Chapter Eight

Friday Night

I zipped my jacket, walking against the cold wind.  I really didn't care how cold the day had become; I just needed a walk to clear my mind.  I breathed on my hands for warmth.  I shivered, but not on account of the frigid air.  My mother's words still pierced.  Never before had she spoken to me in such a way, and I desperately wanted to be mad.  But I could only bring myself to be consumed by unrelenting guilt.  And a reprimanding doesn't even compensate for how I deserve to have been punished.

"Eun Mi?" a voice called to me.  I shot around, startled.

"Oh," I sighed, "Hi, Chanyeol."

"What are you doing out here?" he started, stepping down from his front porch, "It's freezing out."

"I'm just having a stroll," I attempted to flash him a reassuring smile, but I could only manage a simper.

His lips pursed, and in his eyes, I could see that he looked at me with pity.  Typically, someone feeling sorry for me would only enrage me.  I didn't need anyone's compassion or to have them feel sorry for me; I am perfectly capable of holding myself.  To run into someone's arms the second I was miffed by something would only degrade me to sniveling child, but under Chanyeol's gaze, I oddly felt safe.  He grasped my forearm and guided me onto the porch of his house.

"One second," he smiled, hurrying into his house.

I sat against the wall, fidgeting with the ends of my sleeves as a meek grin forced itself over my lips.  Chanyeol shouldn't be allowed to make me feel this way.  So conflicted and confused and yet so blissful.  My heart had only ever felt as content with Sehun.  I didn't want to care for Chanyeol; I knew that would only result in trouble, but those damn feelings persisted.

It was then that Chanyeol reappeared, draping a bundle of blankets over me.

"So," he began, tucking his large frame beside me underneath the blankets, "How are you?"

"I'm good," I chuckled, "How are you? 'Been keeping up with your studies?"

"Well," he smiled gently, "I've been a bit distracted lately."

"Yeah, school is the least of my worries."

"School is all I have going for me," he stretched his long legs in front of him, "But that's sort of changed."

I leaned against his shoulder.  "Don't you pride yourself on grades?  What's gotten into you?"

"For one thing, I've got you now."

I faltered.  What was Chanyeol to me?  Irrefutavley, he wasn't just an aqquantince, but I couldn't bring myself to declare him as anything more.

"Right?" he nudged my softly.

I nodded absently.

The corner of his lip twitched.  "Am I just the other guy?" he asked suddenly.  The thought obviously bothered him.  "Am I just second to Sehun?  Someone to come to when your real boyfriend is busy or bores you?"

"Of course not!" I snapped, unnerved by his claim, "I do honestly care for you but-"

"Then choose me," he cut me off.

"It's not that simple," I slid my hand into his, "I care for Sehun, too.  I can't imagine myself without either of you."

"Sehun has everything," he argued, "Friends, adoring girls, popularity, money.  You're all I have."

"Chanyeol-"

"What do you even see in him?" he pressed, "The guy's an arrogant , no regard for anyone but himself.  You see the way he treats people as if they're below him. I just-"

"Just drop it!" I hissed, "Okay?"

"Sorry..." he settled himself, pulling me closer to him, "I just don't want to lose you."

"You won't," I promised, "I'm not going anywhere."  Though I couldn't be certain that that was true.

"So what were you like?  You know, before the whole infatuation with grades," I asked in attempt to channge the subject, not considering that it may have been a sensitive topic, "You said yourself you weren't so involved with studies until highschool."

"I haven't really changed in regards of my personality since the 8th grade," he smiled wistfully, "I just don't have friends anymore."

"No friends at all?  I mean, I noticed you talking to Jin Soo..."

"Jin Soo?" he repeated the name as if it were foreign, "She's sweet. 'Talks to me when no one else does."

Jin Soo?  Kim Jin Soo?  The same Jin Soo who blackmailed me?  Is sweet?  It was hard to imagine her as anything but conniving.  The fact that in others' eyes, especially Chanyeol's, she could be seen as kind baffled me, but I suppose no one can be seen as flat.  One thing or another.  People are too complex to be characterized so simply.

