You were still crying into the guy’s chest as you felt water droplets on your skin. It’s raining. Just my luck. You mentally sighed. 

 

“It’s raining,” The guy said. “We should get you home. Baekhyun and the others would be worried.” 

 

“N-no, not home please.” You said. “If Baekhyun and the oppas see me like this they’ll get really worried and I’d have to tell them what happened.” Your tears started to spill down your face again. 

 

The guy softened and sighed. “Okay, we won’t go there,” He said. “But we have to get you somewhere..” He paused for a while and thought. 

 

Just then, your phone rang in your hands and you held it up and took a look at the caller ID. 

 

"It's Baekhyun. Do you want me to answer it for you?" He offered. 

 

"Yes please. But please don't tell him what's going on," you said. "He'll get really worried and I don't want that." 

 

Wordlessly, he nodded and pressed the 'accept call' button on the phone. 

 

"Haerin! Where in the world are you?! It's been almost an hour and you're not back yet!" Baekhyun practically screamed into the phone from the other side of the line. 

 

"This isn't Haerin," The guy said. 

 

"Chen? Chen, is that you?" Baekhyun asked. 

 

"Yeah. And don't worry, Haerin's fine." 

 

"Oh, okay. If she's with you, then I guess I don't have to worry. But...why are you with her?" 

 

"We bumped into each other at school earlier and and we were at the market getting some chips and stuff." Chen said. "And I was just about to call you before you called Haerin's phone but while we were at the market, we bumped into my mom and she asked Haerin to come over to my place for dinner. You don't mind that, do you?" 

 

"Well, no. As long as she's okay, I'm fine." Baekhyun said. "She is there? Can I talk to her?" 

 

Chen looked over at you as if to ask for your permission. You shook your head and placed your hands together as if to beg him not to pass the hone to you. 

 

Chen got the message and quickly came up with an excuse. "She went to the toilet. Thus the reason that her phone's with me." 

 

"Oh yeah, okay. Just tell her to text me after okay?" Baekhyun said. 

 

"Yeah, sure. I'll tell her that." 

 

"So we'll just go on with the movie marathon without you two, then?" 

 

"Yeah, that's fine. We've already watched those movies anyway, so it's no problem." Chen said. 

 

"Alright. Take care of her, okay, Chen?" Baekhyun said, and his sentence seemed to have double meaning. 

 

"Of course I will." Chen said, "See ya'll tomorrow then?" 

 

"See you!" 

 

And with that, the two boys hung up. 

 

"Thank you," You whispered to Chen as he passed you back your phone. 

 

"You're welcome," He gave you a small smile. "Well, looks like we don't have a choice but to spend the rest of the day together," Chen said with a grin. 

 

It was supposed to be a joke since you still didn't exactly like spending time alone with him but to his surprise, you had smiled in response. "I guess so," you said. 

 

“Come on, then,” He said as he pulled you along with him. 

 

“Where are we going?” 

 

“My house.” 

 

*

 

 

“Mom! I’m home!” Chen called out into the house as he opened the door. When there was no response, he figured that his mother hasn’t come home yet. 

 

“My mom’s not home yet, so you can go and wash your face first.” He said with a small smile. “The bathroom is the last door on your right. There are towels in there that you can use,” he said. 

 

“Thank you,” You quietly said and walked towards the door he had described. 

 

You went in and stepped in front of the huge mirror and stared at your reflection. “This was how hideous i’ve been looking?” You whispered to yourself as you started washing off your ruined make up. 

 

Once done, you went out of the bathroom and looked around, looking for where Chen had disappeared to. “Chen? Where did you go?” You called out but there was no answer. 

 

Then, you heard a door close and shuffling of feet and figured that it might’ve been Chen so you followed the sound of the shuffling feet. 

 

“Chen? Are you in here?” You called out again as you entered what looked like the kitchen but stopped when you saw an older woman inside. “Oh! I’m sorry. I thought you were Chen.” 

 

“Who are you?” The woman asked. 

 

“I’m Chen’s friend,” You said with a sheepish smile. “My name’s Byun Haerin.” 

 

“Byun…Haerin?” The woman repeated your name on her lips and her eyes lit up as if she had recognised your name form somewhere. “Oh, I’m Jongdae’s mother. It’s nice to meet you, Haerin.” 

 

After realising that the woman was Chen’s mom, you quickly went over and bowed. “Hello, Mrs Kim.” 

 

“Please, just call me Auntie. Mrs Kim is a bit…burdensome,” she said with sad eyes. 

 

Just then, Chen came into the kitchen, wearing a different set of clothes, when he heard noises. “Hey mom, I brought a fri- And you’ve already met her.” 

 

“Yes, son. She seems like a lovely girl.” Mrs Kim gave her son a little wink and he blushed a little. 

 

“She is,” He smiled and you felt your cheeks heat up a little. “Yeah, well, she’s gonna stay for dinner. Is that okay?” Chen asked.

 

“Yes, of course it’s fine.” Mrs Kim said. “It’ll be great to learn more about Jongdae’s new friends.” 

 

After talking to Mrs Kim for a bit, Chen made hot chocolate for the two of you and led you into his room. He even let you sit on his bed while he sat on his chair. 

 

His room was neat, not like any typical guy's room where it's usually messy with playboy magazines and dirty socks lying all over. Chen's room was actually pretty clean and you had to say, you found it attractive. But of course, you didn't mention it to him right there and then. 

