When Minho took a call from Siwon that the latter wouldn’t be able to fetch Suzy because of a sudden and urgent meeting, Minho had muttered a hundred of rants on how it was so uncalled for, on how he was on the way to his home but now he had to drive back and so on but at the end of it all, he knew that he had no choice but to do a favor for his brother.

He was still in the car, driving slowly when he noticed that Suzy was already in the gates so there was no need to call her. When he saw Myungsoo next, at first, there was relief.

Maybe there’s no need to fetch her anymore, he said to himself, her boyfriend is already here.

But it didn’t take long before he realized that the two were engaged in an argument.

Are they fighting? Minho asked himself. Should I just go now?

His eyes widened when Suzy turned her back to Myungsoo with tears forming at the corner of her eyes. He muttered a curse beneath his breath before sighing audibly and getting out of his car to call on the female in order to save her from the situation she was trapped in.

“Suzy?” he called her.

Then everything happened in a brief moment. Suzy went in his car and he followed; she demanded for him to drive while Myungsoo was begging to talk with her some more. He nervously tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, thinking on whether he should drive for Suzy or roll the windows of the car for Myungsoo.

Why did I even meddle? Now I’m stuck between them, Minho thought.

“Drive now!” Suzy yelled at him again and Minho found himself speeding up.

There was only silence between them. He was driving towards nowhere for he knew that he couldn’t bring her in the mansion at that condition. He kept glancing at her and he noticed how she kept clenching her fists and biting her lower lip as if she was about to explode. The tears that threatened to fall were still in the corner of her eyes but she still held it in as she stared outside the car.

Minho then abruptly parked his car to the surprise of the female.

“Why did you stop?” Suzy asked weakly.

He sighed before saying, “The least that I want to do is to meddle on other people’s businesses. I swear that I wouldn’t ask anything but if you want to cry, don’t stop yourself.”

He paused before gazing at her, “Just cry. Release it all. It lessens the pain sometimes.”

It didn’t take another second before the tears freely flowed from Suzy’s eyes. She sobbed hard as if she was a kid who had lost her favorite toy. Minho then kept his promise and let her all be as she poured all her emotions out. She took almost an hour crying and another thirty minutes breathing slowly, trying to stabilize herself.

“I’m okay now,” she told Minho with a hoarse voice, “We can go.”

He looked at her and saw how her eyes were all red and her face was all puffy. He uttered inaudible for the girl, “You’re far from okay.”

Minho still did as told and resumed driving but he didn’t forget to send an SMS to their cousins beforehand.

The SMS then read: “We have a situation. Suzy’s crying.”

“If ever one of the adults catch us drinking, we’re dead.”

“Of course not,” Siwon shook his head as he arranged the bottles of alcohol and the fried chickens that he had bought for them. He gazed at Minho before replying, “They’re going to probably scold us but they won’t kill us or else, they won’t have their heirs.”

“Hyung, underage drinking is illegal!” Minho retorted.

“Who’s underage?” Siwon blinked. “You’re not underage. I’m not underage.”

“I’m not underage too,” Sulli shook her head, “Woohyun’s not as well.”

Siwon was about to flash a victorious smile until Suzy raised her hand and said, “I… am underage.”

“See!” Minho pointed at Suzy as he glared at Siwon.

“But my birthday’s in a month so it should be okay, right?” Suzy asked.

“See!” Siwon mimicked Minho.

“It’s okay! She’s the one who needs drinking among us all,” Sulli said and filled Suzy’s glass.

“I’ve never drank any alcoholic beverage before,” Suzy confessed in a whisper as she looked at her glass.

“There are always a time for firsts,” Siwon winked at her, “Don’t worry. No one would report you to the police. It’s just us and we’re at home too.”

Minho rubbed his forehead in frustration as he looked at his brother and his cousins who had already settled in a circle. He looked at Woohyun who just smiled at him and said, “Just take a seat and drink with us.”

Soon, they started their drinking session as Siwon shared his experiences of heart break in order to lighten up the mood. But as Suzy gulped her third glass, her world started spinning and the words she was trying to keep to herself came out uncontrollably, “He’s such a jerk.”

All then turned to her, as if waiting for her to continue.

She slurred, “Kim Myungsoo is an . How dare he keep secrets from me?”

“Maybe he has reasons,” Woohyun whispered earning him a glare from Sulli.

Sulli coughed and seconded, “He should not be keeping secrets from you! Relationships need trust!”

“Of course!” Suzy screamed, “If he loves me, he should not be lying right at my face!”

“Right!” Siwon cheered, “Love needs truth!”

“But he certainly has reasons,” Woohyun whispered again, this time, earning him a light punch from Siwon.

Suzy’s face was already blushing madly as she uttered, “How can he get angry at me when it’s clearly his fault?”

“It’s pride! Certainly pride! Pride ruins most of relationships. He should know when to let go of that,” Sulli argued.

“He’s evil,” Suzy hiccupped.

“He’s a jerk,” Sulli added.

“An ,” Siwon said.

Minho then furrowed his eyebrows before trying, “Uhmmm. A walking piece of trash?”

Woohyun then interrupted, “Yah! He’s my friend!

“Whose side are you on, kid? Siwon squinted at him.

“Newsflash: Your great best friend broke our cousin’s heart,” Sulli grumbled.

“This is not the time to defend him. You better zip your mouth,” Minho whispered Woohyun a piece of advice.

Woohyun then lowered his gaze before mumbling, “Fine.”

Suzy then sobbed, “He should just die!”

“Then let’s skin him to death!” Sulli suggested.

“And let’s season him with salt and bathe him in the sun,” Siwon added.

“Are we making a dried fish?” Woohyun narrowed his eyebrows.

Minho then laughed before saying, “Then let’s feed his bones to the dogs!”

“That’s right,” Sulli nodded, satisfied, “Let’s plan on killing him now.”

But Suzy then shook her head and said, “No. No. I take that back. Let’s not kill him.”

“Should we torture him first, then?” Sulli asked.

“Let’s not kill Myungsoo,” Suzy hiccupped again, “I still love him so much. Let’s not kill him.”

“She’s too in love that she’s in the point of no return,” Siwon whispered and Suzy then looked at him before nodding.

“I love Myungsoo,” Suzy repeated before throwing a fit and bursting out crying.

Sulli gulped another glass before hugging Suzy tight and crying with her as well. Siwon then suddenly started singing a sad song before forcing Minho and Woohyun to sing with him as he put his arms around the two males.

The drowning in alcohol then continued until they were all knocked off.

I should have not drank.

Suzy ran her fingers through her hair before clutching it tight.

She was still dizzy and her head ache made it seem like her skull was breaking apart into two.  She couldn’t remember how they ended up in that situation but when she woke up, her whole world was spinning. She saw how Sulli was bathing in the sour smell of her own vomit, how Woohyun and Minho were hugging other tight with silly markings on their faces and on their limbs and how Siwon was lying on the table full of left-overs and empty bottles.

Nevertheless, she had to go to cram school that day because they would be receiving the results of their mock exam which would measure their improvement. It was supposed to be a half-day class so she could only pray that it would end soon as she endured her hang-over.

Ten minutes before classes start, the seat beside her was occupied by one of the persons she didn’t want to see any sooner – Jongin.

Unlike usual days, there was no warm greeting or silly jokes between them. Their gazes didn’t even meet. There was a sudden lump in that built up after seeing Jongin and the least she wanted to do was to cry right then and ther