"She hates working with you adn Kai," he laughed.

"I'd hate working with us, too," I giggled, "That assignment is due soon and we literally have nothing."

"Really?" he gawked, "My father would kill me!"

"I have a B in that class," I shrugged, "I failed project will bring it down to--what? A low C?  I can afford that."

He shook his head, "Just having a low A kills me.  You and I have two very differing priorities."

"Then tell me, Park Chanyeol, what are your priorities? Your ambitions?" I glanced up at him.

"Well, after highschool," he began, "I will attend Seould University and major in business to inherit my father's company."

"That's it?" I turned to face him, "Your entire life spent just to recieve some paper that says you graduated?"

"That's what my father wants of me."

"But what do you want?" I prodded his chest with my forefinger.

"I want..." he faltered, "Well, my family is more traditional.  We believe in living for one's parents."

"So you have no other goals in life?" I raised an eyebrow dubiously, "None? Whatsoever?"

"There's this one thing..." he ventured.

"Go on."

"I always imagine myself grown, with a wife and a kid or two.  Being able to wake up beside the love of my life spouse each morning. A happy ending. You know, the humble, white-picket-fence sort of life," he grinned, blushing, but sighed pensively, as if the idea was but a distant dream, as he rest his head against the wall.

"Is that so impossible?" I snuggled against his torso, tightening the blanket around us.

"Well my father  doesn't have that," Chanyeol's expression twisted, "His career has him on business trips for weeks at a time, and when he does come home, he's too tired or stressed to do much."

Sounds familiar, I thought, my thoughts drifting to my own dad.

"Well you have your mom, atleast," I consoled him.  The statement was sincere.  A loving mother was more than I had.  Afterall, she was rather blunt how she resented me.

It didn't seem like more than 30 minutes, but we sat beside eachother on his porch, talking of nothing in particular, until the sky had grown dark.  My eyelids eventually became heavy, falling over my eyes as my breathing slowed.  I held close to Chanyeol as if he were a pillow; his steady heart beat soothed me like a lullaby.

"Eun Mi?" he spoke with a hushed tone, "Are you wake?"

I was too tired to reply, so I just listened to his voice.

"No?" he laughed softly, "I'm sleepy, too."

His chest tensed as he yawned.

"I don't know what it is," he brushed my hair behind my ear, his hand my cheek, "but something about you just..."

With a gentle  sigh, he leaned forward, pecking his lips against my forhead.  "i love you, Lee Eun Mi," he confessed.

"What am I doing?" he chided himself, "She's asleep.  This is so creepy."

Creepy isn't the word I would use.  My heart raced, and suppressing my smile was difficult, but Chanyeol didn't seem to notice that or the blush that rose over my cheeks.  With this bliss, I slipped into a peaceful sleep.

It seemed like I had only blinked before I was woken with a start.

"Yeah!" the hoarse voice of a man snapped.

Chanyeol sprang to a seated position, knocking my head off his chest and onto the wooden floor.

'Oh, crap, sorry," he winced as I sat up, pressing my hand against the newly formed bruise.

"Who is this?" the man barked.

"You see, Father," Chanyeol started, "This is my friend from school and we were just-"

"No girls. Girls are a distraction," he sneered at me and with a tight grip on Chanyeol's elbow, he hoisted the boy to his feet."

"Of course," Chanyeol abode, "I'd never think of doing such.  I was just helping her study and we got tired."

"Well, anyhow, you should be going now," he stared me down.

"Don't lie to your daddy, Chanyeol," I smirked, challenging the man, "We weren't studying.  Chanyeol and I were hanging out.  Is that a crime?"

"Eun Mi," Chanyeol whispered, "aren't you the one who said lying was okay?"

"Leave," his father spat, "Do not speak to my son again.  At school,  here, or elsewhere.   He doesn't need your influence."

"Oh yes," I peaked my eyebrows, "because having the slightest bit of social interraction would just ruin his life so horribly."

