April 2017 - present day

"Ew," Kai held his breath, fingers pinching his nose to emphasize his disgust. "Did you get hammered last night?"

They were all sitting around the cafeteria during recess, hands either clutching a sad looking sandwich or some chopstick to stuff sticky rice and soup into their mouth. Growing boys needed lots of food, they argued.

"No joke," Lay smirked. "It really does smell like he had a good drink last night."

Chan Yeol sniffed his shirt. Yeah, I still have the soju smell on me. He couldn't help it, really. Whenever something bothered him,  he turned into drinking, though his alcohol tolerance was terrible. "Okay, I know I smell like soju, but is there a need to say it aloud?" He whined, throwing a dirty glare when the group synonymously started nodding at him. Sehun even going all the way to throw a handful of soggy fries into his face. "Yah!"

"Hyung, why'd you drink? Did something happen?" Baek Hyun asked curiously. "Did something bad happen to Ji Eun?"

Lu Han rolled his eyes. "Yah, yah. Baekhyun-ah, you're acting really weird these days. Whenever you talk, you're sure to add Ji Eun's name into whatever you're talking." He then nudged Baek Hyun with a sly smirk. "Don't tell me, you really like her?"

"He likes her, I'm certain of this." Kris nodded his head wisely, though head still bent down to stir his now lukewarm soup.

"Bingo," Chan Yeol smirked. The boys started gathering around Chan Yeol when they caught the face he made, the look signifying that something really was up. Probably something interesting. Big news. Wow.

"Do you know something?" D.O raised a brow.

"Hm," Chan Yeol hummed, face looking smug as if he had it onto a secret. "Maybe, who knows?" He taunted.

Baek Hyun glared at him. Chan Yeol would spill it if he dared. He knew him too well. He was that big of a , really. "Hyung, don't you dare. I'll kill you, really, I mean it," he threatened.

Chan Yeol shrugged. "Well I'll think about dying later, but first -"

"Hyung, last warning. I'll stab you. Don't you dare."

"Boys, he kissed her."

Xiumin choked on the piece of chicken he was eating, bone almost making his way down his throat. "Dude," Sehun shrieked, patting the other on the back. "What? You're saying that-"

"He kissed her?" Tao couldn't help but scream, food tray almost spilling all over Kris, who honestly would've castrated the other if it happened. The guy seriously needs to control his voice and limbs.

Baek Hyun slapped a hand on the latter's mouth hastily. "Yah! Are you out of your mind?" He whispered.

Chen faked on a crying face. "Poor, poor Ji Eun." He leaned his head on Sehun's shoulder, the other running his finger's through Chen's hair to have in in the act. What a bunch of little s. "It must be really hard for her to be kissed by that kind of guy." Baek Hyun hit Chen's head hard, almost dislocating Sehun's shoulder in the process. He couldn't understand why Chen would call him 'that kind of guy'. He made it sound like he's some kind of loser.

"Oppa!" Ji Eun called out to her brother. She jogged over to the group and handed him a box. "How could you forget your lunch box?" She reprimanded, before her eyes darted towards the figure perched on her brother's back, his face rested on his hand, scarlet red. Her face took upon the same shade at the sight of Baek Hyun.

The gang started cooing when they saw them both together, taking the opportunity to tease them relentlessly.

"Congratulations, mom!" Luhan teased, taking joy in pissing his little sister off. 

Ji Eun eyed them cautiously, wondering why they had -eating grins on their faces.

"Seems like your relationship with your fiancé's getting good, huh?" Chen grinned slyly at her. Ji Eun tilted her head, confusion etched all over her face.

"What're you trying to say, oppa?" Ji Eun huffed, crossing her arms together.

"Guess," Chen sang brightly, bopping Ji Eun's nose to spite her even more.

