Sehun’s eyes slid to the hand she’d hidden behind her back then met Hana’s shy gaze.

“Don’t do that stuff. It’s not helpful nor considerate and it only makes you suffer in the long run.”

Sehun tugged her arm gently to reveal the injured hand. He frowned at the stained blood that cracked when her fingers trembled causing her to gasp. He held the back of her hand in his own and examined the cut that split the inside of her index finger and slowly weaved its way across to her shortest finger in a river of red that glistened gleefully whenever a tremor shook her fingers. His eyebrows knotted further as he absorbed the extent of her injury.

His head turned to look at the plate. His eyes narrowed at the fracture located on the plate’s diameter. It was small in compassion to the damage it had caused!

A suspiciously similar vicious liquid clung to it. The liquid matched the rejected epoxy mix and the layer of crust that enveloped the cut. It didn’t take long for him to decipher the details. He uttered a low growl that startled his partner.

Hana’s attempt to pull her hand from his only made him tighten his noose and stare at her in a calm and collected fashion as he retracted the information he needed from her eyes. Sehun’s logical expression expanded into one of concern.

“This needs to be cleaned.” He told her cautiously as if not to frighten her further. He sensed she was afraid of him. Any advancement he made unnerved her. Her eyes revealed no pain. Just fear. As if she were almost expecting him to hurt her. He didn’t know what to say to mollify her.

How did one soothe a girl? He’d never seen his mother nor Yoon Raemi frightened. Ms. Lee had always been the frightening one in the brief time he’d spent crushing on her. Seryung wasn’t easily frightened but she did get scared sometimes. But Seryung was his sister. He could pacify her because he knew her temperament. Hana was different. Hana was more like the old Seryung. The old Seryung that used to have a friend she cherished and cried when they could no longer be friends.

Sehun smiled knowing the answer to his troubles. “Come on,” he tugged her lightly. “Lets get this cleaned up before it gets infected.” He released her injured hand and clasped the other one. “Infections aren’t pretty, trust me,” he let her know before leading the hypnotized girl to a chair.

“Sit,” his voice called simply and Hana found herself obeying the command. She was rewarded with yet another smile that dazzled her, it made her heart beat increase. Hana chewed on her lip. She hadn't done much, she'd just tried to help him and because of that she imagined she was seeing the real him, devoid of any shell.

“Wait here,” Sehun instructed with his soft eyes and gentle expression. His hands motioned that he would return for her. She watched him rush away and sighed as he disappeared from view. Heat reached her cheeks as she recalled how carefully he’d held her hand. He was different from the Sehun she first encountered. The Sehun, she and everyone else in school, knew was a cold and mysterious person but Sehun was thoughtful and almost caring...

-

Hana remained still as she heard his footsteps approach. She stared at her fingers that had been sliced in an awkward fashion. They didn't hurt but there was warm blood oozing out of them. The scent of iron made Hana nauseous but she held her countenance as Sehun appeared in front of her. Whatever spell he'd suddenly been put under. Hana hoped he'd continue being kind; she preferred this Sehun. 'Do I have to be hurt for you to be nice or is this because I got hurt trying to help you? What am I supposed to think when you change character?'

Out of habit Sehun pulled up the sides of his jeans before he brought his knees to the ground. He clicked the box open on the floor with its content’s facing him. Carefully he scanned for what he needed. The girl was peering at him curiously as if he’d sprouted two heads. He clenched his teeth at the sudden attention of her curious eyes.

Sehun cleared his throat and began to work on his task. After cleansing his hands with sanitizer he removed a cloth from its packaging and held Hana’s hand as he previously had.

“I’m just going to apply pressure to stop the bleeding,” he told the hand quietly before proceeding with his work. Hana swallowed her lips as Sehun slid his palm so it was now directly under her fingers. Using his free hand he placed the cloth onto of her fingers that were still oozing albeit not as much.  He sandwiched her fingers between his palms and pressed firmly. Hana scrunched her face at the direct pressure flinching when the pain sparked.

