It was only once we were around the corner, me clutching tightly to Sehun’s hand as he led a winding path through the people on the street, that I realized there should’ve been a quick “after I buy some cigarettes” tacked onto his offer of taking me home.

“I’ll be right back,” he told me, taking his hand from mine once we stopped in front of the corner store.

I frowned but said nothing as he walked into the store. I waited for a few moments before someone nudged me out of there way and I was startled out of my small stupor. A second later, I decided I didn’t want to walk home with Sehun if he was going to be smoking, so I left. I wasn’t even exactly sure why I had even considered letting him take me home. A moment of weakness, really. But I had calmed down enough, no more tears, and could easily make my way home alone.

I was coming upon the end of the street, about to cross over, when I heard my name being called. Looking to my left, I spotted Sehun jogging towards me, hair flopping around and a plastic bag clutched in his hand.

“I told you to wait,” he panted when he stopped beside me.

Turning away, I watched for the sign to signal I could walk. “I can walk myself home,” I mumbled.

There was a sigh from his side but he didn’t go anywhere and followed me when we crossed the street. We walked quite a while without speaking, him a couple of feet behind me. Eventually, he sped up his pace a bit to match me.

“I wasn’t going to light one around you, if that’s what you were thinking.”

Admittedly, it was, but I wasn’t going to verbally admit to that. “You didn’t seem to have a problem before,” I asserted, looking straight ahead.

“Hey,” he said defensively. “You walked out on me smoking. I didn’t light it when you suddenly decided to show up.”

“You didn’t mind that time at Luhan’s.”

It got quiet. That probably wasn’t the wisest thing to bring into the conversation but I was tired. My ramen getaway-turned-bickering session left me only wanting to curl up under the covers. Stopping at the next crossover, I attempted a side glance at Sehun only to see him eyeing my hand, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. I lifted my hand.

“What?” I asked, inspecting it.

He blinked three times rapidly, looking at me like he’d only just noticed me there. My stomach and heart both lurched when it dawned on me. . . he really had a thing for holding hands, mine in particular. Nervously, I took a step away, stuck for what exactly to do with the situation. Inside my chest, my heart rate picked up. I really couldn’t pinpoint if I minded him doing it or not, or if I was just scared. But we weren’t anything, honestly. Nothing at all. Not even friends.

I guess that was why we were confused. So terribly confused.

Sehun looked closely at me for a moment before looking back down. “Your shoe is untied.” He pointed.

Heat suddenly rushed to my face as I looked down at my shoe. The laces of my left Converse were covered in dirt from me walking all over them. Somehow, I had managed not to trip this time.

“Do you just like to stare at my shoes?” I asked snappishly, trying to mask the amount of embarrassment I felt on the inside because I had really thought he was wanting to hold my hand. My ability to overthink things was becoming ridiculous.

Not giving him much of a chance to reply, I only sighed and started to bend down to tie the laces. Sehun quickly grabbed my shoulder, preventing me from doing so.

“Eunhui,” he said, appalled, glancing at the people waiting to cross the street behind us.

“Sehun,” I mockingly mimicked his tone.

His eyes narrowed momentarily before returning to their rounded look that he previously had. “You are wearing a skirt.”

Moving my eyes from the hand of his still on my shoulder, I looked down at my skirt and gasped.

“Really? I hadn’t even noticed when I put it on this morning,” I dramatically cried.

Sehun’s face dropped and he glared.

“Thanks for pointing that out, buddy.” I patted his shoulder lightly before making another attempt to tie my shoe before the walk signal came.

Sehun just as swiftly grabbed my arm and forced me to stand back up, stooping just as fast and setting his plastic bag aside. I opened my mouth but didn’t even have a chance to protest as his hand pulled at my ankle, setting me off balance as he picked my foot up.

“Hey–” I stumbled and grabbed a fist full of his hair to steady myself.

“Ow!” he cried out.

He set my foot back down, apparently only out to get my shoelaces free out from underneath.

“Little warning next time!” I loosened my grip on his hair but still held to it as he tied my shoe.

Then the signal light came on and people began to move around us, glancing over as they went. Sehun mumbled something under his breath before reaching up and taking my hand out of his hair. Picking his plastic bag back up, he stood.

“Walk,” he commanded, nudging me forward with a hand on my back.

Walking, I cast a small glare in his direction. Sometimes he was just so demanding and to the point I thought as I glanced behind us to see a couple of girls watching us, small grins on their faces. I whipped my head back around and glared up at Sehun again. He had totally just made us look like some kind of couple, tying my shoe and bickering with me. Now a hand placed midway down my back, guiding me to the other side of the street, was placing a cherry on top of the cake.

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