"Know your place, girl," he reprimanded me.  So far, every word this man has spoken has been a command.  He took Chanyeol by the shoulder and hauled him inside, "Obviously I've been too lenient with you, but no longer.  This girl is bad for you."  He turned to me before slamming the door, "I don't want you associated with people like her."

I scoffed just before I heard the door's lock click.  "this will not do," I clucked my tongue, turning to leave.  Maybe Chanyeol feared that man, but I sure as hell didn't, and I'll be damned if he thinks he has power over me.  I know my place, and it is most certainly not beneath him.

I arrived home; the door was still unlocked, but the lights were off, leaving the house dark.  Too tired to change into my pajamas, I crawled into bed.  The clock on my nightstand read 12:07 when I closed my eyes to sleep.

 

 

Five hours later, the morning alarm snapped me awake.  I urged myself to leave the comfort of bed and prepare for the day.  After bathing, dressing, and the whole of my morning routine, I started down the road for school.  A short ways ahead of me, Min Seok walked; I ambled to his side.

" 'Morning," I greeted him, clapping my hand onto his shoulder.

"Oh, hey," he smiled, though his tone was stoic, "Excited for the party later?"

"I hope they serve desert," I beamed, attempting to brighten his seemingly dismal mood.

He had begun to respond when someone called over to us.

"Eun Mi!" I heard Chanyeol's eager, familiar voice.  I turned my head to see him running to Min Seok and I, waving an arm over his head.  "Hey," he said between rasp breathes after he had caught up to us, "Hello...Uh, sorry about my dad.  He can be rather---cold."

"It's alright," I nodded, "but I thought you weren't allowed to hang out with me.  What happened to the goody, obedient son?"

"He met you," he chuckled, "Also, I wanted to say, last night was fun.  We should hang out again."

"I'm sorry, but," Min Seok spun on his heel to face Chanyeol, "Do you not understand that Eun Mi has a boyfriend?   And she doesn't like you.  If I remeber correctly, Monday she told you to piss off. Well, not exactly those words, but that's the idea."

"Then why does she keep approaching me?"

"Because you keep pestering her?" Min Seok berated him, "She's not interested in you.  Get that through your skull."

"That's really not what she said to me," Chanyeol smirked, but after seeing Min Seok's tightened glare, he was no longer so confident.

Shoving Chanyeol away, he barked, "Just get to school."

Chanyeol glanced to us over his shoulder, his jaw clenched, but he didn't say another word.  He continued onward.

"A bit harsh?" I chided my friend.

 Min Seok shot me a raw look, "What the hell, Eun Mi?"

"What?"

"You said you'd stop seeing him," his calm tone seethed.

"I did not," I snarled in defense of myself, "Just what are you accusing me of?"

"Remember?" he spat, "One or the other, Eun Mi!"

"I'm trying!" I belligerently replied, "I need time.  I thought you said you understood?"

"Well I thought the choice was obvious!" he scoffed, "You and Sehun!  Are you honestly considering losing that for Chanyeol?  You barely know the guy."

"We've been talking a lot," I protested, "Atleast he understands that I can't just leave one or the other. He actually listens to me."

"Let me guess, he loves you, right?" Min Seok argued impertinently.

"He said so!" I cried.

"People lie!"

"Well he seems to care about me a lot more than you do!" I barked.

"Come on, Eun Mi," he rolled his eyes, "You don't actually feel like that."

"You don't know what I feel, damn it!" I snapped, "So stop acting like you do.  I don't need your judgement or opinion.  I just need you to be here, but I see you don't care."

I left him as I quickened my pace down the street, biting back furious tears.  I swallowed the sob.  I couldn't cry now, not with Min Seok here.  I didn't need him seeing me as a and a crybaby.

"Come on," he called after me.  He met my pace, "You know that's not true.  You're like my sister, of course I care!"

"Then why are you treating me like the bad guy?"

"Because I care about Sehun too."

