"Where's Baek hyung?" Sehun asks when the two of you meet Jongdae for lunch in school.

"Date," the older boy points off to somewhere that you don't bother to look at.

"Cupcake, say hi! He's waving," Sehun prompts, nudging you.

Reluctantly, you turn your stiff neck and look for Baekhyun. There he is, wearing a white soccer jersey to show his support for the World Cup. Baekhyun looks perfect as always and you finally give him eye contact. He is smiling at you, waving and nudging his girlfriend to wave too. You try to be nice but you know everything seems forced when you tilt your head up in acknowledgment and turning away straight after. You don't catch the way Sehun and Jongdae look at each other, like they know something.

"Can we go now?" You demand, stomping off in the direction of anywhere but Baekhyun.

"It's this way, cupcake," Sehun chuckles as he slings his arm over your shoulders and steering you off in the right direction.

Jongdae walks to your side as he kept chatting. Sehun keeps rubbing your shoulder in the gentlest manner possible and you slightly lean in towards his body. The three of you enter a quaint café that is situated slightly away from the campus. Sitting next to Sehun, he rests his hand on your thigh and you don't push him away.

Sehun has been touchier lately but you welcome it. It somehow comforts you. Especially since Baekhyun had always shown you skinship. Now, without his touches, you don't think you can make it through and it disgusts you. It disgusts you how you're so dependent on him now. It disgusts you how just a mere action from him can impact you in the biggest way.

But you are grateful for Sehun because he has always been there for you. You really don't want to give Sehun hope in thinking that you like him but the way he protects you, the way he comforts you... You lean on him for so much support that you know that you wouldn't be able to go through a day without him.

Presently, Sehun squeezes your thigh, "Eat something." You are about to tell him that you have no appetite but his face turns stony. "Eat something."

"Choose for me," you push the menu towards him, looking away. You sigh when you see him grin at you.

Sehun chooses baked rice for you and goes off to order for the three of you. While he is queuing, the door bell chimes softly. Jongdae is still talking to you while the both of you turn to the entrance. You freeze when you see Baekhyun smiling at you guys. He is walking towards the table and you can't help but glance behind him to see if his little girlfriend is there.

She isn't.

The boy doesn't ask as he sits next to you. You glance at Jongdae, who has a goofy smile on his face. Baekhyun is sitting in a way that makes his thigh press against yours. You move your leg away and he doesn't miss that tiny action. He stares at you and you feel uncomfortable. Lucky for you, Sehun comes back with an order number.

"Hyung, you're sitting on my seat!" The younger boy whines as he stands in front of Baekhyun.

"Just let me sit here, you brat," the older boy snaps all the while staring at you, only glancing to Sehun at the end of his sentence.

Jongdae pulls Sehun down onto the chair next to him and the boy grumbles at how he is being shoved around just because he is the Maknae. You train your eyes on Jongdae who is opposite you, only because you don't want to look at Baekhyun right now.

"How have you been, cupcake?" Baekhyun asks, his hand hovering above your knee, like he doesn't know whether or not to touch you.

"Where's your girlfriend?" You turn the tables, asking him coldly. Your gaze that you give him is also icy.

Baekhyun glances away, not looking you in the eyes, "I told her I want to catch up with you guys."

"You should have spent a longer time with her," you sneer. "We really don't need your company."

Jongdae gasps, "That's rude, cupcake!"

Baekhyun shakes his head even before you could say anything else. He gives Jongdae a small smile, "It's fine." Then he turns to you, finally settling his hand on yours gently as if he is treading a mine field. "I miss you."

You roll your eyes boldly and retract your hand as if acid had touched you, "I don't."

"Okay, guys~" Sehun gives a nervous laughter. "Let's not fight~"

"You don't know anything, Sehun. So shut your trap," Baekhyun is getting agitated that his friends are present.

"Don't you dare speak to him like that, Baekhyun-ssi," you snap, pausing dramatically after.

You watch as Baekhyun's surprise slowly morphs into hurt. He flickers his gaze to the other two boys and stands up abruptly, at the same time grabbing your hand. You are shocked by his sudden action and so are the other two.

"I'll bring her back," Baekhyun promises as he drags you out of the café. However, you are struggling, trying to get out of his grasp.

