When the dismissal bell rang, Jongin immediately left school without so much as a goodbye to his friends. He didn’t know why but he felt anxious that he needed to go.

   Upon reaching home, he headed to his room and threw his bag on the corner. He dived face first on the bed and stayed there for awhile. Jongin remembered that it’s White Day tomorrow and he wanted to invite Jinri to watch their performance. He’ll apologize for everything, especially for breaking his promise—which was forced to start with and he’d already had feelings for her even before Jinri asked for a favor, he just didn’t know it was her yet—and maybe, just maybe, officially ask her to finally be his. If she doesn’t say yes then he’s willing to start over again and he’ll make her fall in love with him this time.

   Jongin groaned as he thrashed around on the bed. He then settled on his back and stared at the ceiling. “Choi Jinri, what have you done to me?” He muttered to himself. He took his phone and lightened his screen up, their selca as the wallpaper coming into view. “I miss you, you idiot. It feels like you just vanished into thin air; you’re not even answering my calls and messages. You got yourself into my life so easily and you disappeared just like that; as if it was easy for me to forget you too.”

   Jinri’s picture just continued to look at him with a grin. Well, what does he expect? He’s sure to throw his phone if she did answer him, let alone blink or move.

   Jongin just sighed and went back to staring at the ceiling. He didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep until his foot suddenly jerked, waking him up. He sat up and adjusted his sight to the surroundings; he then found that it was dark already. Jongin rubbed the sleep off his eyes and looked at the digital clock on the bedside table: the red numbers say 6:13 in the evening.

   The boy decided to visit Jinri in her house so he pushed himself up and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower. He wore fresh comfortable clothes—plain black t-shirt, pants reaching until just below his knees, a pair of vans, a cap, and a jacket to keep himself warm—and went on his way.

   Later on, he found himself on the Choi’s front lawn. Their house was dimly lit, not like before when it felt much more welcoming. The lights on the front door and on the living room were the only lights on and Jongin suddenly felt that something went wrong here.

   What just happened?

   After a few minutes, the lights in the living room went off and the front door opened. Mrs. Choi then emerged and closed the door, locking it after.

   Jongin gulped, his heart starting to pound against his ribs. “Eomonim..” He greeted when she was within earshot.

   Mrs. Choi looked up from fumbling her car keys inside her bag and the boy was taken aback from the sight of Mrs. Choi; she looked like she just aged and she had bags under her eyes. She looked so tired as if she hadn’t gotten any decent sleep at all. “Omo, isn’t it darling Jongin.” She gave him a weak smile.

   “Uh, gwenchana?”

   Mrs. Choi shook her head but said, “Deh. It’s been awhile, love.”

   Jongin nodded and his drying lips. “Is.. Is Jinri home?”

   “What—No, she..” Mrs. Choi stopped. She looked at Jongin and studied him and it didn’t have to take a smart person to realize that the boy in front of her has got no idea whatsoever about what happened to Jinri. Mrs. Choi resisted the urge to rub her face with her palms in frustration. Go figure; it’s Jinri they were talking about. Not even the person closest to her heart would know because she refuses to inform. The friends who visit her everyday just happened to find out is all.

   The mother sighed in defeat. There was no use lying because Jongin is here. If she tells him Jinri’s home, who was she kidding? The boy would go in and meet her but it was obvious that nobody was home; the only light on was the one on the front porch. If she tells him that Jinri will be back by Saturday or Sunday as per Minho’s report that she will be discharged within those days, he’ll ask more questions as to where Jinri had gone to and why. And Jinri being discharged depends on the situation so there still was no guarantee.

   Mrs. Choi decided to go on the path of “honesty is the best policy.” The truth will hurt but it will surely set you free.

   “Eomonim..?” Jongin peered at her. Mrs. Choi’s silence actually scared him.

   “I’m actually about to go see her.” Mrs. Choi gave him a tight smile, thinking: He deserves to know, the least. “Would you like to come with me, love?”

   Jongin blinked and hesistantly nodded. “I-If you please then..”

   Mrs. Choi nodded and headed to her car. She unlocked it and went inside. Jongin did as well, occupying the passenger’s seat. After securing themselves with the seatbelts, Mrs. Choi drove on her way.

   Silence filled the whole ride and Jongin feared his pounding heartbeats were audible. The farther they got, the more nervous he became especially when the path they were taking was quite familiar. It was as if he was having a déjà vu. The only difference is that he was not with his mom; he was with Jinri’s mom. Truth be told, he really didn’t have to come or something. If Mrs. Choi said Jinri’s not home, he could have gone on his way—though curiosity would build up inside as to where she could be—but then she offered.. and Jongin found the opportunity to ask Jinri herself why she just disappeared without saying anything.

