"Can I be completely honest with you Mirae?" Hongbin's voice came out in a small whisper. Mirae stayed still, waiting for him to start talking.

Only he didn't.

Instead he yanked her by the arm to pull her into a hug, his head reaching down to capture Mirae's lips with his own. 

Mirae stopped breathing at that point. She froze in her spot. Hongbin initiated further. He gently kissed Mirae, both his hands cupping her face. For some reason unknown to Mirae, she began to respond to his kiss, gently following his rythm. She closed her eyes. His lips felt warm and plump and there was something urgent about the way he was kissing her. He began to deepen the kiss, and that's when Mirae's eyes snapped open. With all the force that she could muster, Mirae pushed herself away from his grip. She felt rage at this point. In a split second she couldn't resist her emotions, she brought up her hand to Hongbin's face, slapping him. Hard. 

Mirae was riled, her teeth barring out slightly. She felt like she was drowning in guilt, and it was slowly eating her up. Hongbin sighed heavily, not meeting her eyes. His breathe was ragged. Mirae saw his fists were curled on either side of his body. 

"How...how dare you?" Mirae's voice was set in a harsh tone enough to cut glass. She bit her lip, refraining from swearing at him. Hongbin hesitated. He bit his lip as well, not daring to look at Mirae. His heart was still racing, pounding hard enough to block his ears. He felt horrible about what he had done but at the same time felt relieved that he was able to build up the courage.

"You seriously are a dirty and extremely foul cockroach, aren't you?" Mirae's voice remained cold and unforgiving. Hongbin looked up, hurt was written all over his face. Mirae was shocked by the look of hurt in his face. He looked...pitiful.

"Mirae..." Hongbin drew an arm to reach out for her, she swatted it away, the rage was still evident in her.

"Don't touch me." she hissed. Turning on her heels, she stormed away. Sickened from the sight of him. She dissappoeared down the road before Hongbin could call out to her. The fear of the dark had completely banished and now was replaced by rage and betrayal. How dare he? Who did he think he is? Who did he think she was? Just because he knew things about her that others didn't, did not make it right for him to attack her like that. The fact that he betrayed his best friend and kissed Mirae behind Ken's back added more fuel to the fire. Mirae stomped on this sidewalk. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Hongbin hadn't followed her, letting out a growl. She could practically feel her nails digging into her palm and her body tense. This was not okay at all. 

Mirae let out a sigh to calm herself down. She walked over to the bus stop, sitting down on a bench. The street in front of her was barren and all that occupied the thin air was a slight breeze. Mirae bit her lip. At this point, when her anger had subsided, she felt like she over reacted a tad too much. Slapping him wasn't such a good idea. On top of that, Mirae wasn't the type to get angry like that, so that action itself surprised her. She has never hit anyone in her entire life. As much as Mirae didn't want to admit, she was angry at herself as well. When Hongbin had kissed her, she somehow felt much more different, something she couldn't explain but it was something she had never experienced before.The guilt washed over her once again, making her heart sink lower. She buried her face in her palms as she tried not to cry, completely distraught and feeling like she was a sore loser. A few tears slipped out.

"Is something wrong...Mirae ssi?" a voice called behind her. Mirae's head snapped up. She squinted her eyes to see a dark figure standing avove her. She noticed it was Leo. Who else would have such a quiet voice?

"Oh..um." Mirae moved to the side to allow Leo to sit down. She could see him hesitste just a bit. She knew he was much more reserved than the others. That's probably what made him so more...unapproachable. But Mirae could tell he was a good person at heart. Why else would he have bothered to ask her if she was okay?

Leo took a seat next to her. He awkwardly ran his fingers through his hair. He looked at her. "Your head was in your hands, is everything alright?" He pointed to her cheeks. "Were you crying?". Mirae instantly wiped her tears off her cheeks. She smiled weakly to which Leo still remained poker faced. "Why?" He asked. 

"Nothing. I'm just tired and hungry."

"I see." 

Mirae stared at him. His face was hard to read, and not just from the absense of light but because his face remained stagnant. 

"However...I don't see how that's a reason to cry." he stated bluntly. Mirae squirmed in her chair. The way Leo said it wasn't exactly the best way to comfort someone. 

"I know you're lying but please don't be stressed about what had happened." Leo smiled a ghost of a smile and patted Mirae on the head. Mirae smiled a little.

"I'll try not to be."

"You know, Mirae, they are two things that a person should never be angry at, what they can help and what they cannot*. Whatever seems to be the matter, don't let it affect you as a person." Leo said in a soft voice. Mirae smiled genuinely at him. He seemed to be much wiser beyond his years. 

"Thank you, Leo sunbae. I really needed that."

Leo nodded, standing up. He pointed towards the far end of the road. "There's a bus. Get home safely."

And with that he turned around and idsappeared through the alleyway in which Mirae assumed he had come from. 

Mirae sighed. The advice that Leo had given her did seem to help in her situation, the only problem she had was no way of controlling her guilt and remorse. It only made things worse for her. 

*     *     *

Leo had known what had happened. He couldn't say anything or scold Hongbin for his foolishness, but he had to make sure the little girl was okay.  He had witnessed the incident between the two of them when he had gone outside the main lobby to get some fresh air and since Hakyeon was being more annoying than usual. He needed his space. 

Leo couldn't help but wince when he saw the girl slap Hongbin across the face. The look on both of their faces was just...ugly? He had no way of describing it. He watched as the girl stormed away. She seemd enraged by the force in her pace. Leo glanced over at his dongsaeng, saddness seemed to weigh down his stance. His face was buried in his hands. 

Amusingly, Mirae was in the same condition when he had approached her. 

