Gayeon was stunned by the words that came out of her boyfriend’s mouth.  She could only be fixed on the spot as most of her strength left her, immobilizing her from taking a step forward.  She thought that this had to be a joke.  After all, Chanyeol was a bit of a prankster at times.  When no words were exchanged through the stillness of the night, she pushed her voice out through pure will power, “Oppa, the ring is still in your hand, right?”

            Reluctantly, he turned around and held up his hands to show the empty palms before resting them at his side again.

            “You’re kidding…right?” She searched his face desperately for anything that would contradict all this.

            “I’m tired.” He finally said.  He thought his own voice sounded foreign, weak and pathetic, but surprisingly expressed all that he was at the moment.  He wanted to look away because it pained him to see her despairing eyes.  Though, he forced himself to look on or else the whole thing would be wasted, knowing the Deadly Beauty’s stubborn attitude.

            “W-what?” Her voice was shaky.  “What are you saying?”

            “It’s a mistake and now I’m regretting it.” He replied without any hesitation.  “That’s what I’m saying.”

            “Mistake?”

            “Yeah, a mistake.  I’m tired of all those paparazzi – it’s hurting my career, and I’m sure it’s hurting yours as well.” His tone was detached, lacking familiarity as he explained, “It’s not like we’ve been dating long, so let’s—”

            “You knew there would be consequences from the start and only now you’re regretting?” She interrupted.  “That’s not like you – that’s not the Park Chanyeol I know.”

            He was startled more than he should be at her words, though his expression remained even and related none of his thoughts to the young fighter.  He thought he was prepared for something as simple as this, but his mind became blank all of a sudden.  He wondered why it was so easy to get lost in her eyes – those child-like, sparking orbs.  He despised himself for his wavering attitude.

            Seeing his silence, she took it as a cue and planted a firm step forward.  “Oppa, I’m not that naïve.  And if you’re trying to do something stupid right now, then you’re underestimating me.”

            He hated that she knew him so well; with the exception that she thought what he was doing was stupid.  Even though it was difficult, he knew that he had to end the ties now.  She was too confident, which only added further to her stubbornness.  He had to take back control of the situation immediately.  He laughed.

            She frowned, confused of his reaction.

            “I believe you’ve misunderstood.” He smirked as he continued, “It has nothing to do with you.  Dating is just one of those games to pass time.  Now, I’m bored.  So, let’s just call it off.”

            She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  She clutched up a fist at her side.  She felt her body shook slightly as she tried to hold back the lump that was fighting its way up to .  Her vision was getting misty. 

            “Is it clear to you now, Gayeon-sshi?” He asked carefully when she did not respond.

            “Yah, Park Chanyeol!” She shouted.

            He instinctively closed his eyes, anticipating for a slap that never was materialized.  When he opened his eyes, her small back was all he saw as she stormed off from the park.  He sighed heavily.

            Gayeon walked a long time along the river bank.  She didn’t want to go back to the Roommate house with red, puffy eyes.  Besides, she knew she would not be able to fall asleep tonight, not after what had just happened.  She took a seat at a nearby bench and stared at the nothingness of the night.  When she leaned back, her hands felt the scratched marks on the bench.  Looking down, she realized the marks were intentional – engravings of various people’s aspirations and dreams.  It was apparent that the criminals behind the vandalism were couples.  There were shapes of hearts and expressions of love between each couples’ names.  She smiled sadly at the thought that Chanyeol would probably enjoy this kind of things.

            “Move it.” Baekhyun said as he kicked at Chanyeol’s long legs and grabbed the television remote control. 

            Chanyeol stared absentmindedly at the television, eyes not even blinking when his friend switched from channel to channel.

            His occasional sighing finally got Baekhyun’s attention.  “What’s with the depressive mood?”

            He glanced lazily at his friend briefly and shifted his eyes back to the front.  He sighed again.

            Baekhyun was getting annoyed with the sighing and asked, “Okay, what’s up with you, seriously?”

            “Change the channel.” He suddenly panicked.

            “But it’s MMA!” His friend responded, astonished.  “Aren’t you crazy about this kind of shows, especially after you – Oh, I see.”

            “What?” Chanyeol didn’t like the smirk on his friend’s face.

            “Did you have an argument with Gayeon-sshi?”

            ‘It would be nice if it was just an argument.’ He thought.    

            “You should just be the bigger person and apologize first.  That is even if you’ve done nothing wrong – women’s logic is strange like that.  Then, the next time you—”

            “We broke up.”  He announced, after he could no longer bear his friend’s longwinded advice.

            Baekhyun’s mouth hung open at the news.  “Whoa, what happened?  Don’t tell me Kyungsoo has succeeded with the jinxing…She dumped you?”

            “No…” He responded gloomily. “I broke up with her first…”

            “What?!”