   Jongin felt his heart going berserk and would jump out of his body any second, breaking his ribs in the process, when Jinri’s mom turned right to the hospital’s parking lot. He tried not to panic and thought of possibilities why they could be there. Maybe Mrs. Choi was just going to have an appointment first before anything else because after all, she looked like she needed a check up. Or it’s possible that she’s just going to drop by or something. Right, her son! The assistant doctor and secretary Choi Minho; she could be visiting him first. Yeah, that settles it.

   Mrs. Choi didn’t say anything when she went out of the car after parking so Jongin contemplated on whether or not he should stay inside and just wait for her. But then again, if she brought him here first then she might be needing his help, right? Like.. getting whatever supplies or something. Jongin went out of the car and followed her after Mrs. Choi locked the car.

   The silence between the two was so thick, Jongin was afraid to speak. If the silence were something you can touch, you’ll probably cut yourself. He thought of something to say but there was none so he just let it be.

   They mounted the elevator with some other passengers and Jongin noticed Mrs. Choi pressing the sixth floor button. He bit his lower lip to stop himself from smiling; yeah, maybe she was just going to visit Minho-ssi first. He wouldn’t mind having a small chat with him again. After all, they’ll be seeing each other more often soon.

   When they reached the sixth floor, Mrs. Choi and Jongin stepped outside and he followed quietly but he was puzzled when the mother turned right to the patients’ ward instead of the left, to the doctors’ offices.

   “Eomon—” Jongin started but abruptly stopped when he heard voices—familiar voices—echoing against the walls of the hallway. He saw one open room where the voices seem to be coming from; they were laughing and singing together while a guitar was being played.

   He heard a low voice and Jongin furrowed his eyebrows. That sounded like.. Park Chanyeol? He thought then a powerful singing voice came after, Kim Jongdae..?

   Mrs. Choi stopped in front of that open room and stepped inside.

   The hanging flowery name plate caught his attention and Jongin paled when he saw whose name was written in there. His heart started to pound and he felt the need to inhale fresh air. He could also feel the sweat forming on his forehead; since when did it start to get hot in the first few weeks of spring?

   Mrs. Choi interrupted the live concert going on inside the room with a knock.

   “Hey, Umma.”

   Jongin stepped back as if those words just pushed him. That voice.. It surely was Jinri’s.

   “Imo,”

   He also heard a chorus of voices, most of which were from boys. If Jongin was sure that he heard Chanyeol and Jongdae’s voice inside, they’re not the only boys in there.

   “Good evening,” Mrs. Choi greeted. “Jinri-ya, you have a visitor.”

   What.. happened?

   Jongin saw Mrs. Choi stepping aside and he saw the full view of what and who were inside. Six people were surrounding the bed and unfortunately, he knew all of them: Soojung and Taemin stood on the left side of the bed, Baekhyun and Chanyeol sat on the space by the foot of the bed, the taller holding the guitar, Sehun was also there, seated on a chair near the bed and Jongdae stood beside him on the right side of the bed.

   And on the bed itself sat the girl who suddenly disappeared without warning; the girl who’s been giving him bright smiles ever since they met, the girl who he truly missed so ing much. Choi Jinri looked thinner than he had last seen her and very pale. The cardiograph was beeping so fast and that was the only noise cutting through their silence.

   Kim Jongin didn’t know how or what to feel. He couldn’t believe his friends were there. They knew where Jinri was yet they stayed quiet. He felt so betrayed, especially by Oh Sehun.

   “Don’t gang up on Chanyeol-hyung because I’m practically the one dragging him with me.” He clenched his fists as he remembered Sehun’s words. Those words he threw, was that what this is all about? “Do we always have to tell everything to everyone?”

   “Jongin-ssi..”

   Jongin stepped back again. He needed some air. He felt suffocated in this place. And the six pairs of wide eyes were boring into him, it was infuriating. Why did they keep something like this from him? Why did Jinri keep something like this from me?

   “Jongin-ssi!” Jinri exclaimed when Jongin started running away. He didn’t even step foot inside the room.

   “We’ll go after him.” Chanyeol said as he stood and placed his guitar on the sofa.

   “We’ll be right back.” said Jongdae.

   “Please calm down, Jinri-ya..” Baekhyun gave her a small smile, patting her thigh.

   Sehun stood but Jinri quickly grabbed his hand, looking up at him with furrowed eyebrows.

   “Gwenchana,” Sehun gave her forehead a kiss and the four boys ran after Jongin.

▢ ▢ ▢

Jongin ran, stepping two to three flight of stairs at a time. He could hear footsteps following him and he feared of whatever he will do to them if he sees them. Why was Jinri confined? How long? Was that the reason she hadn’t been attending school?

   Was that the reason she was gone for almost the whole year last year?

   How could they do this to him? What was he, some kind of a joke? Someone who was not supposed to know what’s going on with his girlfriend—or the last to find out?

