"Confess."

        "No, no, no. That's too early, Lu. He has to show that he cares for her first."

        "Excuse me, care to repeat that?"

        "Repeat what?"

        "Your last sentence."

        "Uhh... Kris has to show that he cares for her first?"

        Kris glared at Luhan as the man laughed his off. "Chanyeol, you just used Kris and the word 'care' in the same sentence!"

        Chanyeol chuckled and glanced playfully at the other man. "My bad."

        "s."

        "No, Kris. You're the in this story." Luhan said before chugging down his beer. "In fact, you're the in every story."

        "I second that." Chanyeol said as he raised his beer up and chugged it down.

        "Why am I friends with you guys again?" Kris asked with a raised eyebrow.

        "Cause you're an !" Chanyeol and Luhan said at the same time before falling into a fit of laughter. Kris sighed and got up from his chair.

        "I'm out of here."

        "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Chanyeol said as he held the elder man's wrists. "You're not going anywhere, young man."

        Kris scolwed. "I'm older than you, Yeol."

        "Yeah, and I'm older than you so take a seat, young man." Luhan chimed in and pulled the taller guy back into his chair. "What's the hurry anyways? Eager to see your so-called wedding breaker?"

        "She is my wedding breaker!" Kris argued.

        "Whom you fell in love with."

        "I am not in love with her."

        "You do know that denial is one of the signs of being whipped, right?"

        " you, Luhan."

        "Let's see how it works out for you."

        Chanyeol chuckled and placed a hand on Kris' back. "Hey, man. Remember how I told you the story of how I met Sohee?"

        "Here we go..."

        "Shut up, Luhan. Anyways, you're story and mine are somewhat similar."

        "How come?"

        "Didn't I tell you to shut the up, Luhan?"

        "None that I can recall, giant."

        Chanyeol sighed and turned back to Kris. "We both fell in love-"

        "I'm not in love with her!"

        "-with a girl we barely knew-"

        "Chanyeol-"

        "-after our last heartbreak."

        "Heartbreak?" Luhan quickly asked. "What heartbreak?"

        Chanyeol raised his eyebrow in amusement and smirked. "You mean he didn't tell you?"

        "Tell me what?"

        "Kris?"

        The male sighed and shook his head. "No, I didn't."

        "Tell me what?"

        "No offense Luhan, but I don't feel like letting other people know about it." Kris said and finished his beer. Luhan exchanged looks with Chanyeol, and the latter smiled at him.

        "I guess I wasn't supposed to know either, Lu." Chanyeol said. "But the thing is, I was there. I saw everything."

        Luhan saw the glint of sadness in the man's eyes before seeing the dark expression on Kris' face. He watched as Chanyeol placed a hand on the other's shoulder while Kris continued dawning his drink, lost in thought. The two then exchange gazes but Luhan knew that they had spoken through their eyes.

        Whatever it is that Kris had experienced in the past had also affected Chanyeol in some ways. That Luhan was sure of.
 

        Nina sighed once Tao's car was out of sight. She returned back into the new room the latter had placed her and went to sit near the windowstill. She took in the cool breeze that blew in through the window and smiled at the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks down at the beach. The smell of the ocean filled the air and she closed her eyes, feeling at ease. It all ended when she heard the sound of tyres screeching from outside.

        Surprised, Nina went back downstairs at the same time as Kris came in through the front door, swaying on his feet. Frowning, she descended the rest of the steps and walked to the drunken man. Before she could even reach him, the door opened wider and a tall man with brown hair entered with a shorter blonde guy trailing after him.

        "Oh?" the taller male said before nudging the shorter one. "Is she..."

        "Hi!" the latter waved cheerfully. "I'm Xi Luhan, and this tall giant here is Park Chanyeol."

        "Chanyeol," the taller corrected with a wide smile. "And you must be Kim Nina."

        "Uhh...yes." Nina answered before glancing at where Kris stood. His face was dark, solemn - unlike someone who were supposedly drunk. Their eyes met and Nina silently gasped at the sight of his weak yet piercing glaze.

        Luhan and Chanyeol exchanged glances and smirked to themselves. They watched as Kris broke eye contact before slowly making his way towards the living room. Nina had taken a step towards him when he slightly swayed but remained at her position when Kris regained his balance and walked away. They secretly smiled at this before nudging each other.

        "I guess we'll be off now." Chanyeol said. Nina slightly flinched at his deep voice but nevertheless nodded her head. She followed them out to the front porch and stopped at the door as they turned back to her.

        "Take care now, Ms. Kim." Luhan said and flashed her his dazzling smile. "I hope we'll see each other again some time soon."

        "Me too." Chanyeol chimed in.

        Nina smiled awkwardly, slightly confused, before nodding her head. "Drive safely," she said, surprising the other two before they both broke into wide smiles.

        "We will. Good night!"

        Chanyeol got behind the wheel of his Mercedes while Luhan strapped himself in the front passenger seat. The moment the car left Kris' beach house, Luhan laid back in his seat and sighed.

       "What's up, Lu?" Chanyeol asked.

        "She's beautiful..."

        "She is," the other agreed. "She's nice too."

        "What had Kris bestowed upon himself now?" Luhan sighed again.

        "Lu?"

        "I can see that she's a pure, innocent and kind girl, Yeol. I don't want Kris to ruin her with his ego and whatever childish thing he has in his mind. It's wrong for him to trap her in his house like that."

        Chanyeol sighed and nodded his head. "I agree with you. But then again, she could've easily left the house when Kris and Tao are not around, you know."

        "Hmm... You're right." Luhan said as he sat up straight. He placed a finger under his chin and rubbed it, making him look like he was deep in thought. "But why didn't she?"