"What do you want, Baekhyun?!" You yell at him when he stops. You fling your arm away from him and turn to face him angrily.

"Why are you so mad at me?"

You are staring at him in disbelief. Everything that he did, every little action, every little thing he said, how can he still ask you that? He must know. He is the one who caused you to feel such resentment towards the idea of opening up to people again anyway. He is the one who took your heart and then crushed it all in a matter of moments. And you hate that it made you feel this way. You feel so weak and vulnerable now. All due to this boy in front of you.

Baekhyun and his stupid soft brown hair. Baekhyun and his ugly eyes that makes him look like cute puppy. Baekhyun and his disgusting fluffy cheeks that makes you want to kiss them. Baekhyun and his revolting lips that gave you butterflies whenever he showered kisses on your cheeks. Baekhyun is an evil, evil son of a gun.

You shake your head in resignation, "Nothing. You won't understand anyway."

"Do you like Sehun?"

"What?" You frown. Did you hear right?

Baekhyun scratches his neck and looks away, "You guys... Just... Look like a couple..."

You narrow your eyes at him and jeer, "So what? Am I not allowed to do what I want? You have a girlfriend too, so why can't I have a boyfriend?"

"Just..." He sighs, then flicks his gaze back to you so fast that you freeze. You see a kind of determination in his eyes.

The male grabs your wrist and yanks you closer to him. Baekhyun brings his hand to cup your neck and he leans in closer to your face. You are not given any time to react when you feel his soft lips on yours. Everything is stirring inside of you; the tiny butterflies are alive again. You have always wondered how his lips would feel like against yours but you didn't want to show it. People were going to laugh at you, and by people, you mean the boys. As much as you want to fight this warmth and this fluttery feeling, you end up closing your eyes. The kiss lasts a little longer but it feels like forever. Everything around the both of you have stopped and you can only feel his hand on your neck, his lips on yours and his grasp on your wrist.

After what seems like a long time, Baekhyun pulls away, but only slightly. Your faces are so close that when he speaks, his lips are slightly touching yours. And this only makes you crave for his kiss again.

"I've always wanted to do that but I never had the chance to. I guess this would be the first and last time," Baekhyun smiles sadly, his thumb gently rubbing your neck.

You're never a crier. Never. But you feel a sting in your nose and the hot tears welling up in your eyes. What is going on with you? This isn't you. You don't cry. Especially not in front of someone. Quickly, you look up, forcing the tears to go back in. Baekhyun lets go of your hand and gently cups your cheek.

"Kitten, why are you— Can you look at me, cupcake?" He pleads. You don't want to but the way he gently rubs his thumb in circles against your skin makes you look at him again. A tear rolls down your cheek and you bite your bottom lip. "Why...?"

"Baekhyun, why are you doing this to me?" You question. More tears stream down your cheeks and Baekhyun's face soften. "Do you know how—"

He stops you mid-sentence by kissing your lips again, although this time a shorter time. "Sorry, I was distracted," he gives you his cutest eye smile that makes you feel slightly better but also worst. It is a bittersweet feeling, like you don't want to see his smile but you know that when you do see it, you're dazzled. When Baekhyun sees that you're not smiling, he frowns, "I miss your smile, kitten."

"Baekhyun," you take a shaky breath. "You have a girlfriend. And I..." You swallow your hiccups as you sniffled. "I don't think you should play my feelings like that." The male frowns and opens his mouth to say something. But you cut him off again, this time feeling mad at yourself for being affected by him and also mad at him for making you this way. You are fueled by injustice when you continue, "You can't just walk into my life, break my walls and then make me... Make me l-lik-ke you and—"

"You like me?" Baekhyun's eyes widen and his pink lips are slightly apart. "You like me," he repeats blankly, making you blush without meaning to. "But your dad—"

Upon hearing your dad's name being brought up, you harden your gaze, "What about my dad?" Hearing the sudden change in your tone, Baekhyun glances at you worriedly. He stalls and you urge him again. "What did he say?"

"I assumed Sehun was your boyfriend because... It was actually because your father said you had a boyfriend," he answers slowly, recalling the conversation. "And then he told me that he would never..." The boy looks nervous and you almost want to shove him to get him to speak. He eventually continues, "He would never let me into the house."

