“What’s your problem?!” Yoona exclaims, breaking free from Kyuhyun’s grip.

“What’s my problem?!” Kyuhyun snarls, matching Yoona’s spite because honestly, this has to stop. This Yoona pulling strings with everyone that matters to Kyuhyun because Kyuhyun doesn’t like her, because Kyuhyun will never like her. “What’s your problem?! I told you, over and over again, I don’t like you, Im Yoona. I don’t like you and I’ll never like you. Stop harassing everyone important to me!”

It stings Yoona more than she allows herself to be. She’s not stupid, you see. She knows that Kyuhyun doesn’t like her and she’s working her way to his heart, in the most nonsensical ways, but still, she’s working on it, and she thinks she only likes Kyuhyun because all her life, he’s been the variable ruining the constants in her life, of her getting everything her heart desires, but she doesn’t expect it to hurt like this.

“You’re really something, Kyuhyun-ssi,” Yoona says, recovering and hiding the pain she feels after what Kyuhyun said.

Kyuhyun raises her brow at her sudden shift from familiarity to formality and Kyuhyun questions Yoona’s sanity. The look that’s playing on Yoona’s eyes isn’t only something that wants to get a guy she likes but doesn’t like her back or something that wants to get back at someone from ruining her plans. It’s something else and Kyuhyun will be lying if he’ll say that it doesn’t look dangerous. To be honest, it looks anything but not dangerous.

“Stop this already, Yoona,” Kyuhyun tells her, calming himself.

“Stop what, Kyuhyun-ssi?”

“Stop tormenting Sooyeon and Miyoung.”

“Is that all?”

“Stop trying to get into my life.”

“That’s it?”

Kyuhyun stares at Yoona disbelievingly. She seems like she’s playing, like this is all a game for her, and Kyuhyun wants to make her understand that Kyuhyun doesn’t mean things to be this way between him and Yoona. If she only came to her like how normal people do, it could even be possible that he and Kyuhyun be friends, but she didn’t and things turned out the way they are right now.

“Yoona, please,” Kyuhyun says, finally giving up. If this needs to be done to set things alright once and for all, Kyuhyun rarely pleads, not unless it’s something really, really important, but he just wants a peaceful life. He just wants a peaceful life with and for everyone around him.

“Please what?”

“I didn’t mean for us to be like this,” Kyuhyun admits. “But you can’t keep hurting those people important to me. You can’t keep doing all those crazy antics trying to get me to like you because…”

“Because?”

Kyuhyun inhales deeply and meets Yoona’s gaze. “Because I like someone else. There’s someone I already like, Yoona. I’m sorry.”

For what it’s worth, even though Yoona does seem to be Satan’s daughter in a human body following Kyuhyun like a crazy dog wherever he goes, Kyuhyun isn’t a bastard not to notice that maybe, Yoona does like him. It’s just that, Kyuhyun already has someone he likes and it’s unfair, not just to Yoona but to himself and the person he likes if he’ll do something against his heart’s will.

Life is too short to do things you don’t like.

Life is not long not to do things you like.

If Kyuhyun is looking close enough, he can probably see the hinge of pain in Yoona’s doe eyes and how quickly she tries to blink away the tears, turning sideways so Kyuhyun won’t be able to see her face. She nods her head slowly and turns to face to Kyuhyun again.

“That’s everything, Kyuhyun-ssi?”

“I,” Kyuhyun starts, not wanting to let everything go to waste and finding the right words to say to Yoona. He’s not much of a preacher but when he says, “I wish you to be happy,” to Yoona, Kyuhyun really means it, “although, it’s not going to be with me.”

That’s it. Kyuhyun turns around, walks away, and with everything in him, prays to all heavens that please, let this be the end already, nicely. He crosses his fingers and hopes that Yoona knows he meant what he said to her. Maybe then, this will be over and Yoona will leave Sooyeon alone. Instead of walking back to the cafeteria, he turns to go to the botanical garden where Jongwoon is having his lunch with Sooyeon and everybody else.

