The second time, he was walking home from school. Minnie had left early with a dentist appointment as her excuse. Chanyeol was able to sneak out of his dreaded math class just to safely walk her to the school gate. He kissed her hard, whispering a sweet ‘I love you’ and she left with her cute little signature skip. He watched her go, swelling with pride at the fact the he and Minnie were able to overcome what most consider a really hindering obstacle in a relationship. Two class periods later, school was out and he had his mind set on giving her a surprise visit, taking with him the homework his baby missed while she was away. But as he strolled onto the narrow pavement of her street, he saw the she was outside.

With another guy.

He was different from the one before; he had dark hair, almost as dark as hers, and he was muscular. But like the one from before, it wasn’t anyone he knew or had seen before.  The navy uniform and golden emblem on his blazer confirmed his suspicion that the guy belonged to another school. They were pressed up against the corner of her rusty shed, Chanyeol’s girlfriend slithering her hands under the guy’s shirt and openly pressing one of her thighs against his front.

His head spun, shock flowing down into his bones. Turning on his heel, he quickly sped away up the same way he came. It happened again. He couldn’t believe it; he thought all of this was over! How could this have come back to haunt him like that?

He reached his house in a few short minutes, racing up to his room and chucking everything he had carried, the books, the notes, the assignments, carelessly on the floor. He snatched a towel from his closet and went for the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him. In the shower, he angrily scrubbed shampoo into his hair as if doing so would erase all of what he just witnessed; Minnie’s parted lips, her flushed cheeks, her soft hands hidden beneath the jerk’s  button up, his disgusting hands on her legs- all of it just sickening. There was no denying the blazing ferocity of his anger towards Minnie and the other fool, yet he felt just as upset with himself for falling into the same trap.

He held onto his livid feelings, using its ever-flowing energy to ignore her, to put her off for a few days. But he could feel his resolve begin to crack under that familiar tear-stained face…

“Why are you ignoring me? Why do you keep pushing me away?”

“Go ask that guy you were with. Maybe he has the answer.”

“He was nobody! Believe me, he’s just…a- a friend. Only a friend! Please baby, I love you.

I need you.

Don’t leave, Chanyeol.”

Minnie was his greatest weakness, probably his only weakness. It was hopeless; all he wanted was to please her, to love her and make her happy.  So, hand-in-hand with the lingering pain and feelings of betrayal, he stayed, clinging to the idea that what he felt for her was stronger than any of his conflictions.  He remained even when she hurt him, even when she broke his heart.

He stayed even if she did always carry the scent of someone else’s cologne.

Even if she did forget that she was his.

“But then one thing turned into another and… I left. Again. Ripped apart, I’m talking about literally getting chopped into pieces and then left alone to clean up all the mess. It’s been almost three weeks now that I’ve been, uh “Minnie-free,” Chanyeol exhaled sharply. “It’s so confusing. She wants me, she loves me, but the next second, she’s sitting pretty in another dude’s lap. It’s tiring as , you know? ”

You nodded your head in understanding. ‘This poor boy has been through hell with that chick. I don’t know her, but it’s obvious he’s just a play thing to her! Does he not see it? He’s completely blind in his love for her…’ You remained silent and kept your eyes down, your mind processing all of his sad confession. After a long pause, he continued.

“Seong Ah… she’s helped me with this a lot. She’s the one to often knock some sense into me and to keep me strong but I… I guess I’m still not immune to Minnie. Seong Ah gets so mad. Hate does not come close to what she feels towards her. I understand Seong Ah, but I just can’t hate her. She’s my first everything. I can’t just-“ he broke off and puffed his cheeks in anguished frustration. You involuntarily scooted closer to him, gently rubbing his back as if it could ease his pain.

“I’m sorry, this is terrible. I really like you; I think you are amazing and here I am, ruining the night with all this crap. You must think I’m pathetic. Honestly, I’m never like this. I’m so so so so so sorry, really. I never thought she’d pick tonight to come and ring the bell-”

You quickly shook your head and waved your hands in front of you. “No, no! Look, I know we’ve only just met tonight and this may all seem a bit too sudden, but listen,” You hesitated, taking a moment to think through what you were about to tell him. “I’ll be here for you. Anything you need, at anytime, I’m right here. Tonight, you’ve shown me how much of a bright and wonderful person you are. Please don’t feel like you need to apologize for being open with how you feel. Chanyeol, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, a set of ears to vent to, anything, please don’t you think twice about whether you should come to me, okay? I’ll be there for you regardless of what it is.” Before you could stop yourself, you willed your arms to move and hugged him tightly, ignoring the way your heart squeezed when his arms returned your warming embrace.

