Hi everyone! My year of uni has finally finished and now, I have time to write again.

Thank you for your comments. Really, thank you so much. And please continue to leave more comments behind.

And now, I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you.

Enjoy!

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Kyungsoo immediately pulled away from Jongin and peered into the dark corridor. Upon confirming the owner of the voice, she felt her mind went into a blank state, her body froze in numbness – she was petrified.

‘What were you two doing?’ Yixing repeated the question as she marched towards the couple.

Neither Kyungsoo nor Jongin answered her. Yixing stopped in front of them when she was two steps of a distance from them, her face grave and disappointed. Kyungsoo involuntarily retreated under her best friend’s gaze. Sensing her distress, Jongin shifted closer to her side and his considerate gesture was caught by Yixing, indirectly confirming her suspicion.

She gave a disdainful scoff, ‘I can’t believe you, Kyungsoo. All this time – tell me, how long have you been with him? What other hideous secrets are you hiding from me?’

Kyungsoo flinched at her best friend’s harsh words.

‘I’m sorry, Xing.’ Kyungsoo kept her head low. She couldn’t look her friend in the eyes.

‘Sorry? Saying sorry can’t erase the fact that you are sleeping with one of your student.’

‘We’re not sleeping together.’ Jongin spoke up, his voice was much steady and calm in comparison to Kyungsoo.

‘You seriously can’t expect me to believe you.’

‘Whether you choose to believe us or not, it doesn’t concern me that much.’

His reply made the crease between Yixing’s eyebrows deepened. She silently alternated her gaze between Jongin and Kyungsoo, who still couldn’t look at her. After a few seconds, she her heels and stomped back into the corridor. 

As soon as Yixing was gone, Kyungsoo felt the strength of her legs disappeared. She collapsed onto the floor. Tears cascaded down her face as she struggled to breathe. The impact of the consequences had never felt so real – so tangible to her than at that moment. It came and washed over her akin to a tsunami, leaving no hope for escape.

‘Breathe, Soo. You need to breathe.’ Jongin knelt down by her side, his arms wrapped around her shaking frame.

‘She found out, Jongin. She found out about us,’ Kyungsoo sobbed, clinging onto his arms. ‘What do I do?’

‘Nothing. We’ll do nothing,’ he said in a matter-of-fact tone. ‘We’ve been hiding for a while. It’s time we come out.’

‘But I’m not ready to face this,’ she cried.

He gave her a sad smile. ‘You weren’t and will never be ready, Soo.’

And for the second time that night, Kyungsoo felt terribly a big pang of guilt and shame hit her. She lowered her head and eyes down the floor.

‘Let’s leave. I’ll take you home.’ He stood up and walked into the corridor.

‘Jongin…’ she called his name.

His steps came to a pause. ‘I’ll wait for you at the parking lot.’

Minutes after Jongin had left, Kyungsoo returned to the room. Outside the door, she stood there, hesitant. The sound of laughter and talking could still be heard from inside the room, a good indication that Yixing hadn’t announce about her knowledge of Kyungsoo and Jongin’s relationship to the group. Despite of the somewhat relieved information, Kyungsoo still couldn’t enter the room, not knowing how to react or face Yixing yet.

While she was still hesitating, the door suddenly swung open.

‘Hey, Kyungsoo. What are you doing out here?’ Baekhyun asked.

‘I-I need- I feel a little dizzy so I think I will go home.’ She didn’t dare to look into the room, not wanting to risk the chance of catching Yixing’s gaze.

‘I wonder if someone spiked our drink with something strange because Yixing and Jongin also complained about having headaches and dizziness.’

Kyungsoo perked up. ‘Yixing went home?’

Baekhyun nodded. ‘Kris and her left about half an hour ago.’

Relief washed over Kyungsoo from hearing the news. She went inside to take her bag and left the club, heading toward the car park where Jongin was waiting for her by his bike. He had not noticed that Kyungsoo was approaching.

From a far, she could tell that Jongin was immersed in his own thoughts, his face solemn and thoughtful, and Kyungsoo was suddenly afraid of what she hypothesised to be the subject of his thoughts. Her steps slowly came to cease.

Kyungsoo didn’t want to go through another round of confrontation tonight. She didn’t want to face Jongin. She was too emotionally and mentally exhausted. Catching a taxi home was a tempting option, but she would still need to tell him about it and make up lies, and that would be equally tiring.

The chilly night dew began to seep through her skin, forcing a sneeze out of her. It got Jongin’s attention as he turned to look at her, his face became less solemn. Leaving with no choice now that she had been caught, Kyungsoo trudged toward him. When she approached him, he wordlessly passed her a helmet and put his own on. 