“Sorry,” Sehun muttered under his breath. His attention was fixated solely on his duty. Carefully he removed the cloth to free her fingers had lightly photocopied the pattern of the cloth.

He dabbed hydrogen peroxide onto a cotton swab. “This will sting,” he muttered. He was right. It did sting but not as painfully as her fingers had stung initially.

He prepared a bandage pad following all the necessary procedures and commanded her to join her fingers. He pressed the bandage onto the wound and taped it securely in place.

“There, done,” he breathed admiring his handiwork. “Just be careful with it,” Sehun nodded at her hand as he shut the first aid box.  He made sure not to let disgust paint his face as he gathered the used cloth and wrappings.

He used his own hands in propping himself back up and motioned that he needed to replace the box.

"Wait!" Hana called reaching out for him, she winced as her senses told her she'd held onto him using her injured hand. Hana gasped as a fresh batch of hot, aggressive tears rolled down her face, she shuddered her hand reminded her of the pain it was feeling.

Sehun rolled his eyes and crouched down beside her, he took her injured hand and stared at it, he listened to her whimper and bit the inside of his cheek. 'She tried to help you, then you tried to help her, neither of you are happy,' Sehun glanced at the plate in disgust. 'Look at all the trouble you caused,' he told the plate silently before sighing.

He reached for his handkerchief and dabbed at Hana's cheeks. "I'm sorry for getting you into this." He had never been good with consoling others and so he listened to small sobs escape. "I'll get you some pain killers, wait for me," Sehun suggested but her grip on his sleeve prevented him from leaving.

"Don't go," she pleaded leaving Sehun no choice but to sigh and nod. "I'm sorry," he repeated and he meant it. He was sorry for a number of things.

"I'm sorry for everything," he sighed heavily and ruffled his hair. Sehun flinched as he imagined a ghost in the room. Hana sniffed and shook her head. "It's okay," she laughed at herself and sniffed again. Sehun handed her his handkerchief. "You don't have to return it," he joked and motioned for her to take it. Hana flushed and nodded. She held it awkwardly and was glad when he turned his head and pretended not to listen as she blew her nose into it.

"Thank you," Hana sniffed and giggled as Sehun nodded embarrassed. "I'm sorry about your hand," he pointed to her fingers. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

Hana shook her head and stared at her hand. "I know you didn't mean it. It's pretty sore but..." Hana trailed off leaving the remainder of her sentence unspoken. 'But at least we became a little closer...'

 "But?" Sehun asked curiously staring at her, he frowned when she shook her head. "It's nothing, just, I didn't think, I'd have to accidentally cut my fingers, for you to be treat me like a person," Hana bit her lip, was her statement been too harsh? She waited for retaliation but

Sehun simply sighed and stood up. He slid his hands into his pockets and stared at her. "I'm sorry for that too, I think we got off on the wrong foot but that doesn't mean I'm willing to get married. I don't want this ridiculous marriage and I doubt you want to be married straight out of college too. Our parent's are a little delusional."

"They are strange but do you think they'll change their minds? Seryung doesn't think so and I kind of think that way too."

Sehun's expression darkened at the mention of his sister's name. A new thought sprung to mind, it was enough for him to slap his forehead but he settled for combing his hair back with his fingers and making a mental note to make Seryung a few steps back from where she was.

"Then we'll have to make an excuse for it." He responded nonchalantly nodding his head while writing the speech he was planning to give his sister for interfering with matters that didn’t involve her.

"An excuse?" Hana asked curiously, ‘What kind of excuse would make them change their minds?’

Sehun tapped his chin, his thoughts were interrupted by her question and although on a normal day he would have berated her – or anyone else for that matter – for disturbing him. She had a point.


"Do you have anyone you like?" Sehun asked grinning, ‘If she does then it’s all over!’

Hana chuckled, the person she liked was asking her if she liked someone else. "Maybe..."

"What about that person? Does he like you too?" Sehun asked excitedly making Hana shrink back. She watched his eyes twinkle as what he would call a ‘favorable possibility’ was cropping up. Hana lowered her head and stared at her bandaged hand. Her heart beat pulsed catching her by surprise.

