You wait a few minutes before walking out to the quad. You notice it's completely empty, and your mom isn't supposed to arrive for another fifteen minutes. You walk towards the gate when your eyes instinctively dart to the spot where Sehun confessed to you.

To your horror, there he is. He sits there, on the floor. How undignified for a rich guy... He sits on the ground, face in his hands. Your heart pounds, and you debate whether or not to walk up to him. You struggle with this for a few moments.

To walk over, or not to walk over? What can you do? Will you make it worse? No...You should talk to him. It's been almost a month, anyway.

Your feet feel like they weigh thousands of pounds/kilograms as you drag yourself over to his hunched over body.

"Sehun-ah..." you say, throat dry. He looks up, and you're horrified to see tears in his eyes. He stands up very quickly and bows.

"Hello, Mina," he says politely, wiping his eyes.

"Sehun...are you okay?" you ask. That's a stupid question. You feel stupid. Clearly he isn't okay. If he was okay, he wouldn't be crying.

"Oh...I just...I...yeah," Sehun awkwardly straightens his suit.

"What...what's wrong?" you ask, feeling sad for him for reasons unbeknownst to you. 

"I...you really wanna know?" he asks, searching your face.

"Yep, I do," you say.

"It's just...today marks ten years since my umma died so this day of the year has always been a hard day for me. It was ten years ago. I miss her a lot and um, I don't really like being at home today because everything is so normal I just feel like my mom should be able to emerge from her bedroom, but I know that's never going to happen."

"Oh." What else can you say? There aren't words that can effectively comfort him. 

"Yeah...sorry. This is really embarasssing," he says, wiping dust off his fancy black pants.

"No...it's not. You're human," you say.

"That's proabably the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Sehun says with a tearful chuckle.

"Oh...sorry." Your phone rings and you answer it quickly. It's your mom. She tells you that she's waiting for you. "I have to go now, Sehun. Hang in there..." You walk away, leaving Sehun alone in his misery.