You roll your eyes, sniffling again. Baekhyun uses his thumb to swipe the remaining tears even though you're not crying anymore. You scoff, "Baekhyun, tell the truth. My dad is never one to pass such a childish threat."

"He-said-he-would-never-let-me-go-out-with-you," he mumbles really quickly and quietly, looking away the entire time.

"Are you planning to be a rapper? I can't catch that, Baekhyun," you cross your arms and he drops his hands.

Baekhyun takes a deep breath and closes his eyes briefly. When he opens them again, he speaks slowly, "He said he would never let me date you."

"Why would he even say that?" You muse, looking far off into the distance. Your eyes grow big and you glance at Baekhyun again, "Unless..."

The male bows his head and you can clearly see how his ears are red, "I went to ask for permission before I..."

You shake you head, stepping back slightly. This action alarms Baekhyun and he reaches out to pull you closer. When he sees you dodge his hand, he doesn't try again. "You're saying you like me?" The boy doesn't reply. "Byun Baekhyun, are— were you saying you like me?" Your tone is slightly harsher.

"I still do," he murmurs, giving you a pleading look.

You snark, "You like me and you have a girlfriend. Of course," you throw your hand up in the air.

"Kitten," Baekhyun says softly and gently as if trying to calm you down. When you finally do, he moves closer to you and this time, you don't move away. "I only did it because your father told me that if he sees me with you again, he's going to something really bad."

"Bad? Did he say what?"

"No," he shakes his head.

Cautiously, Baekhyun takes your hand in his as he intertwines his fingers with yours. You let him do it while you think of the possibilities of why your father would do such a thing. The fact is that your father has never been a proper father to you. He never really cared for your wellbeing, so why is he suddenly so active in your life now? Especially when it came to Baekhyun? As in, even when you were dating Minseok, your father was cool about it.

Actually, he was more than cool. He kept asking you about how he was and how his parents— You snap your head to Baekhyun's direction, "Who is your father? What does he do? What about your mother? What do your parents do?"

"Slow down, kitten," Baekhyun chuckles, rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb as he walks you back to the café slowly. "My parents are bosses of their own company they started together."

You stop in your tracks. The boy stops too, a few steps in front of you. You wait for him to look at you and when he finally turns around, you almost scream at him, "BY ANY CHANCE, ARE YOUR PARENTS MY FATHER'S COMPANY RIVAL?!"

"What?"

You close the distance and entangle your hand from his. He frowns briefly before you slap your hands on the sides of his face, "Byun Baekhyun, get a grip!" You squeeze his face and he makes a really cute, discontented face. You have a ghost of a smile on your lips because of how adorable he is. But you tell him seriously, "The only reason why my father is making up threats and lies is because he is on the losing end. Haven't you seen your parents deal with their business partners? Even if you hadn't, it's normal even in our school life." You bring your hands back down to your sides. You explain, "Baekhyun, my father knows your parents. And I don't think they're on good terms."

"That..." Baekhyun is too slow in his response when two guys walk up to the both of you.

"Finally," Jongdae groans playfully. "We were wondering how long you guys were going to catch on!"

"And when you guys were going to start being all lovey dovey again," Sehun smirks.

Baekhyun and you turn your heads to them as the both of you shout together, "You guys knew?!"

"Long before," Sehun winks at you.

Jongdae cuts in, glancing at the both of you, "And yes, your parents are rivals. I did some research~" He waves his phones in front of you guys proudly.

"What should we do?" Baekhyun whimpers slightly. He is scared, you can see it from his face. And your heart clenches at the way his eyes seem to droop more.

Taking a hold of his hand, you announce, "We're skipping the rest of today."

"You have two tutorials after lunch, cupcake," Sehun frowns in disapproval.

"Shut up," you crinkle your nose. You reach forward and grab Sehun's wrist too, "The both of you are coming with us too."

"Why?!" Sehun cries as he is being dragged behind by you. Jongdae follows obediently, laughing at two guys being manhandled by a girl.

"Because you love me."

"That's the worst comeback ever," the youngest boy grumbles but he is letting you pull him along. He doesn't look like he is being dragged by you. But it was more like he is following you. "And I hate that it's true."

"Yes, how I hate it," Jongdae chuckles. 

"Oh, how I do too..." Baekhyun sighs playfully.