“How did it go?” Sooyeon asks Kyuhyun when he arrives at the botanical garden.

Jongwoon silently hands Kyuhyun his lunch and sits back between Joohyun and Sooyoung.

“I told her to stop,” Kyuhyun simply answers, opening the lunch Jongwoon handed him.

“That’s it?” Sooyeon asks in disbelief. “Do you think she’ll stop just because you told her to, oppa?”

“She has to,” Kyuhyun replies decisively. “I don’t know what I’ll do to her if she does something again.”

Sooyeon is about to say something more but Miyoung grabs her wrist and smiles at her. It’s kind of funny how some people can communicate without words and how some people can’t communicate even with words. But Sooyeon understands what Miyoung probably means and she decides to trust Kyuhyun on this. After all, Kyuhyun is the one she trusted with her father, Mr. Jung.

For a moment, they eat in complete and comfortable silence, no one speaking and it’s nice how it works this way. Maybe, they can eat more frequently in the botanical garden, Kyuhyun thinks, although he retracts the thought instantly when he sees Sooyoung glaring at him just a little bit, probably sensing what Kyuhyun is thinking. Of course, Kyuhyun thinks again, this is their place with Jongwoon-hyung. He resolves to eat in the botanical garden together with everyone once in a while then.

“How are you holding up?” Kyuhyun suddenly asks Sooyeon and Miyoung, too, looking genuinely concerned over the two younger girls as he continuously dumps food on his mouth. He didn’t expect that talking to Yoona would take half of his lunch period and if he wants to survive his afternoon class, he really needs to finish the lunch Jongwoon gave him.

Sooyeon and Miyoung exchange glances, both having nothing to say exactly to that question and also having everything to answer to that question. If Kyuhyun is asking how they’re holding up, it’s not like Sooyeon and Miyoung are exactly holding up because if they are, then, none of this are affecting them. People can dump all kinds of colored and gross liquid at them and people can call them anything they feel like calling them for all they care. But it’s not like that. It gets to them, too, of course. How old are they? They’re only high school seniors.

Sooyeon tilts her head and thinks about it.

Miyoung drops down her chopsticks and thinks about it as well. As for Miyoung, her parents aren’t like Mrs. Jung. They’re more like Mr. Jung and she knows she’s really lucky for her parents. Unlike Mrs. Jung who eventually came around, her parents are there from the very beginning. When they found out what happened to Sooyeon and Miyoung, when they found out about the posters in the entire university, when they found out what’s going on with their daughter and Sooyeon, they’re there to hold Miyoung’s hand and tell her that it’s going to be okay.

“That’s absurd!” Mr. Hwang stands up from his seat when Miyoung came home that day, posters of her and Sooyeon all over the university. “Who’d do such nasty thing to you?”

“Are you alright, baby?” Mrs. Hwang concernedly asks Miyoung, moving her chair closer.

“Do you want us to go to school, Miyoung?” Mr. Hwang asks, angrier, “You didn’t do anything wrong! How could someone do such cruel thing to you and Sooyeon?”

“Daddy,” Miyoung can’t help it any longer. She’s been trying to stop her tears ever since she got to school that morning and realized what has happened. She’s been trying to stop herself from crying ever since they were sent in the guidance counselor. She’s been trying not to cry ever since they got out of the guidance counselor’s office and every glance that’s been directed to her and Sooyeon are nothing but disgust, contempt, and condemnation. “Mommy…”

Miyoung wails like a baby, as Mrs. Hwang hugs her and Mr. Hwang pats her hair lovingly, “You’re our princess, kiddo. How dare them do such thing to you?”

Miyoung’s parents both wanted to go to school and demand a proper investigation but Miyoung doesn’t want anymore of that. She’s glad that her parents are supportive of her and they’re beside her no matter what. But when Sooyeon told her everything, including as to who’s behind it, she doesn’t want Kyuhyun to get caught in the crossfire. He’s the one who helped Sooyeon contact her father. She felt like she owed him that much, although she didn’t tell Sooyeon this.