"You think I don't?" I raged, "I love that boy so much.  I just can't help feeling for Chanyeol.  I don't want to, but I do.  I just need you to be here for me, okay?"

"Okay," he sighed, "Okay."

He pulled me into a hug, "I'm osrry.  Just, please--please don't hurt Sehun. But I am here, okay?"

It stung that he thought I'd do such a thing, but I steadied my breathing and calmed nerves.  I couldn't be mad at Min Seok, though; he only had Sehun in mind, and he only confirmed what I already feared.  No matter what happens, I couldn't escape hurting Sehun in the crossfire.  Even if I chose him, why the hell would he forgive me?  He'd be hurt and furious.  I lied.  I cheated.  I played him like a violin.  Why wouldd anyone stay with someone so heartless.

"It's all good?" Min Seok grinned, looking in my eyes.

I nodded.  "Let me tell him on my own time," I sighed, "I'd rather tell him myself."

"Of course," he hooked his arm through mine, "We should probably get to school, though."

As we made our way down the street, my only thought was how selfish and insolent I had become.  I knew what I was doing would hurt Sehun and Chanyeol, but I continued with it.  Why?  Because I couldn't bare to be without them?  Because I wanted both of them?  Because I am selfish.  And Min Seok is the one who apologized for my heartlessness?  I ruin everything and get upset with him for calling me the bad guy?  Well I see now....That's exactly what I am.

 

 

By the time we arrived to school, second period had already begun.  We hurried to study hall where the others were gathered around our table.  I took my seat beside Sehun and across from Tao.

"And they finally decide to show up," Luhan laughed.

"Well we just couldn't miss this class," I enthused sarcastically.  "Oh crap," I winced, "Wasn't that report thing for science due today?

"My group and I actually got work done in class instead of being a man and acting like fools," Tao rolled his eyes.

"You know, I liked you a lot better when you didn't speak  Korean," Luhan whipped the back of the younger's head.

"You're Chinese, too, ," Tao grumbled, "But I'm the only competent one seeing as how I'm the only one who did the project."

"Get off your damn high horse, Zi Tao," Min Seok jeered, "As I recall, I did our project."

"Which is why we're probably going to fail it."  Tao yelped as Min Seok kicked his shin under the table.

"Anyways," Kai started, directing his attention to me, "No worries.  I've been doing our project for homework, and I turned it in with our names on it.  You're welcome."

"Really?" I smiled, "Thanks~"

"Yeah, but don't complain if we get a crap grade."

"Well we can't do any worse than Min Seok so---ow!" I was interrupted as Min Seok flicked my arm.

"Don't belittle me," he scowled, "I've actually raised my grade ins science."

"Yeah," lUhan , "Now you're almost passing!"

The  remainder of class was spent with the same ebullient banter, but it didn't seem long until the bell rang.  We gathered at our table after buying lunch.

"We're still on for that party tonight?" Luhan rest his elbows on the table.

" 'Nothing better to do," Min Seok shrugged.

"Don't get too excited," Luhan sarcastically replied.

"I'm looking forward to loosening up a bit," Kai leaned back into his chair.

"If that implies getting drunk," Sehun added, "Not gonna happen."

"What? Why not? I played chaperone last week," Kai protested.

"Dude," Sehun spoke simply, "You get so aggressive with just a single shot."

"I'm not that bad."

"You nearly strangled me for changing the TV channel," Tao sneered.

"Well that's on you," Kai excused himself, "My favourite show was on."

"It's already decided, Kai," Sehun ended the arguement.

"Yeah," I grinned, "No drinking for you, Kai."

"You either, Eun Mi," Sehun stipulated.

"What? Come on," I whined, "You guys never let me drink! I've only ever had a sip."

"You're a lady," Luhan diluted me.

"So?"

"Ladies don't get drunk."

"Obviously you've don't get out much."

"But there's a lot of creepy douchebags at these parties," Tao explained, "Like Luhan."

"Hey!"

"Exactly!" Sehun agreed with Tao, "They can't be trusted with a drunk girl."

