After a lunch that consisted of me texting Sehun to get back inside my room and him arguing that no one is even here and I’m bored to which I told him they will be back and you need to hide, I was back in the classroom and waiting for the day to end so I could get out of the place.

Upon making my exit through the back door, I saw that Jongin and Tao were also leaving, walking a few paces ahead of me. Since Sehun was elsewhere, Tao seemed to be willing to hang around but not talk about that person not there.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” he groaned, throwing his head back.

Jongin sighed, turning his phone off.

“I think I’m going to go by his house again and see if he’s there,” he said, prompting Tao to groan again.

I was still wondering how much Jongin knew of Sehun and if he knew of any possible reasons as to why Sehun was bruised and thrown out in the rain. And seeing as it looked like Jongin knew more than I did, I was tempted to drag him away from Tao and demand he get his friend thing out of my house and possibly to a hospital if need be. But then my phone beeped for the first time in a while, distracting me with a reminder that I was asked not to say anything.

Are you coming back?

With an irritated sigh, I watched Jongin and Tao disperse to their cars after exchanging a few words with Luhan. Just as Jongin was closing his door, Taeyeon came hurrying over and stuck her hand in the way.

“Have you seen Sehun?” she asked. Jongin stared at her for a moment before throwing out a “no” and slamming the door, barely missing her tiny fingers.

Looking back at my phone, I thought of how weird it was that the group of people I despised so much was searching for their leader who I despised the most and who was also sitting in my house, texting me. And I was the only one that knew of his whereabouts. Talk about bizarre.

Heading out of the gate, I stared at the text on my screen before placing the phone in my bag and jogging to the bus stop. My mom was most likely already home and Jaeeun might not be too far behind if she had nothing else to do. Knowing neither of them really went in my room without my saying so or me being there, I didn’t worry too much about them barging in finding a beat up eighteen-year-old boy there. In a way I felt guilty for not telling them that a practical stranger was in our house, but I just couldn’t bring myself to run screaming my head off that he was there. Even more so after seeing just how Jongin had reacted to Sehun’s absence and how Sehun was not dropping any hints as to what had happened. But I wondered if telling was what needed to be done. And considering I was the only one that really knew anything, it was my place to do so.

Charging through my front door, I was set on getting an explanation, but seeing my mom and Jaeeun’s shoes by the door, I hoped I wasn’t going to be the one giving the explanation instead. I inched down the hall and peeked into the kitchen, where I spotted my mom. Making not a single noise, I bolted up the stairs and almost plowed straight over Jaeeun, who was wrapped in only a towel with a turban on her head.

“Jeez, Louise, where you going in such a hurry?”she grumbled, checking her turban to make sure it hadn’t gone anywhere. “Oh, have you seen my pink sweatpants? I looked in your room but—” she asked, following me to my bedroom door.

“No,” I snapped, eyes wide. “And put some clothes on!” Hurrying into my room before she could say she saw some guy in there, I slammed the door behind me. I paused, seeing an empty room. My books were still scattered in the floor, although I was sure that some of them had moved a few feet closer to the armchair. And the blankets I had gotten for Sehun were folded at the end of my bed. There really seemed to no trace of any other human being having been in my bedroom and I momentarily wondered if Mom and Jaeeun had not beat him to death and dumped him in the garbage along with his shoes.

Deciding against calling out his name with Jaeeun just outside, I walked further into the room and peered over the back of my armchair only to see an empty space. Dropping to the floor, I looked under my bed, but still no sign of him. Then I stood up and looked around the room, wondering just where he could be when I spotted his phone on top of my Nemo pillow. It lit up; Jongin was calling again. Looking past it, at my closet door, I hurried around the bed and jerked the door open.

Nothing was out of place. Except the two socked feet amidst my shoes and the fact that my clothes were swaying. Reaching out, I parted the clothes and Sehun came into the view, looking possibly more horrified than he had that morning.

“Oh, God, it’s you,” he said in relief, peeling himself off the back of my closet and hunching over to come out of the small combined space.

I frowned, stepping back to give him space. “Did you want Jaeeun instead?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He threw me a wide-eyed glance. “She came barging in here in nothing but a towel while I was reading and I thought she had seen me,” he said with a shudder. “God, she’s crazy. She almost ripped my arm off trying to pry your closet open but then she finally gave up and left.” He exhaled loudly as I walked over to where I had dropped my school bag.

“Exactly why I told you to stay here,” I said, taking out my phone out and plugging it into the charger next to my dresser. I turned around to see him watching me, looking much more put together and calmer than he had in the last week and possibly month.

Noticing him gnawing on his lip as he turned to grab his own phone off my bed, I realized he hadn’t even properly cleaned the cuts and scrapes on his face. Thus, reminding me I hadn’t had a full explanation.

I cleared my throat as he shut his phone off and tossed it onto the pile of books still sitting on my floor before picking up a book that looked as if it had been thrown (which it probably had) and sat down in the floor. Watching him with quite an alarmed look, I noticed his phone lighting up again.

“You need to call Jongin,” I stated, walking over and standing over him.

He looked up as if I had extremely startled him.

“Why?” he asked, his tone turning very unfriendly.

Looking at the book in his hand, which was about some 18th century circus clown, I paused for a moment before attempting to negotiate. “Then tell me what happened,” I demanded.

He stared at me for a moment before returning to his book without a word.

“Excuse me, but you don’t just show up at my house and demand a place to stay and then don’t explain a thing,” I said, squatting down to his level.

He turned the page. “Excuse you, but I didn’t demand anything: you obliged,” he said without looking up.

Lowering myself onto my , I sighed. This was the Oh Sehun I had come to know and hate. He obviously wasn’t going to budge or give any information. And, frankly, I had done my part. He had a place to sleep out of the rain and I let him stay while I was at school. I no longer had anything else to do.

“Then get out,” I spat, reaching out and snatching the book from him, almost ripping off one of the pages. Throwing it down, I stood only to freeze upon realizing two things were missing.

Not recalling having not moved them, I looked around to make sure they weren’t somewhere on the floor or on my shelf but they were in neither place. Spinning around to scope the room, I stopped while facing my bed, my mouth hanging open in confusion. It seemed like someone had found a use for my polaroid camera and post-its full of quotes.

“Why did you do that?” I asked, looking down at Se