Of course, as Leo was immersed in his own thoughts, a loud Hakyeon had appeared. 
"Leo-yah! Are you crazy? Where did you go? You missed the practice!"

"Okay." Leo said simply, dodging his annoying leader. He was in no mood for N's shennigans.

"Okay? Yah! What do you mean by okay? Come back here!" Hakyeon called out as he ran after Leo who managed to disappear through a lobby. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hani smacked Mirae's head for the 4th time this morning. Her head kept on lulling from sleepiness. At this rate, Mirae was going to smack her head across her desk and just sleep the entire day if it weren't for Hani patrolling her actions.

Mirae jumped in her seat, her eyes half closed, looking derranged. She scratched the back of her head.

"What-what year is it?" Mirae yawned. Hani rolled her eyes. 

"Yah. Heo Mirae! did you manage to run a marathon or something that you're so tired? Wake up." Hani shook her best friend. Mirae shook off her friends arms. 

"Okay, okay arraseo. I won't fall asleep again." Mirae yawned deeply before rubbing her eyes. She hadn't had any sleep last night and now things around her were all fuzzy and warped. She needed sleep. Unfortunately, Hani wouldn't allow that to happen during school time when Mirae had to focus more since the CSATs were coming up and everyone besides her were in a frantic studying dilligently, flipping notes and highlighting things here and there while muttering emotionlessly to themselves to memorize terms. Mirae, on the other hand had no idea what they had just learned in calculus. It all seemed like a mix of number mumbo jumbo with non sensical graphical representations. The fact that she was sleep deprived didn't help at all, either. 

Hani soon fell into a world of her own as well, like the other students who were devoted to studying, but she kept a close eye on her best friend. Mirae slumped into her chair as she watched the rain pour down, making the blacktop seem darker. Everything just looked miserable to match with her mood. The memories from last night still remained fresh in her mind. It still made her burn with rage. This morning had been a mess too as she was more disorientated than normal. It frusterated her how much impact a person can have on her to react like this. Mirae never thought she would see a side like this to her ever. This was going to be a long day.

The day dragged on.

And on.

....And on.

When the last period ended, Mirae slumped in her chair. She saw Hani giving her sideway glances because of Mirae's unusually quiet demeanor. Usually Mirae would be the first to jump out of her chair, excited to go home, and she would rush Hani to pack up her books as well. Not today. It made Hani worry. She was also noticeably tired, unlike most days when she would have scheduled photoshoots or CFs and whatnot. She still remained a happy person, but for some reason she seemed completely out of it. 

Hani nudged her best friedn, startling Mirae. Mirae gave her a questioning look. Hani nudged her chin towards the door. Mirae sighed, pocking her bookbag which seemed to be heavier than usual. She followed Hani out of the door. Hani looked both ways before yanking Mirae into a nearby washroom. 

Hani looked inside the stalls to see if anyone was there. Coast was clear. Hani stood in front of Mirae, her arms crossed. "Alright, spill," Hani demanded, "You're not yourself today, what on earth is the matter?"

Mirae sighed, kicking a random coin under the sink. "I don't wanna talk about it." she mumbled. 

"Spill now." Hani demanded yet again. She wasn't going to take no for an answer. 

Mirae remained silent.

"What? Are you being bullied?" Hani asked, Mirae shook her head, looking at her feet.

"Did you have a fight with your mom."

"No." Mirae mumbled.

"So something is the matter; because you aren't denying it at this point either." Hani furrowed her eyebrows. Mirae remained silent. 

"Is it something to do with the exams coming up?"

Mirae scoffed. "Please, that's the least of my worries." 

Hani ignored her previous comment. Hani stared at the window. It was still raining quite heavily outside. She guessed for the last time.

"Does it have something to do with Jaehwan?" she asked.

Mirae winced at the mention of her boyfriend's name. Hani knew she had hit the sensitive spot. 

"What happened? Did you have a fight or something like that?" 

Mirae felt like crying again. 

"I wish, it would have been better than..." Mirae trailed off her comment. She swallowed her tears, holding them back, her fists curled into two balls. 

"Better than?" Hani asked. Mirae hung her head low, feeling the tears stinging her eyes. She felt even more disgusted with herself. She was afraid that her own best friend would become angry with her or even disappointed if she had told her about that instant. She sniffled a bit.

"Heo Mirae?" Hani approached her, her voice a bit softer, sensing that Mirae was crying.

"I'm sorry." she sniffled, still hiding her cruing face. Admitedly, her crying face wasn't attractive at all, even on better days. Hani cocked her head to one side.

"Sorry for what, Mirae?"

Mirae shook her head. 

Hani embraced her best friend. She was clearly upset with the topic, and it didn't make things better when Hani kept egging her on about it. She could hear Mirae sniffle louder, her body shaking slightly as she freely cried on her best friend's shoulder, letting out all her negative emotions, her grip tight around Hani's neck, but Hani didn't mind. Hani patted her back, gently as she comforted her crying friend. She knew it was wise to let go of the topic, and just remain silent. 

"Whatever is going on, Mirae, it will be alright. Don't worry."

Mirae nodded slightly against Hani's shoulder. She hoped so too.

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*The quote was taken from Plato (a.k.a my homie and role model along with the lovely Park Hyoshin :* )

A/N: okaaayyyyy so this chapter was a tad bit too dramatic than I had liked it to be, but whatever. You guys can have more feels. 

And on a side note I still can't decide between the two boys for the life of me. They both seem to fit Mirae, and for reasons unique to each of their personalitites. Grr...what should I do T_T

Anyways, even though this chapter was a DRAMA-BOMB (atleast for my standards) I still hope you guys enjoyed it.

Fair wins!