"I can take care of myself, you guys," I chuckled.

"Not if you're drunk," Sehun poked out his tongue.

"You people just don't want me having any fun," I pouted, folding my arms.

"We're your oppas~" Tao squeezed me into a hug, but his aegyo was more painful than the suffocation, "We're just looking out for you~"

"Let me go," I grumbled.

He released me and tousled my blue hair.  It was then that, of all people, Park Chanyeol approached our table, despite the boys' obstinate warnings.

"Eun Mi," he cupped his large hand onto my shoulder, "I really think we need to talk."

"Did I not make it clear that she wants nothing to do with you?" Sehun seethed, "So why don't you get your hand off her and leave us alone.  Go back to your textbooks."

I expected Chanyeol to back down as he usually did when Sehun was involved, but he surprised us all.  "I don't see how this concerns you," Chanyeol retorted, "I adressed Eun Mi."

Sehun rose from his seat, "Just leave."

"Not until I can talk with Eun Mi. Alone."

"As if I'm going to let you near her without me," Sehun glowered at the taller boy.

"Don't trust her?" Chanyeol smirked.  With that comment, my face burned red and my throat twisted.

"Piss off!" Kai barked.

Sehun jabbed Chanyeol's shoulder with his forefingers, "Yeah! Just go before I do something drastic."

"Okay," Chanyeol shrugged, "But Eun Mi is coming with me."

With an angered shout, Sehun shoved him backward with great force, knocking him to the ground.

"Sehun!" I shrieked.

"What?" the muscle within his neck bulged, "Is this rat not getting on your nerves?"

I glanced to Chanyeol.  He looked up to me with wide, precarious eyes.  But, yet again, I didn't have a heart strong enough to defend him.

"Chanyeol," I began and a hopeful grin played on his lips, "You should really just leave us alone."

"Sure," he sighed, but his tone was contemptuous and hurt.  And he left.  The guilt of what I said torchered me throughout the day.  I planned on talking to him in math and apologizing, but he never arrived to class.

 

 

That afternoon, Sehun drove the six of us to Jae Beom's house for the party.  Countless other cars had already arrived and were parked in the yard.  The familiar faces of our peers crowded on the front porch, bouncing to the roaring music and raising their cups.  At the head of our group, Luhan strode throuhg the hordes of teenagers as if he were king.  I eagerly followed him and the boys inside.  The past week had taken a toll on my nerves; perhaps a care-free afternoon would be all I needed to relax.

"Hey!" someone greeted us over the volume of the room, "Glad you could make it!"  Jae Beom stepped down from the coffee table and approached us, "I was starting to think you weren't coming."

"That's very nice," Tao craned his neck over the crowd, "But I only came for the cake.  Where's the food?"

"Oh, the kitchen's back there," Jae Beom directed him with the point of his finger, "And there's some kegs in the backyard if you really want a good time."

"Dude!" Jackson swung an arm over Jae Beom's shoulder, appearing from no where seemingly, "Ye Mi and her friends started a game of spin the bottle. You coming?"

"Spin the bottle?" Jae Beom jeered, "What is this, eigth grade?"  He raised a single brow, "How about we play a little game I like to call ' and Blow'?"

"Now, as fun as that sounds," Luhan backed away, "I think I'm gonna go...join Tao in the back..."

The two boys ran off to scavenge the counter for some snacks.

"Follow me."  Jae Beom lead Sehun, Kai, and I to the corner of the room where a circle of kids sat, playing some game with a deck of cards.  He took a single card and pressed it to his lips, in air to prevent it from falling.  He took the boy beside him by the nape of his neck and kissed him, nothing but the thin card seperating their lips.  The boy repeated the same actions with the girl on his right.

"What fun," Sehun laughed.

Kai breathily chuckled, "Nothing like awkward between a bunch of hormonal teenagers."

"You're no fun," Jae Beom sniggered.

"We'd rather not," I pursed my lips, "But, uh, knock yourselves out."