The ride was long and tense, and Kyungsoo felt as though Jongin was channelling his anger and disappointment through the ride. There was no affectionate hugs or pecks between them that night before he drove away.

-----

It had been nearly two weeks since that night and neither Yixing nor Jongin had contacted Kyungsoo. While Kyungsoo felt quite distressed, she knew there was nothing she could do, not until she had finally figured out what to do and say to each of them. For countless times, Kyungsoo would hold her phone and stared at it, but she couldn’t press the dial button.

Kyungsoo did not realise that Jongin had always seen past her insecurity and perhaps, her cowardice as well. She thought that she was doing a good job of hiding it until that night. Now that she knew, she felt deeply ashamed as though she was a child being caught of lying to her parents. After days of internal battle and deep thinking, Kyungsoo decided that discussing with Jongin about it was her best solution.

With that thought, she left the house and caught a bus to Jongin’s house. Her steps, which were firm and filled with resolution during the first two flights of stairs, began to falter considerably as she reached the final flight. Four steps away from the floor, she stopped.

I can’t do this, she thought. The idea of turning around and running back home was very tempting, but that could only be a temporary solution; she would have to do this another time anyway and she didn’t think that she would be ready that time either.

Shaking her head, she steadied herself, took two double-steps and then walked straight toward his door. She was about to knock the door when she heard a man shouted from inside.

‘Dancing won’t get you anywhere in life.’

The voice was rough and sounded like a middle-aged man. Kyungsoo had a very good guess of who the man might be. There was a silence that briefly followed that shouting before a loud slapping sound could be heard. Then, Kyungsoo heard the sound of footstep stomping toward the door and immediately, she looked around for a place to hide.

Her heartbeat thumped loudly against her ribcage as the stomping sound got louder. By the time she made up her decision to run downstairs, she realised that it was too late. In her panic state, Kyungsoo ran to the other side of the corridor, stood there with her front facing the door of someone’s home, fished her phone out from her bag and pretended to be busy doing something on her phone.

Not long after, the door swung open and Kyungsoo felt someone emerged from Jongin’s house. She didn’t dare to lift her gaze to look at the man. Her fingers, which were flitting across the phone screen pretending to be texting, shook as she waited for this moment to be over.

Only when she heard the ding-dong sound of the lift the second time did Kyungsoo release the breath that she had been holding. She waited for a few more minutes to make sure before lifting her gaze off the phone screen. When she finally stood in front of Jongin’s door, she found that the door was unlocked. She hesitated before decided to knock on it.

A few minutes later, the door swung open, revealing a shocked Jongin. At first, she didn’t look at him in the eyes. Instead, her gaze was fixated at his feet, feeling very nervous. But after a while, when Jongin still remained silent, Kyungsoo felt disappointment slowly settled in the pit of her stomach.

‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come.’

As she was about to leave, she heard.

‘Soo, don’t leave.’

Jongin had moved to the side, gesturing for her to come inside. She wordlessly entered and walked to the living room. Jongin locked the door then appeared in the living room shortly after. They stood at a distance from each other, eyes not meeting each other.

Kyungsoo had several things that she wanted to ask and tell him, but she didn’t know how to start the conversation. Finally, she took a deep breath, raised her head to look at him and broke the silence. She was startled to see a red mark on his left cheek.

‘We need to talk.’ It was not best way to start the conversation, but Kyungsoo need to something to get the conversation started.

Jongin looked at her wearily. ‘I figured.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘For what?’ His tone was merely questioning.

Inhaling a deep breath, she said slowly, ‘I’m sorry about what happened that night.’

‘What about that night? You needn’t be sorry if it is about Yixing finding out about us.’

‘No,’ she injected quickly. ‘I don’t mean that.’

‘Then what are you sorry about, Soo?’

Sensing impatience in his voice, Kyungsoo was taken back. She paused for a moment before continuing. ‘I’m sorry for disappointing you.’

‘Tell me, Soo. Am I just a fling to you?’

‘Of course not. I’m not that type of person, Jongin.’

‘Then tell me, did you ever take words and our relationship serious?’

Kyungsoo couldn’t answer this answer immediately.

‘I thought so.’ Jongin let out a self-depreciating laugh. Kyungsoo panicked. ‘Jongin, let me explained.’

‘I think it’s pretty self-explanatory. What else is there to explain?’

‘Please, listen to me. It’s not that I don’t take your words or our relationship serious. It’s just – ’

‘Just spill it, Soo.’ He raised his voice. ‘What is it that makes you so ashamed of our relationship?’

‘I’m a teacher, Jongin!’ She was raising her voice too. ‘Our relationship – it’s wrong.’

‘I’m no longer your student, Soo.’