 You felt a sudden twinge of guilt. Here you were, secretly rejoicing in the safety of his gorgeous arms while he’d rather be holding someone else. Someone who didn’t deserve him.

“Thank you,” his soft whisper tickled your ear.

Oh hell, this was going to be tough…

“So you said your stop was the twelfth?” you nodded your head as you slumped down into one of the empty bus’s booths, Chanyeol sliding right next to you. “Oh cool! Mine is the fifteenth, you’re not that far away.”

“See? I was meant to be your little adviser!” you joked. Both of you let out quiet chuckles before a comfortable silence fell upon you. The night had been quite the rollercoaster, throwing you up and down, sideways and back. It rattled you so much that the exhaustion was finally catching up to you and as you gazed out into the frosty night, you saw the street lights fade, the shops become smaller, and soon, all that you knew was a calm, pleasant darkness…

It was so peaceful. It felt like there was a light in the darkness supporting you; it enveloped you in its warmth… so familiar. But then, something shook you- the rollercoaster. It was trying to sweep you away from the comforting heat.

“Hey, wake up. Come on, you don’t want to miss your stop,” Your eyes shot open to Chanyeol’s face mere inches from yours, your cheek poised against his shoulder and one of his arms holding you close. “You fell asleep the entire ride. You must be tired,” you felt his fingers brush against your forehead before filling the empty spaces between yours. “Let’s go.” He lifted you up out of your seat before you could further asses yourself.

Flushing red, you silently followed Chanyeol out of the bus. “So, where do you live?”

“Just a few blocks down,” you spoke to the gum-splattered pavement, too embarrassed to look up at his face.

“Alright, lead the way!”

You frowned at him. “What are you saying? You’ll miss the bus,”

“Nah, it’s fine. I can just walk home. It doesn’t seem too far from where we’re going,” he tugged on your still intertwined hands. “Besides, I can’t risk my adviser getting hurt, especially when I just got her!”

Wait, was he really about to walk you home? You brushed off the delightful thought with a light giggle, asking him once again, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, one thousand and ten percent sure.” He beamed at you, all of his teeth showing in the cutest of ways.

“Okay, come on.” You moved forward, reluctantly slipping your hand out of his grasp. Although he made no move to grab it again, he walked close enough to you that your arms were constantly touching. Four blocks of sizzling touches and comfortable talk later, Chanyeol was saying his goodbyes on your door step.

“We should definitely get together like this more often,” he said. “I had fun.”

“Me too,” you went up on your tippy-toes, held on to his shoulders and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. You pulled back to see his shocked face and you immediately regretted the decision. “Um, thanks for dropping me off”

Much to your relief, his smile returned. “Of course,” a large came up to your face, ruffling your bangs. “I guess I’d better get going. Goodnight!”  Chanyeol walked a little ways to the sidewalk and waved back at you before disappearing into the night. You smiled to yourself as you stepped inside, but as soon as the front door shot, reality came to slap you in the face. These were the hard facts:

• Chanyeol was a flaming hot tamale with the best sense of humor and the level of attraction you felt towards him was greater than sugar to an ant.
• You liked him. A lot. But he‘s in love with her.
• He’s in love with her. He even said it to your face.

You thought of Minnie in disgust. ‘Does she not see how much he cares for her?’ You shuffled out of your shoes and stalked into your room. You stripped off your clothes, messily tossing everything on the floor, and fell into your bed. You were so exhausted and right when you were about to let sleep take over, you heard your phone vibrate in the floor. You snatched it up and hid from the cold by hiding under your blankets. Your phone’s screen lit up with news of a new text. It was from Chanyeol.

I’m really glad I met you tonight. Thank you for listening and for caring, but most importantly, thank you for not hating me..

Goodnight ^^

You replied back quickly.

Mr. Yeollie Yeol, you were the highlight of my night. Like I said, I’m here for you WHENEVER. There’s no way anyone could ever hate you, okay? You’re too sweet for any of that. Please get home safe! You need to be together in one piece if we ever want to hang out again!

Sweet dreams~

Chanyeol smiled as he read your text. She’s so caring, he thought. He was so smitten with you it was a little scary. He liked you, there was no denying that. You were his cup of tea.  But what about Minnie? Could he just leave her? Forget her? His phone buzzed again. His face lit up with the hopes that it was you.

Minnie.

Where are you? I need you…