Taking Sehun's hand, I walked with him and Kai to the foot of the staircase, where it wasn't as cramped.

"Enjoying the party?" Sehun began.

"It'd be more enjoyable if you people let me have just one shot," Kai retorted accusingly.

At the top of the stairs, Ji Hyo, an upperclassmen, whooped as he steadied himself a top a bicycle.  The idiot then proceeded to pedal down the steps, nearly colliding into me if I hadn't leapt clear of his way.  His two friends howled with laughter.

"Who invited them," Sehun rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I love this song!" Kai took the dance floor, and people grouped around him to watch.

"Show off," I jokingly scoffed loud enough for him to hear.  He replied with a knowing smirk.  By the end of the song, his audience uproared and he was damp with sweat, panting.

"Who ever said ballet was for losers?" Kai self as he returned to us.

For maybe an hour, we reveled in the party and eachother's company.  Other teenagers d eachother in the bathroom, or got drunk off their asses, but the boys and I simply allowed ourselves to go uncensored and wild.  Not that we typically refrained from doing so publically anyways.

"This party's better than I expected," Luhan smiled audaciously, "Like, five girls have come to me for a little fun."

"And two boys," Min Seok taunted him.

"He does make such a pretty girl," Sehun poked his hyung's cheek.

Luhan impudently snatched the hat from Min Seok's head, slapping it onto his own.  "Oh look, I'm Xiumin," he mocked, "and I'm ugly as both genders."

Min Seok lunged for his cap, but Luhan tossed it to Tao, who then raised it upward, out of Min Seok's reach.  The smaller boy strected his fingertips for it, and we all laughed as he struggled.  Upon being kneed in the gut by an aggravated Min Seok, Tao lurched forward, dropping his hat on the ground.  Before Min Seok could take it, Luhan threw it to me.  Min Seok jumped after me as I ran through the crowd, clinging the hat to my chest and laughing all the way.

"Come on, dude!" he moaned in annoyance.

"Never!" I ducked under someone's arm and skipped through the front door.  I briskly came to a hault, nearly toppling forward, as I caught a glimpse of someone standing in the yard.

"Just march in there," Chanyeol raked his fingers through his hair, arguing with himself as it would seem.

 

"Gotcha!" Min Seok shouted, clamping his arms around my waist and catching Chanyeol's attention.

"Hi," the boy simpered unsurely.

"Hi," Min Seok desolately replied.

"Eun Mi," Chanyeol started, "Can I talk to you?"

"Uhm," I stammered, "I-uh-"

"Chanyeol??" a boy gawked, joining us by the front door.

"Baekhyun," Chanyeol seemed struck, "Hello."

"What are you doing here?" Baekhyun beamed, "Has your dad loosened up or something?"

Chanyeol was friends with Baekhyun?  Baekhyun was a social butterfly with a million friends.  I never would have associated the two.

"I guess that doesn't matter right now," Baekhyun rambled on, "We have to catch up. Oh! Come join me and the others in the kitchen.  We're playing beer pong! Haha."

"Beer pong?" By the elbow, Baekhyun dragged the taller boy inside.

"Eun Mi?" Min Seok hissed, "Why is he here?"

"Don't ask me," I winced.

"Sehun's not gonna be happy."

Min Seok and I followed the two into the kitchen, where the table had been arranged for a game of beer pong.  Baekhyun nudged Chanyeol to the front of the group of boys at the far end of the table.  Pressing the ball into Chanyeol's hand, Baekhyun coaxed him, "Take a shot!"

"I'd really rather not," the tips of his eats reddened, "I'm not here to drink, nor am I allowed to."

"Come on," another boy slapped Chanyeol's back, "Loosen up a bit!"

"Yeah, just one round?"

"I suppose..." Chanyeol dubiously complied, and drawing his arm back slightly, he tossed the ping pong ball with the flick of his wrist.  It rebounded from the table's surface and  into one of the opposing team's cups.   The lot of them erupted in hollers of cheer as a boy swigged the liquour from the cup in which Chanyeol had thrown the ball.