‘But we didn’t start dating now, did we? We began when I was still your teacher.’ She fired back. ‘And there’s more. I’m scared of my mum’s reaction. I’m scared for my career. I could always lose my job and waste my three years of uni. Don't you get it?’

The last sentence ended as a shout. She didn’t plan for it to play out like this. Jongin seemed to be stunned by her outburst, his eyes widened shortly before his eyelids drooped down, face morphed into an expression of resignation.

‘Let’s break up.’

Kyungsoo had not expected this as an answer.

‘I can’t. Jongin, I don’t want to.’

‘But our relationship will cause you problems. I don’t want you to be in a constant state of fear because of our relationship.’

She explained, ‘I decided that I’m going to prepare myself for the worst case.’

Then, she slowly strode in his direction until she was right in front of him.

‘I don’t want to break up with you. Do you want to break up with me?’

 Her hand caressed the red mark on his cheek as she looked into his eyes.

‘I don’t.’

The corners of her lips lifted into a curve when she heard the answer. She tip-toed and kissed him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled in down closer to her. Similarly, his arms s around her waist, pulling her closer against him. As they kissed, both realised how much they missed each other.

‘I really love you,’ Kyungsoo said, her face burrowed into his chest.

He kissed the crown of her head. ‘Me too.’

Then she suddenly remembered something, pulling her face away from his chest. Once again, she touched the red mark on his cheek. It looked like a slap.

‘What happened?’

He sighed before replying, ‘My father.’

‘I thought so,’ she muttered.

‘Wait. What do you mean by that? Did my father see you?’

She pulled him down onto the couch, her palm continued to gently caress the mark. ‘Yes, but I was pretending to be a visitor of your neighbour when he came out from your house.’

‘Did he give you any look?’

She shrugged. ‘I supposed he did, but I wouldn’t know what kind of look it was. I didn’t get to look at him.’

Leaning against the couch, Jongin let out a heavy sigh. Kyungsoo shifted closer to him.

‘Why did he hit you?’

At first, it seemed as though Jongin did not want to tell her. His eyelids closed and fingers threaded together. Moments later, he began, ‘He came to ask about my university application. I told him that I want to study dancing. Then, as usual, he told me about how silly dancing is.’ He took a pause. ‘It angered me, so I said something in retaliation and…this happened.’ He pointed at his cheek.

His recount left Kyungsoo speechless; she did not imagine someone with a position like his dad to possess such low behaviour. Not knowing what to say, she hugged him and patted his back in attempt to console him. She was glad when he did not shy away from her gesture.

He let out a bitter chuckle. ‘Don’t worry, it isn’t the first time. Other times were worse.’

His words saddened and upset her. ‘It is not alright. It is not right for him to abuse you physically. And it is not right that you just accept it.’

‘I don’t want to have this talk now, Soo. Can we just stop here?’

Reluctantly, Kyungsoo suppressed her urge to continue talking sense into him. For a while, they remained silent on the couch with Jongin burying his nose into her stomach as she rubbed circles on his back.

Eventually, Jongin pushed himself away from her and stood up. ‘I need to pack my belongings by the day after tomorrow.’

‘What? Why?’

‘My father is taking back this place, forcing me to return to that house.’

‘Are you…?’

‘As if I would. I’m going to stay at Sehun’s until I can find a new place,’ he scoffed. ‘Now, would you mind giving me a hand?’

----------

The following day, once all his belonging was packed, Jongin received a call from Kris. The latter had probably heard of Jongin’s situation through Luhan or Sehun and decided to come over to help Jongin to move his belonging to Sehun’s place. Kyungsoo didn’t know whether Yixing has told Kris about her and Jongin or not, and not wanting to risk the awkwardness, Kyungsoo left Jongin’s house quickly after Kris’ call.

On her way to her house, Kyungsoo ran into Hakyeon, who immediately gave Kyungsoo a bright smile the moment she saw her. The lump on Hakyeon’s stomach had become more prominent and noticeable since the last time Kyungsoo saw her at the hospital.

‘You seem to be in a very good mood today,’ Kyungsoo commented.

Hakyeon nodded enthusiastically. ‘I am. It’s great that we ran into each other today, I was about to call you. Guess what is the good news?’

‘I’m certain that this news is concerned with Taekwoon,’ Kyungsoo said.

‘Correct.’ And then too excited and impatient to wait for Kyungsoo’s answer, she continued. ‘I’m going to move in with him.’

Kyungsoo raised her eyebrows, quite surprised by the news. ‘Congratulation. I take that you have told him about the baby?’

‘Yes, but only after he told me that he loves me.’

‘How did he react?’

Hakyeon giggled. ‘Speechless at first, then he started bombarding with questions. He’s coming with me to my next ultrasound appointment. Oh, and Kyungsoo, thank you. Taekwoon told me.’