Instantly, you feel guilty all over again. You can't face him again, you're sure of it...

~~~

"Ready to go?" Chanyeol asks you on Friday night.

"What? Where?" you ask, surprised. 

"Sehun's house..." Chanyeol says, looking at you like you're crazy.

"Uh, no I can't," you blurt.

"Relax," Chanyeol snickers. "He won't be there. It's like Luhan's second home, and the place is so huge it's basically a palace. Even if he was there, it'd be very unlikely you'd see him." 

"...He won't be there?"

"Nope." 

"Where is he then?"

"He has a buisness class," Chanyeol laughs. "Why do you care so much?"

"Shut up, fine I'll go," you grumble.

When you arrive at Sehun's house, your mouth just won't stay shut. Your mouth stays wide open at the view of his home. You can't even call Sehun's home a house. It really is a palace. His castle has many floors with an even larger and more elegant courtyard than Luhan's. All of the grass is perfectly green and you see an olympic size pool on the side. Fancy cars are parked around in various places. Huge, marble stairs lead up to his front door. 

You just laugh.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Chanyeol asks, admiringly. "And to think you turned all of this down."

"Shut up," you smack him. "But yes, brother, it is beautiful." (it looks like this: http://data3.whicdn.com/images/19933448/large.jpg)

Chanyeol's right. You turned all of this down. You don't feel bad at the idea of losing the opportunity to spend your days at a palace as fabulous and upscale as Sehun's house, but you feel bad about the idea of letting down a boy who poured out his feelings to you. Despite how much you'd tried to dehumanize him, he is a human who you spoke very harshly towards.

It's been a while, but whenever you think about what you said, it's like ripping off a band aid.

You try to shake it off, and you see Luhan waiting for you with Tao, Xiumin, and Lay. Hyojin is on Luhan's arm, as usual.

"Hey," he greets you and your brother. "Let's go watch a movie in the theater," Luhan suggests. 

"Yeah. Ask Skippy if he can get us some popcorn. Ooh, ask for the gormet seasoning kind," Xiumin says, bubbling with happiness.

 Theater? Gourmet popcorn? Skippy?

"Who's Skippy?" you ask.

"The guest's butler!" Tao answers, as if it should be obvious. 

"There's...a guest butler?"

"Yes, there is," Lay chuckles. "Don't worry...normal people don't have butlers simply for guests, but Sehun-ah's family tends to host a lot of people they don't have time to look after. Skippy knows us though." 

You're overwhelmed, and Luhan chuckles. You lean over to him.

"Do normal people have home theaters?"

"Sehun's family is rich," he shrugs. Coming from Luhan, it seems to mean that Sehun's family owns the entire world.

You pause as you walk past a large family portrait. Skippy, the butler speaks to you.

"Master Sehun is very handsome, is he not?" You look at his oddly beautiful face staring down at your from the portrait.

"He is..." you whisper, guilt still consuming you.

"I've known him since he was four years old, and you couldn't find a better man. I've never heard him speak badly in his entire life."

You continue to walk to the theater, in a thoughtful silence.

You all settle down in his theater (yes, and by theater, it means the room contains a large movie theater style screen).

They pop in a movie, and you smile a little at the sight of Hyojin snuggling up to Luhan, contentedly while Luhan drapes his arm around her. 

You go to find the restroom, and decide you'll probably get lost. Suddenly, you hear the sound of piano music playing skillfully. Curious, you wander towards the sound.

You reach the door, which is cracked open. You look in and are pleasantly surprised to see a girl younger than you playing her heart out on the beautiful white grand piano in the room. You stand a listen for a bit, and suddenly, she stops playing and looks at the other side of the room.

"Oppa!" she squeals happily. "You're home early!" To your horror, you see Sehun stride in and walk up to her. A real, genuine smile lights up his face, and you're stunned at how different he looks than he usually does, being sulky and all at school.

"I decided I wanted to help you with the song you were telling me about, but it seems like you're doing great with it by yourself," Sehun fondly pats her head, and sits with her by the piano. 

"Here, let's play our favorite duet," he says, voice sounding warm and so different than his generally cold demeanor.

"Oh oppa, you're the best," she hugs him, and he laughs. It isn't the type of laugh you've heard... It isn't mocking, pitying, or icy. It's a melodic laugh; one that makes you feel like smiling too. It's comes as a shock to you.

Suddenly, of course your phone beeps, and the boy and girl turn around. You panic, and the last thing you see before you run away is Sehun's surprised eyes looking into your own.

~~~

You walk as fast as you can away from the door, but it's too late.

"Mina?" You whirl around and come face to face with Sehun. He walks over to you slowly.

"Sehun...I am so sorry. I came here with Chanyeol. Luhan invited us and he said you weren't going to be here...I got lost going to the bathroom and I'm just so sorry...I'll leave immediately." You speak rapidly, and then turn away and walk faster, but Sehun catches up quickly. He lays a hand on your shoulder.

"Mina, it's okay. I knew you were all coming and I decided I'd just stay out of your way." His hand on your shoulder makes you freeze, and your breath hitches.

"Sorry..." you mumble again. "I wasn't trying to spy...I heard the piano and it sounded beautiful and I..."

Sehun interrupts you.

"Come meet my sister, Mina..." he says. He nods towards the door. "She doesn't get to meet a lot of new people often. She's homeschooled and very sheltered, and it'd be nice for her to make a friend..." The way he speaks about his sister softens your heart. There's so much love and devotion in his eyes when he mentions her, and you can't refuse.

"O...okay," you comply. He leads you into the room.

"Mina, this is my sister Sora. Sora...this is my..." Sehun hesitates. "This is my friend Mina. She plays piano too!" 

Sora's face brightens. She's a pretty little girl with long black hair and clear pale skin with pretty eyes. She is very skinny, though, and doesn't seem to get out much.

"Do you really, Mina-unnie?" she asks, thrilled. "Sehun-oppa has played piano forever and he loves to write songs and he has me play them, especially when he's sad." Sehun blushes, and looks away.