            He massaged the bridge of his nose.

            “You were so whipped by her though!”

            He covered his face with both hands and leaned back.  “Shut up, shorty.” He muttered.

            Ignoring him, his friend continued, “And…you’re regretting now.”

            He didn’t think regretting was the right word, as he rarely made a decision in which he regretted.  However, he was definitely missing her.

            It was Saturday afternoon and the roommates were sitting on the big wooden bench outside in the backyard, brainstorming some activities for a few guests who would be visiting in the evening.

            “How about we split into three groups?” Seho suggested.  “Group A can stay and clean the house; Group B will do the grocery shopping; and Group C will be responsible for everything else such as buying decorations and games.”

            Sungwoo already nodded at the comedian’s suggestion.  “Good idea.”

            “I’ll be in the food group.” Seho immediately volunteered himself when everyone was in agreement with the idea.

            “I’ll stay here.” Nana put up her hand enthusiastically.

            “Don’t you want to go with Oppa?”

            “No, I don’t want to.” Nana rejected the comedian outright.  She no longer needed to go along with the forced ‘loveline’ with the older man ever since Minwoo and Sojin took over the plot.  Though, the Orange Caramel idol was starting to have trouble figuring out if the two actors’ display of affection was a mere play to save ratings.

            “Seho-ah, I’ll go with you.” Sungwoo volunteered, mainly worried about how the food would turn out to be if he did not oversee the entire process somehow.

            “Hyung, I’ll go with you.” Chanyeol said, taking the usual, safe route of going with his dorm mate.

            “I…” All eyes the young fighter when she put up her hand. “I want to go grocery shopping as well.”

            Chanyeol’s heart almost stopped at her decision.  He didn’t think she would want him to be in her presence after what he said to her last time.  He looked away awkwardly when their eyes met.  He hated the unsteady beating that was pounding from his chest at the sight of her.

            Throughout the grocery shopping trip thus far, the two younger roommates trailed behind Seho and Sungwoo in complete silence with the exception of responding to the older roommates’ questions and remarks at times.  Chanyeol pulled Gayeon aside when he saw the chance to lose the filming crew and the two older roommates.

            “Tell me,” Chanyeol demanded, “Just what are you doing?”

            She gave him a confused look.

            “Why did you pick this group?”

            “Am I bothering you, Chanyeol-sshi?” She threw back a question, emphasizing the formality of the tone.  Her eyes held on firmly, challenging him.  Her mind was a lot clearer after that night, and frankly, she did not believe his words one bit.  She was determined to prove that everything was just a deliberate act.

            He knew what she was doing and he was getting frustrated at her stubbornness.  “No.” He almost had to grit his teeth through the answer.

            “Good.”

            “You’re wasting your time though.” He remarked coldly.

            “And how I choose to spend my time is none of your concern, Chanyeol-sshi.” She retorted before walking past him to regroup with the others, not forgetting to ‘accidently’ to bump his arm roughly along the way.

            He found it frightening how she was still able to get a reaction out of him despite knowing exactly what she was doing.

            “Oppa, what do you think of this table cloth?” Sojin held the colourful cloth up.  “It’s cute, isn’t it?”

            Minwoo sighed.  “Yah, quit it with the acting.  Nobody is even here to see anyways.”

            Her sweet smile turned into a frown.  She put down the cloth and crossed her arm.  “I’m trying to be civil here – Can we all just be civil for once?”

            “Civil?” The older boy leaned on the wall and crossed his arms as well.  “Okay, what game are you playing now?”

            “It’s called being nice.  I’m not going to bite, okay?”

            “Okay,” He nodded, “Then why aren’t you being nice to Chanyeol and Gayeon?”

            She raised an eyebrow.  “Okay, am I missing something here?”

            “Those two are acting awkward today as if they’re strangers.  Don’t tell me you have nothing to do with it.”

            “Too bad.  That has nothing to do with me.” She was frustrated with his constant accusations.

            “Fine, so they’re just being weird.” He nodded again.  “What about the photos?”

            Her right eye twitched unconsciously at the mention of the photo incident.  “Why are you bringing that up again?  I already told you it’s not me.  Stop accusing me.”

            “Strange…” He rubbed his chin.  “If it’s not you, then who else could have done it?”

            She rolled her eyes.  “Stop playing detective.”

            He sighed and pushed himself off the wall.  “I don’t like playing detective either.  However, I want to confirm that you have nothing to do with the photos, because that would be…seriously conflicting.”

            “Huh?” She looked at him, confused at just what this oversensitive guy (albeit that his hunch was right) would be conflicting about.

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Author's Note: Two or three more chapters left, depending how the content will ended up being divided (sorry, kinda bad at math).  Meanwhile, suddenly fangirling about Song Joongki oppa again~ =D

Annyeong Oppa~ ((O(=^O^=)O))