"Yay, fun," he sarcastically enthused, "But I have other matters to attend to now."

"The game just started," Baekhyun wailed,  "Please? It's been, what, four years since we last hung out? And you're ditching me?"  The smaller boy pouted, hugging onto Chanyeol's arm.

"Are you drunk?" Chanyeol gasped.

"I've had a drink or two."

"Whatever, I guess I'll finish the game," Chanyeol returned to the table.

Two boys on the opposite side launched a ball, one of which bounced into a cup, the other onto the floor.

"For you!" Baekhyun slapped the cup that the first ball had landed into in Chanyeol's hand, "Drink up!"

"But," Chanyeol hesitated, "the legal drinking age is 21.  I'm 17."

"No," Baekhyun argued, "You have to be 21 to buy alchohol.  You can drink it when you're 12 as far as the law cares, so long as your parents give you permission."

"My parents would not permit this."

"Do they even know you're here?"

"Well..." convinced, Chanyeol tipped the cup upward, chugging its contents.  He scrunched his nose at the bitter taste, the alchohol raising a blush to his cheeks.

"Ahg--" he gagged, "What exactly was in that cup, Baek?"

"ABout 6 shots worth of vodka," he cackled, "More than enough to loosen you up~"

"Hello, Baekhyun," Min Seok intervened, drooping an imbalanced Chanyeol over his shoulders, "He and I have to go. Sorry, bye."

"But-" the boy attempted to protest, but Min Seok had already left with Chanyeol.  "Not even twn minutes and he's already typsy."

"Give him 10 more," I chuckled, "By then that vodka should be enough to have gotten him smashed."

"This isn't funny, Eun Mi," Min Seok groaned, "We've got to get this dope out of here before Sehun finds him."

"No!" Chanyeol huffed.

"Why the hell are you even here?" Min Seok dropped him from his shoulder.

"Eun Mii~" he trilled.

"Oh great," my shoulders slumped, suddenly a bit irritated.

"I'm hunngry~" he pronounced his words like a two year old.

"Here," I took a cookie from the counter behind me.  I held it out to him, but he stared at me blankly.

He widened his jaw.  "Ah," he said, pointing to his mouth. 

"Oh my god," rolling my eyes, I stuffed the cookie between his teeth, and he closed his lips onto my finger.

"Let go," I chided him as if he were a dog.

He shook his head with a low giggle.

Min Seok, scoffing, took my wrist and ripped it from Chanyeol's mouth in annoyance.  He turned to the taller, vexated, "Can you just leave?"

"I need to talk to Eun Mii," he cheekily sang my name.

"Go home."

"Min Seok," I mediated, "He's drunk. We can't just send him away."

"Well what do you want me to do?" he groaned, "Babysit him?"

"Min Seok," I pouted.

"Yeah, Min Seok," Chanyeol mirrored me.

"Sehun will be pissed."  Our pouting intesified.  "I hate you both," he yielded with a sigh.

"Eun Mi!" Chanyeol suddenly burst, clamping his large hands over my shoulders and leaning in close to me, "I have a question."

"Yes?" I grinned.  Drunk Chanyeol was oddly cute.

He clenched his chest in an overdramatic gestured,"Why do you hate me?"

"What?"

"You hate me."

"Of course not, Chanyeol."

"So why don't you leave Sehun?"

My lips trembled, looking for a proper response, but no words found their way to my tongue.  "I love him," was my insufficient reply.

"Love me~" he pulled me into his embrace.  My face burned, but I was content in his arms.

"Don't touch her," the impeding command, though curt, held enough belligerence to startle Chanyeol.  He jumped to my side.

Sehun stood a meter or so before us, Kai at his left, wide eyed.  He held himself in a way that could have mislead someone to believe he was calm if not for the simmering rage in his eyes asthey bore into Chanyeol.

"Why the is he here?" he seethed.

"For Eun Mi," Chanyeol whined as if he were tired of repeating himself.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" Sehun hissed, "She. Doesn't. Like. You."