"Oh, that's very nice of him," you say. "Yeah, I play the piano. I've played for a long time." Sora clasps her hands together. 

"Can you play something for me, unnie?" She pleads with you, innocent eyes making you give in quickly despite your initial protests. You sit next to her on the piano bench, and Sehun leans against the white grand piano. Your hands brush over the keys gently.

"This is really a beautiful piano," you admire outloud. 

"Sehun-oppa bought me it," Sora says, looking at her brother with eyes only filled with love and admiration. "He really shouldn't have, but he got it for me as a present for my birthday a few years ago."

"Yes, I really should have," Sehun smiles at her. "It'd be a shame for such a talented piano player to not have the best piano to play on." He pats her head again. You're completely taken aback by Sehun's character transformation.

"Oh oppa, don't embarass me," Sora giggles. "Now be quiet so we can hear Mina-unnie play."

"What do you want me to play?" you ask her, cracking your knuckles.

"Hm..." she thinks for a moment. "My favorite piece is a new one that oppa just wrote like last month or something. He calls it Pride and Prejudice. It's not very difficult to play, but it's a very pretty song so if you can sight read well, I'd love for you to play it."

Sehun looks embarassed beyond belief, but he stays silent for his excited little sister's sake.

"Of course," you say, hands suddenly numb. Pride and Prejudice... He's pride and you're prejudice. It just...it's so clear. The second you look at the sheet, you see your story in the music.

You play, starting out slow and pretty. As the song progresses, there are some moments of fast tempo and intense moments while evening out after a while. You hear the dance you and Sehun had danced, if that's possible. It starts pleasant but your jabs at each other are written into the song through notes. You rejecting him, quick and harsh notes flow from your fingers. It ends there.

"Wow, unnie you really are an amazing piano player," Sora hugs you, and you give her a side hug back.

"Thank you Sora. It was a...a very nice song. I didn't know your brother writes music," you say, looking up at Sehun who doesn't meet your eyes but looks down at the piano keys.

"When I have an inspiration," he mumbles.

"Sehun-oppa says that he makes mistakes a lot. When he gave me this song, he said that I should be careful on what I say to other people because it can end up hurting the person and myself if I speak badly. He says that he's ruined things forever before just by saying a few words he didn't think through. He thinks he's stupid. Oppa is very smart though, you know," she looks at her brother. In her eyes, Sehun is a hero. Sehun still refuses to look at you, and instead traces shapes on the top of the piano with his finger.

"Your oppa is a smart person, Sora," you say quietly, patting her leg softly. "But he's not right about everything."

"Really?" Sora looks surprised.

"Nah. He thinks that he ruined things forever through some words, but he should know that other words can take it away if the other person is willing to listen." 

"Oh," she says. "So I should listen to people even if they hurt me too?" she asks. 

"Yes..." you whisper. 

You feel a lot of affection towards Sora, and you're very angry that Kris dared take advantage of her innocence. She's clearly so capable of love, and someone ruining that for her makes your heart ache.

"You're smart too, Sora-unnie. You and Sehun-oppa are smart. I'm fourteen now, and I want to be just like you when I'm your age, unnie," Sora says, looking at you and Sehun.

Kris had made her fall for him when she was eleven? That's just...so wrong. He had started making her feel loved, you suppose, and decided finally that she was too young. So he moved on from her like he moved on from you.

"I want you to be just like you when you're my age," you tell Sora, with a proud smile.

Sehun finally looks up at you and gives you a small smile. 

"I should go back now," you say to Sora. "My friends are probably wondering where I am." 

"Aw," she pouts. "Okay. Come back soon though! We'd love to have you here anytime." She beams at you, giving you another innocent hug.

"I'll see you later, Sora. It was very nice meeting you," you say, hugging her back. "Sehun...I'll see you later," you say gently.

"Yeah...I'll see you later," he says in a small voice. You turn to walk away. "And Mina?" he calls after you. You turn around

"Hm?"

"Thank you." 

"For what?" you ask.

"For being willing to listen."