"He doesn't want to like me..." She responded despondently. She could still feel the warmth that had emanated from his touch. Hana shut her eyes tightly and tried to push the thought to the back of her mind.

"What kind of answer is that?” Sehun asked eyeing her suspiciously. “If he doesn't like you, then make him like you, you're a girl right? Use your feminine charm." He pointed shaking his head at the obvious.

"It won't work, he's set against me." Hana replied quietly and pursed her lips. She felt his gaze on her although she was staring at her hand. Hana shifted uncomfortably and gasped. Sehun lifted her chin to inspect her features. “There’s nothing wrong with you,” he muttered to himself. His eyes travelled from her face to her hand before he startled her by meeting her gaze.

"What doesn’t he like about you?” Sehun asked. Hana pressed her lips together. She could hear her heart become excited. ‘He’s so close, I could count his eyelashes!’

Sehun frowned when she didn’t reply. He retracted himself away from her and heard her exhale slowly. Hana watched him think and wondered how the clockwork in his head actually worked. He was always scored top grades. He would have continued to excel at sports too if he hadn’t given up but he always kept a distance. That distance however had been shed. Hana wondered if he was aware of his actions and if so, what was he thinking sending her to someone else after making her head spin in confusion.

“There’s no one that I like,” Hana countered in defense. “No one’s really caught my eye.”

Sehun nodded distractedly and unknowingly had begun to pace back and forth before turning to face her, he pointed a finger and opened his mouth to say something before closing it again. Hana smiled nervously, “Should we just give it a go?” She asked sincerely.

“I don’t think our parent’s are going to change their minds, I don’t want to make them mad, should we just play along? I don’t really hate you as a person and what if things turn out well?”

“I don’t like ‘ifs’ and ‘buts.’ They’re too vague,” Sehun retorted and watched as Hana’s smile disappeared. She bobbed her head in agreement however he was sure she didn’t agree with him. Sehun sighed and ruffled his hair, his tongue was at a loss of words. This abruptness agitated him further making him growl in frustration.

“I don’t hate you either,” he explained. Hana’s ears perked up in hope. She inclined her head asking for him to continue. Sehun scratched his chin and sighed again. “A lot of things have happened thus far. After all that, you still want to marry me?”

Hana scrunched her face. “That’s not it. I mean, if your plan doesn’t work and we end up married. I hope we can get along…”

Sehun stared at her again as she also searched for words to say. Her brows furrowed in concentration and he felt as if he could read her thoughts as she mouthed to herself. Sehun began to laugh. Hana tilted her head and a smile formed onto her face as she watched him laugh without constraint. She couldn’t help admire the sound of his laughter.

“I guess if everything fails then we’ve got no choice.” Hana nodded in agreement this time and a smile lit her features. Sehun paused and took in the mixed signals his brain was sending. He examined her smile and stiffened. “I should remind you. I don’t plan to fail so it’s best if you don’t form any sort of attachment to me.”

Hana’s smile was overwhelmed by surprise. ‘Does he know? Am I obvious?’ Hana clicked her tongue to reproach her thoughts.

“Don’t fall in love with me, you’ll get hurt,” Sehun warned. The bitterness he felt as he tasted the words on his tongue was much worse than hearing them. Hana flinched but nodded none the less, her eyes fell back to her hand. ‘You told me not to fall in love. You don’t want me to get hurt? Then you shouldn’t hurt me. You should have stayed away and remained passive. That way, it wouldn’t hurt but you chose to help me. Why did you do that? Were you showing kindness? I mistook it. I felt like your fiancée for a moment and when you discarded your shell. I thought it was because I was your fiancée - I misunderstood all of that. That’s why your words hurt…’ 

'Those were noona's words, 'don't fall in love with me, you'll get hurt.' I didn't listen to them and I got hurt. You'll get hurt if you don't pay heed. Don't think,I'm nice to you because I want to marry you. I don't and I won't but if you fall in love. It will hurt. I'm telling you now so you can back away. The light in your eyes scares me, I was once like that too but it's not going to work out. I'm not going to fall in love with you, do you want a loveless marriage?'