"I think she does," Chanyeol rest his elbow on my shoulder, and leaning over, he pecked his lips against my cheek.

The entire world seemed  to pause.  My mouth agape, I turned my head to Min Seok for some form of assistance,but, based on the height of his eyes, he was as struck as I.  In an instant, time resumed and Sehun shot forward.  He smashed Chanyeol's face onto the tiled counter, his hand gripped to the boy's hair.  His glasses crashed at the opposite side of  the room and blood ran from his battered nose to the countertop.  Sehun bludgeoned him once more.

"Sehun!" I squalled.

"What??" he was fuming.

"I-" my eyes wandered from his as I stammered.

Chanyeol rose, his hand pressed against the growing bruise on his face.  Disoriented from the strike, he slurred, "Eun Mi, just tell him. Choose me."

"What the is this drunk grumbling about?" Sehun bared his teeth.

A clump of panic built in my throat.  Sehun's eyes still burned, and Chanyeol looked to me for support; my hesitation seemed to break him.  A part of me wanted to take him in my arms, tell him he wasn't just another person in my eyes.  Another wanted to have Sehun remain my one and only.  But it's no longer debatable.  Sehun and Chanyeol.  I love them both.  Both have torn my heart, but as of today, I didn't have the virtue or courage to admit to that.

"Seriously, why do you keep talking to me?" I slid my hand into Sehun's.  I couldn't meet Chanyeol's eyes; they're usual boisterous light was shattered, replaced by a mixture of pain and disbelief.  Despite the guilt that burnt my conscience, I spat, "Just leave!"

Anguished, with the sheen of tears in his eyes, he left.  Sehun's expression pinched in disapproval as Chanyeol walked past us.  He hooked his arms around my waist possesively, but his touch didn't induce comfort as it typically did.  It only reminded me of my vice and betrayal, ripping my heart.

"The hell is his problem?" Sehun cursed beneathe his breath.

I massaged the bridge of my nose, "I need a drink."

"No alchohol for you or Kai, remember?" he bickered.

" it," I shrugged.

"We're playing here!" a boy detest as I swiped a cup from the beer pong table, and, raising him my middle finger, I chugged the vodka.  Within a few minutes, the room had begun to spin around me.  I found it difficult to stand steadily.  Staggering forward, I leaned against Sehun.

"Hold mee," I clenched my eyes shut, the blurs of light nauseating me.

"Eun Mi, there's a reason we don't like you drinking," he held me, "Don't leave my sight, okay?"

I nodded slowly.

"I'll take her home if you want," Min Seok offered.

Sehun his lips as he does when considering an idea.  He handed me to Min Seok after kissing my forehead, "Let me know if y'all get there okay."

"Alright," Min Seok, taking my hand, lead me to the front door, "Put your shoes on."

With my legs folded, I sat on the ground and attempted to stuff my right foot into a shoe.

"That's the left shoe, Eun Mi," Min Seok chuckled, "Wrong foot."

"How am I supposed to know which one is right?" I stammered with a drawl, "And why is the other wrong?  They're both so good!"

"What?"

"Why can't I have both shoes?" I began to cry like a child with a tantrum, "But left doesn't go on right, and my shoes can't both go on."

"Damn it, Eun," Min Seok knelt before me, "You're making no sense."

"I love both shoes."

"You're drunk."

"Yes."

With a gentle grip on my ankles, he slid my feet into my shoes and laced them tightly.  That is the last of the night that I recall before my mind was too clouded by alchohol to function.

 

author's note:

 

Hello my lovely readers! (~^-^)~ I have returned from my absence!  How have you been?  Sorry for the long pause, and the long chapter (it was a little over 44 pages hand written (0.0) ) But it's finally up!  Things are soon to get a bit more interesting~  So keep reading?  Thank you for even reading this far, I appreciate every comment (maybe leave more? ^^) And go ahead subscribe if you haven't~  The next chapter will probably take not as long.  Not gonna lie, it will take a while, but not THIS long  See you then!