   Jongin reached the rooftop and stopped to catch his breath. My girlfriend..

   “I have a favor to ask you.. Please date me.”

   “Jongin-ah!”

   The four boys burst the door open and reached the rooftop as well.

   Chanyeol stepped forward but Sehun held him back. He shook his head because he knew he was supposed to be the one talking to him.

   Sehun walked towards Jongin but the latter refused to turn around and face him. “Jongin..”

   Jongin clenched his fists.

   “Jong—” Sehun reached for his shoulder but the moment he touched him, Jongin swiftly turned and gave him a blow on the face, making him stumble on the ground.

   “Sehun-ah!” Chanyeol ran towards the youngest’s aid.

   Baekhyun was about to follow but Jongdae stopped him.

   “Don’t touch me, Oh Sehun.” Jongin dangerously said, spitting the words like poison. “How dare you..”

   “Jongin-ah, at least let us explain—” Chanyeol looked up at him but his words were interrupted.

   “Explain? What is there to explain?!” Jongin shouted. “You kept something like this from me! You’ve been seeing her behind my back while I’ve no clue! I was so worried and guilty and it’s eating me up alive while here you guys are, what—visiting her everyday?! And wow, who would have thought? Baekhyun and Jongdae? Really?!” He bitterly forced out a chuckle. He never expected them to be here; he never expected anything like this at all.

   Chanyeol helped Sehun up and found that the corner of his lip was bleeding.

   “Jongin, we were left with no choice..” Sehun tried to reach out to him but Jongin pushed him and gave his face another punch.

   “I said don’t touch me!” He shouted.

   “Yah!” Chanyeol intervened but Jongin pushed him as well and punched him too. His sight was starting to darken and he couldn’t control his anger.

   “Chanyeol!” Baekhyun screamed as he ran towards his best friend who was on the floor with his backhand on his jaw.

   “They’ve got nothing to do with this!” Sehun shouted as he lunged forward, giving Jongin a push and punching him square on the jaw as a payback. “Do you think we all wanted this, huh?! Do you know how much we’re suffering, keeping this a secret to our friends?!”

   “Don’t talk to me about suffering!” Jongin grabbed Sehun by the collar and pinned him on the wall. “Not ing knowing anything is worse than keeping all this a secret! What do you think does that make me?! Don’t you know how hard and embarrassing it was for me to approach her friends helplessly and desperately just so I could ask how Jinri is or where she’s gone to only to be stayed away from and ignored by them? I almost begged for them to tell me what the hell was going on! I badly wanted to know where she is! Don’t you know how it feels?! I feel ing useless! Jinri is stuck here in the hospital and I didn’t even know a single thing! Instead of being there for her, I couldn’t do anything because what the , I was clueless about what’s happening about my girlfriend!”

   Sehun was quiet for awhile. He got speechless from Jongin’s confession. Yeah, maybe he didn’t know how it felt entirely but he did know that Jongin went through so much battling his feelings inside, he’s just not telling anyone. But instead of arguing back—well, what was there to argue back anyway?,—he just uttered in a monotonous voice what struck him the most. “. . . She was never your girlfriend, Kim Jongin.”

   Jongin’s grip loosened as his eyes widened.

   “You yourself had said: it was just a favor asked. The relationship you have does not exist; none of it is real.” Sehun added, “Why do you think I tried retaliating your decision before? Why do you think I acted defensive when you decided to agree out of ‘consideration’?” He rolled his eyes at the word. “It’s because I knew from the start that Jinri was sick—”

   “Shut up..”

   “—Long before she suddenly popped out in front of you to ask that stupid selfish favor.” Sehun continued, “Sometimes, I wonder if Jinri knew what she was doing but if you hadn’t agreed, none of this would be happening right now—”

   Jongin tightened his hold on Sehun’s collar once again and glared at him. “Shut up!” He growled and lifted a fist.

   Sehun shut his eyes tight but just felt the swift air passing through his aching cheekbone. When he opened his eyes, he saw that Jongin had punched the wall beside his head.

   Jongin let go of him and stepped back. He let himself fall on the ground while Sehun slid his back down against the wall.

   Everyone was now quiet. Jongdae didn’t interfere because someone had to have a clear mind. Baekhyun was crying beside Chanyeol because his best friend got hurt and because of what’s happening. Jongin, as well, let his tears fall down while blood dripped on the ground, worsening the pain in his knuckles.

   “I love her so much, Sehun-ah.”

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Asdfghjkl I am so sorry for making you guys wait in vain. /smacked. You don’t know how hard it was for me to actually think of and write this chapter, I can’t even — I think I’ve failed at being intense, heol. ; ; So there. The confrontation, dun dun dun ~ I don’t know what else to say so . . . /shrugs. Anyway, I’ve added the sesul tag already! o/ Oh, and belated happy birthday, Luhaaan and Jessica, woot – kbye.