“We’re okay,” Miyoung finally answers. It’s not much of an answer to Kyuhyun’s question but it’s the simplest and most accurate answer Miyoung can think of without making her answer as long as a boring term paper.

Kyuhyun darts up, and so are everyone else, because after Kyuhyun asked them his question, Sooyeon and Miyoung are both silent. They figure that maybe, they don’t want to talk about these things and it’s okay for them. It’s really not easy to talk about hardships, right, especially when you’re just going through them?

“We’re okay,” Miyoung repeats, smiling at everyone and then at Sooyeon, her round eyes disappearing into little moonlike crescents.

Sooyeon smiles back at her and reaches for her hand below the table. Then, she smiles at everyone as well and says as well, “We’re okay, oppa. We’re okay.”

Kyuhyun nods, smiling at both younger girls, and he doesn’t really know why or how but when he turns to Jongwoon, their eyes meet and they both smile at each other. It’s quiet and discreet and nobody else notices it, their exchange of smiles, but it’s amazing how when Kyuhyun turns to Jongwoon, Jongwoon is already looking at him, and they smile.

“It’s difficult, but not impossible,” Sooyeon suddenly adds like a hunch.

That strikes Kyuhyun.

As it also did Jongwoon.

Damn it, Jongwoon thinks.

“What did you say?” Kyuhyun hastily asks, and Sooyeon looks at him funnily.

“What are you talking about, oppa?” Sooyeon asks, laughing at him because really, Kyuhyun looks definitely funny. It’s like whatever Sooyeon said matters life and death for him and he needs to know what did she say. (Or are those really her words?)

“What did you say? What did you just say?” Kyuhyun asks again and if there’s anything he’s doing, he’s scaring everyone around him.

“That we’re okay?” Sooyeon answers, looking at the others because what the hell is Kyuhyun talking about?

“No, after that,” Kyuhyun says.

“I don’t know,” Sooyeon shakes her head because she really doesn’t understand what Kyuhyun is talking about. If she did say something after that she and Miyoung are okay, she can’t remember it anymore and she doesn’t understand why it’s so important to Kyuhyun that Kyuhyun looks like he’s going to hurt somebody if they don’t tell him what the hell did Sooyeon just say. “I don’t know, oppa.”

Jongwoon is silent through the whole ordeal, partly because there’s nothing really for him to say and partly because he’s thinking of everything he did up until then to protect Kyuhyun. But after that day, when he saw Kyuhyun standing in front of their house, how Kyuhyun saw everything ‘familiar’, how a car was following Kyuhyun, and how he was almost got by two men in black suits, he knew that he can’t protect Kyuhyun anymore with the latter not knowing.

How long has it been already?, Jongwoon thinks, Three years?

It’s about time.

“You know what?” Kyuhyun finally says, in defeat, because maybe he’s just tired about everything and he doesn’t really know what Sooyeon really said, “Just... never mind, Sooyeon. I’m probably imagining things and I –”

“It’s difficult, but not impossible,” Jongwoon suddenly interrupts Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun stares at him disbelievingly. He knows now why the words are very important to him. Yesungie-hyung, Kyuhyun thinks, but why did it fit Jongwoon-hyung’s voice perfectly, too?

“Is what Sooyeon-ah said,” Jongwoon continues, meeting Kyuhyun’s surprised gaze.

Come on, Kyuhyun.

You’re smarter than this.

Come on, Baby Kyu.

It’s me.

“Oh, that’s what you’re talking about, oppa!” Sooyeon suddenly chuckles. “Yes, that’s true, too. It’s difficult, but not impossible.”

“Did you hear it from somewhere?” Someone?

“Yes,” Sooyeon answers, “Jongwoon-oppa told me that.”

A/N: *sings* "And now... the end is near..." XD (Though knowing myself, it will probably still take like I-don't-really-know-myself-so-I-don't-really-know-how-many-chapters-more.) I'm writing and writing and writing... :) Hang in there, guys. Let's stay together until the end! <3

Comments, please? I'd love to hear what you're thinking! - Elle