What is it, Myungsoo?" Jaekyung murmured, refreshing her chat with Chaekyung.

"You know, the Christmas ball is coming up soon..." L trailed off, hoping that she got the hint. Jaekyung took few moments to absorb what he meant and she looked up at him with an amused expression. "Oh the Christmas ball." she bit back a smile. "Yeah why? Don't you know I never go for those?"

L nearly pouted with an adorable expression and Jaekyung wanted to laugh. Her boyfriend was sooo cute it HAD to be illegal.

"You're not going? Why!" L whined, tugging at her sleeve and trying to win her over with his aegyo.

Hoya heard the commotion from the side and nearly puked at the scene, squeezing his eyes shut at once. "Ewww ewww ewww." he groaned. "Please make me unsee that!"

"What?" Dongwoo blinked in interest. He looked over and immediately regretted his decision, groaning and smacking hsi head on the table. "How is he the visual when he looks so disturbing huh?"

L didn't care about all that. All he was concerned about was why Jaekyung wasn't going to the Christmas ball. It wasn't fun going to the ball if she wasn't going, and he wanted to go with her. "Why aren't you going!" he asked again.

Jaekyung gave him a teasing smile. "Because my boyfriend hasn't asked, you twit." she knocked him on the head once and rose for a bathroom break.

L blinked for a few seconds before bursting into a wide grin. "That girl." he laughed softly.