Ji Eun looked around the group to get some answers. She frowned seeing Kai tapping onto his bottom lips repeatedly, while Sehun smooched his lips up and pretended as if he was kissing somebody, even going further to pull Tao up with him before the latter pushed his face away. Her face turned cherry when she caught upon what they were trying to say.

"Okay, it's not what you think like-"

"Oh, so you do admit that it happened, don't you?" Lay chuckled, dimple aggravating Ji Eun, that she wouldn't mind poking a sharp chopstick through it. He nudged Ji Eun and winked, the act encouraging the gang to make obnoxious aww sounds of all pitches.

"Ji Eun-ah, aren't we supposed to have lunch together?" a pretty girl with dark hair, and bangs that cover her eyebrows asked softly behind her. The girl flitted her eye over at a red-faced Baek Hyun shyly. She smiled to herself a little while eyeing him.

It wasn't really surprising since she's had a ginormous crush on him since fourth grade. It was a secret for herself and no one else. When Baek Hyun turned to look at her, she quickly turned her gaze away and eyed at her own feet.

What? Is something on my face? Baek Hyun raised his eyebrows in confusion, but later sighed and shook his head.

"Oh, Suzy, sorry." Ji Eun internally sighed in relief, glad her best friend had appeared just at the right time. "This guy here," she glared at her brother. "Forget his lunch box and made me come all the way up here."

"Yah," Chan Yeol argued. "I was-"

"Drunk," Ji Eun closed her eyes and nodded wisely in agreement. "Uh-huh. Clearly, I know that." She smirked widely before clinging onto Suzy's arms. "Let's go."

Chanyeol sighed and sat back down. "What's wrong with her?"

"What's wrong with you?" Kris corrected. "You haven't told us why you drank last night. And you do know your drinking, well," he paused for a moment. "."

"Burn." Lu Han echoed. clapping his palms together.

"Shut up," Lay silenced everyone. They all looked at him seriously for a moment, wanting to nag at him for sounding rude before catching sight of the look on his face. "Lee Min Hyuk," he hissed.

Min Hyuk was laughing with his basketball teammates, queuing up to buy lunch, before his gaze landed on a group of boys staring at him. His eyes narrowed at Baek Hyun, smirking. Such an . He raised a thumb and lipped Baek Hyun a "good luck", before kissing the same thumb and turning it upside down. 

'Loser' was the last word Baek Hyun saw Min Hyuk mouth him before turning away and laugh boisterously with his friends. "," Baek Hyun snarled, temper rising as he rushed out of the seat to beat Min Hyuk up, before getting pulled back by his friends. 

"Chill, man," Suho rested a hand on Baek Hyun's shoulder. "Just leave him be. He’s not worth it."

It was too late, though. Someone'd already landed a punched straight on Min Hyuk's face, sending him sprawling on the floor with a bruised cheek. It wasn't Baek Hyun though. It was Park Chan Yeol.

"What did I say?" Chan Yeol gave him another punch. "Do that again and you'll see what happen."

"Ji Eun-ah," Suzy looked at Ji Eun. "Did you- did you end your feelings with Min Hyuk-oppa?"

The question struck her. She'd been so busy about the whole 'fiancé fiasco' that she didn't have time to realize that she'd gone through a bad break up barely a month ago. Yeah, she still had feelings for him. He was hers. He always is.

Guilt took over Ji Eun disgustingly fast, bile rising , making her stomach churn. How could she be such a playgirl? How could she forget about him? Baek Hyun wasn't her destiny, it was merely something arranged by their parents. 

"Ji Eun!" Her classmate, Mi Young shouted from afar, sprinting at her, panting to catch her breath once stopping. "Ji Eun-ah, something bad happened!"

"Something bad? What is it?" Ji Eun calmed her down. "God, calm down. You're sweating."

Mi Young waved her hand signaling that she was fine. "Don't worry about me. Your brother- Chanyeol sunbae-nim," she took a deep breath and panted again. "He sent punches on Min Hyuk sunbae-nim!"

Ji Eun blinked a few times. "What?"