Chapter 38

Sara entered the upstairs dorm with Heechul, and called out to the other members, but to her surprise, no one was there.

“Where is everyone?” Sara asked

“They must be busy with their schedule.” Heechul said as he took out glasses and snacks.

“And how come you’re free?” Sara asked suspiciously.

“Sarang-ah, stop asking questions and drink this.” He said as he filled her a cup of soju.

Half an hour ago

“Teukie, do me a favour and empty out both our dorm rooms. I don’t want anyone to be there except for Sungmin.”

“Why? What are you up to?” Leeteuk asked interestedly.

“I’m just trying to make two people happy. Now call the members out for dance practise or something.” Heechul said in an excited tone.

Back to the present

“I think I’ve drank enough. It’s not helping. I feel even more miserable than before.” Sara moaned gloomily.

“Just a little more, then I’ll take you home so you can sleep it off.” Heechul said gently as he poured her one more cup.

Sara downed it, and then stood up shakily.

“Ok, I’m ready to go home now.” She said.

“All right, take my hand’ Heechul said as he helped her out of the apartment.

They reached the elevator, and Heechul quickly pretended to take a call from his phone.

“What? Right now? Ok, I’m coming!” He said to the imaginary person on the other side of the line.

“Sarang-ah, there’s trouble at the company, I have to leave now.” He said as he pushed number 11 on the elevator keypad. “Stay in the dorm until I get back ok? It must be empty right now. Don’t try going home by yourself!”

He pushed her out of the lift as they reached the 11^th floor, and then quickly closed the elevator door behind her.

Sara didn’t have a moment to comprehend what was happening, but she headed to the dorm room anyway, since that’s what Heechul told her to do. Her vision blurred for a second, so she held onto the corridor walls as she walked.

Once she reached the front door of the dorm, she confidently typed in the password to enter, but kept on making mistakes. Her temper rose with each failed attempt.

 Eventually she began yelling at the door and hitting the keypad in frustration.

“Why won’t you open?! Are you rejecting me too? What did I do to you huh?! Just open!!”

Her common sense failed her, and she began banging her fists weakly onto the door.

It unexpectedly opened, and she stumbled forward. For a second, she thought she was going to fall flat onto her face, but instead, she fell against someone who immediately held her steady against him.

The embrace was so familiar, and for a second, Sara dreaded looking up to see who it was, but she was sure the moment she heard his voice.

“Sara? What are you doing here?” Sungmin asked as he held her up by the shoulders.

“Not now, I’m not ready to face him yet” She thought to herself frantically.

She lowered her head, and didn’t answer.

Sungmin looked at her closely and then asked “Have you been drinking? Why are you like this?”

Sara sniffed in reply and then pushed his hands away. “I’m going home now.” She said to him.

She turned around, and took a step, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.

“Sit down for a moment. I’ll get dressed and then I’ll take you home.” He said gently.

Sara watched as Sungmin made his way to the bedroom, and once she heard the door close, she got up and left the dorm as quietly as she could.

There was no way that she was going to trust herself around Sungmin in this state. Who knows what she might say to him? Even being this close to him was so painful.

She crossed the street to her building and managed to make it to her floor without passing out.

“Heechul I hate you” she muttered to herself as she entered her apartment and plopped down onto her sofa.

For a moment she thought she would sleep, but in the next second thoughts of Sungmin came to her mind and she couldn’t help but curl up into a ball and cry.

Things were never going to be the same again.  She had ruined it. The worst part was that she didn’t even know if Sungmin felt the same way about her. Even if he had feelings for her before, they were probably all gone by now.

The confusion with Donghae was out of the picture, but now all she was left with was the realisation of her unrequited love, and no matter how much she cried, those feelings wouldn’t go away.