 

“Are you feeling better now?” 

 

"Yeah, a little." You said with a small smile. "Thank you." 

 

"It's no problem." Chen said and returned back the smile. 

 

After a long silence, you spoke. "You're not asking anything again." 

 

"Asking what?" 

 

"Why I cried. Why I was running away from you." 

 

Chen chuckled softly, "Like I said before. "If you want to tell me, you'll tell me. If not, then I shouldn't in like it's my business." Although, I have a very good idea about what it might be.  

 

"You really are thoughtful, Chen." You said with a smile. 

 

"Why thank you," Chen said. "I know I am." And that made you laugh. 

 

"Maybe it's time I tell you," You said and Chen sat up in his seat. "Will you listen to me?" 

 

"Yeah, of course." 

 

"I..I got back together with Luhan before the Anniverssary concert." You said, after hesitating a little. You closed your eyes and waited for Chen's reaction but he didn't have any. 

 

"Why aren't you reacting to it?" You asked. 

 

"I already knew." He quietly said. 

 

"You knew!? When!? How!?" 

 

"I found out during that rehearsal we had after school. I saw you holding hands with Luhan on stage." Chen said, with a slight frown. "Then the scene in the waiting room the next day confirmed what I was thinking. He kissed you, didn't he? Right before Baek and I entered the room. That's why you were blushing." 

 

I notice everything about you, of course I foud out, Haerin. Chen thought. 

 

"Do the others know about this?" 

 

Chen shook his head. "I didn't tell them anything. Unless they've figured it out by themselves too, like I had. But other than that, they shouldn't know anything." 

 

"Why didn't you tell them?" 

 

"Because I didn't feel like I had the right to. If you didn't tell us, doesn't that mean that you didn't want us to know?" Chen said. It was a rethorical question so you didn't answer. "Why did you get back together with him, anyway? I heard he wasn't exactly nice to you before." 

 

"You don't know what happened between Luhan and I before?" 

 

"Nope. Baekhyun or the others wouldn't tell me. They said it wasn't their story to tell and all that so I figured I'd just wait till you tell me the story yourself. If you want to that is," Chn shrugged. 

 

"Luhan...he played me," you said and Chen's ears perked up, realizing that you were finally telling him what happened. 

 

"Remember that Midnight Jam we had?" You asked and Chen nodded. "I was actually planning to perform solo for that night but Luhan had asked me to be his partner." 

 

"Well, he wasn't straightfoward about it. He brought me out on a date, saying that he wanted to get to know me and all that. I told the oppas about it and they even stalked us on our date," you let out a dry laugh as you thought back to the scene. "Luhan even made me fight with my brother and the others. I don't know if it's true, but I guess he figured that Baekhyun might be a hindrance to his plan so he made sure that I got angry at him to the point that I wouldn't talk to them." 
 

"And it worked. Luhan saw the oppas stalking us on our date and told me. Which I then confronted Baek oppa about and got into a big fight with him. So with me not talking to any of my friends, Luhan got to spend more time with me, playing me and making me fall in love with him..." 

 

"Then he asked me to be his partner for the Midnight Jam and I agreed. But it turns out that he only wanted to be my partner so that he could get an A for the class." You sighed. "After the Jam, Baekhyun overheard Luhan talking with his friend about me and he learned that he was going to continue playing me even after the Jam was done because he thought it'd be fun." 

 

Tears started streaming down your face again at this point and Chen handed you a box of tissues. "Thank you," you sniffled as you wiped the tears off your face. 

 

"So then on the last day of school last semester, Luhan and I were supposed to go celebrate because we both got a full score for the Midnight Jam. But after school, he didn't show up so I went around school looking for him. And then I found him...at the back of school kissing another girl." 

 

"The same girl that I found him kissing again today in the recording studio," you sobbed. 

 

"Why did you get back together with him if he put you through so much pain?" Chen asked softly. 

 

"He hurt me, he really did. But I fell in love with him. And when he apologized to me about playing me and using me, he seemed so sincere and I believed him and decided to give him a second chance. I guess I really am naive like everyone says I am. I'm such a burden." 

 

"No you're not, Haerin." Chen started to say. He wanted to continue but you had cut him off. 

 

"But I am! The reason why I didn't want Baekhyun and the other oppas to know how messed up I am right now is because this is the fourth time it has happened! Baekhyun already blames himself for the first three times because he says he wasn't protecting me like a big brother should. I don't want him to feel like this time it's his fault as well." 

 

Chen softened. But his eyebrows furrowed. "Fourth time?" 

 

You sighed, "Yeah. I've been played for for four times." You said. "The first time was with this guy, Kris. He dated me because I'm popular and he only wanted the popularity." 

 

(A/N: What a tongue twister that was hehe.) 

 

"The second time was with Suho. He dated me because he was dared by this girl, Jessica. She hates me but I don't even know why. I barely know the girl," you said. "But yeah, she dared him to date me for two months and after that, he dumped me and humiliated me in front of the whole school." 

 

"I feel so stupid just talking about this," You said and sobbed into your hands. 

 

Without a word, Chen went over to sit beside you and pulled you in for another hug. "It's okay. Everything will be okay now." Chen said. "I'm here and I won't let anyone hurt you anymore."