‘I didn’t do anything,’ Kyungsoo said. ‘But really, I am happy for you.’

‘Thank you.’ She hadn’t stopped giggling. ‘So, how is your relationship with Jongin going?’

The smile on Kyungsoo’s face froze and disappeared at the question. She began to panic. ‘What do you mean?’

‘You don’t have to hide it from me. I know about you and Jongin for a while now.’

There was no disgust or contempt painted on Hakyeon’s face and it stopped the growing fear inside Kyungsoo. However, it still took Kyungsoo a few minutes to consider before she cautiously asked. ‘Since when did you know and how?’

‘It was that night when Jongin dropped you off near the park close to where I lived. From the window, I saw you and him kissed.’

They had not been careful enough with their choice of location and also, they were reckless with their behaviour that night, Kyungsoo recalled. In her defence, it was quite late that night and they both assumed that most of the residents around were asleep.

‘How did you know that it was Jongin?’

Hakyeon smiled. ‘I weaved your description of him together and made a guess.’

‘Did you tell anyone about it?’ At that moment, Kyungsoo regretted telling Hakyeon about Kris’ team.

‘No, I didn’t. Kyungsoo, you can relax. I’m not going to tell the Department or anyone else.’

Although the look in Hakyeon’s eyes clearly indicated that she had no cruel intentions, Kyungsoo maintained her scepticism towards the other teacher. ‘What do you want?’

‘I don’t want anything. Seriously, I don’t have anything up my sleeves in regard to your relationship,’ Hakyeon said. ‘I’m not going to utter a word to anyone.’

Kyungsoo stared at her face for some time before relaxing the tension in her shoulder. ‘Spill it.’

‘Spill what?’ Confusion was written all over Hakyeon’s face.

‘Your lecture, judgement. Whatever you want to tell me.’

Laughing at Kyungsoo’s words, Hakyeon pulled Kyungsoo towards a bench nearby and sat down. ‘I have nothing to say. At least not before I hear the actual story. So, will you tell me?’

Hesitance kept the words in Kyungsoo’s throat. Can I trust her? She pondered. But either telling her or not wouldn’t change the current situation. She looked at Hakyeon’s face, and decided that she would tell her after seeing the apparent genuineness.

‘What do you want to know?’

‘For starters, how old is he? And when did you and him begin dating?’

‘Nineteen, turning twenty in a few months. We’ve been dating for nearly ten months now.’

‘When he was still at school?’

‘Yes,’ Kyungsoo replied with a defensive tone. Hakyeon nodded casually. ‘So, how did everything start? Who made the first move?’

Seeing that Hakyeon wasn’t being visibly judgemental, Kyungsoo’s tone switched her tone back to a neutral tone as she answered. When she finished, Hakyeon simply nodded understandingly. Inwardly, Kyungsoo felt relieved that her reaction wasn’t as negative as Yixing’s; she didn’t think that she would be able to go through with another round of such response so soon.

‘It seemed to me that Jongin knew what he was getting himself into. Plus, he’s the initiator as well as the chaser. So, my stand on your relationship remains the same. I have nothing to say.’

‘Serious?’

‘Yeah, I mean, it’s not like the kid was manipulated or anything like that.’ Then she eyed Kyungsoo with a teasing gaze. ‘And the innocent nature of your relationship is enough to prove that.’

‘Shut up,’ Kyungsoo snapped, embarrassed by the implication in Hakyeon’s words.

‘Can I ask you something?’

The question had Kyungsoo rolling her eyes, which in turns made Hakyeon pulled a displeased face. ‘What makes you decide to be with him? Like what made you overcome your moral struggles?’

There were so many things that Kyungsoo could list down: his thoughtfulness and understanding nature, his caring side that makes her warms up her heart, his maturity and childishness, how brings out the best in her; but she opted for a simple and short answer. ‘Because I like him for who he is and who I am when I’m with him.’

Clearly, Hakyeon had not expected such reply, it took her a few seconds before she nodded understandingly. ‘I know what you mean. How many other people know about it besides me?’

Kyungsoo let out a sigh. ‘Jongin’s best friends, who are also in the dance team, and my best friend. I wish her reaction was something like yours.’

‘I don’t know your best friend, but I believe that if she is truly your friend, she will eventually come around and accept it.’

‘It’s more than just the unethical nature of my relationship. It’s the deception and lying and hiding.’

Hakyeon patted her hands gently. ‘She will forgive you. Just give her sometimes.’

‘Thanks, Hakyeon.’ A small smile appeared on Kyungsoo’s face.

‘Kyungsoo, I can tell and feel that Jongin is the one for you. He makes you happy, so don’t let go off him or you will regret it.’

‘I know.’

(tbc.)