I stopped trying to hold back on telling Sungyeol things, and I listened to Hyorin's advice to try and stop thinking about L; let go for a while. For the better or worse, it did actually take effect, albeit very slowly. Still, progress was progress right?

My stormy mood slowly receded and I started to smile a bit more, whether it was to others or to myself. A good change for the melancholic months that I've trudged through. My laughs were genuine-happiness was slowly seeping in.

That didn't mean that I forgot about L; No, I will never forget him, because he will always be my first love. They say that when first loves don't work out, that's when it hurts the most, and I am living proof of that, but then again, time tends to lessen the wounds and fade the scars. In a way, I'm back to being on square one, except I'm more guarded towards love than I was before. I'm hesitant to attach myself too firmly towards a guy, and it made me appear as standoff-ish.

All of that aside, I think our group's atmosphere has returned to its original stance, more or less.

"LEE SUNGJONGGGGGGG!" Woohyun roared at the top of his lungs as we ate our lunch on the field, "I'LL MURDER YOU LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW."

Dongwoo and Sungyu were laughing madly while Sungjong yelped and grabbed Bora and Sungyeol with him, escaping Woohyun. Hell hath no fury like Woohyun when he gets his "girls" phone numbers taken away from him. The three of them ran off, giggling and screaming like children while Dongwoo and Sungyu were falling over themselves with insane laughter, adding fuel to Woohyun's boiling rage.

"I'LL GET YOU ALL IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO! NOBODY GETS IN BETWEEN MY GIRLS AND ME, YOU LITTLE RASCALS!" With that said, he looked around, trying to find a helper who'll run with him and seeing Dasom and Hoya being all lovey-dovey in a corner, L sleeping in the corner, and Hyorin and Soyu comparing nail designs, he grabbed my hand and practically swung me off of my feet.

"HWAYOUNGIE, WE ARE GOING TO WAR WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT. THIS. IS. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!" He dragged me after the three at lightning speed while I laughed hysterically beside him, trying to maintain our speed so we don't crash and burn.

"Hyunnie-oppa! Just ask the girls for their numbers again!"

He looked over at me like I grew a second head. "Neo micheoseo?! HOW WILL I LOOK TO THEM?! OPPA NEEDS HIS IMAGE!" He tugged me on even faster as I shook my head, laughing.

We practically circled around the track in the field three or four times before catching up to them. I looked over and caught an insane glint in Woohyun's eyes and knew that he was going to attack them like a crazed and deranged maniac he is.

"I'VE GOT YOU NOW, I'VE GOT YOU ALL NOW!" Using our momentum as a lift-off, he jumped and pulled me with him towards the trio. Me being not ready for this shrieked in fear as I thought I'd surely land flat on my face on the ground. 

"OPPAAAAA-" A thud could be heard. I slowly opened my eyes that were clamped shut to meet Sungyeol's wide pitless eyes staring back at me. He had his arms wrapped around my waist and I was on top of him while we lay half on the grass, half on the pavement. He exhaled a breath of laughter and his minty breath tickled my nose. I started to laugh too, pressing my forehead against his.

"I thought I was going to be eating pavement!" I laughed, covering my face.

"Oppa's got you, don't worry~" Sungyeol laughed back, hugging me. I removed my hands from my face and grinned. "That was so much fun, we should do that again!"

He scoffed and poked my cheek. "Using your Oppa as your landing cushion? No thanks!" I giggled, eyes disappearing from the intense amount of laughter. He smiled and brushed a stray piece of hair off of my face, tucking it snugly behind my ear.

I opened my eyes and realized how close our face were and suddenly felt nervous. I rolled off of him and laid by his side, cheeks slightly flaming up. "G-gomawo, Yeol-oppa..."

He turned over and wrapped the arm on my side around me. "No worries, I said that I would always be there for you, remember? Oppa will keep his promise." I turned over and internally calming down my sudden embarassment, lightly jabbed his side. "Arrasso, Grampa~" He scoffed and looked at me incredulously.

"Do you want to die, Young-ah?" I stuck out my tongue at him and rolled out of his grasp before getting up, "Merong~"

He jumped up and prepared for a second chase. "Oh ho! You are going to regret this!" I continued to provoke him while running away to the direction where I spotted Woohyun finally ripping the phone numbers out of Sungjong's hand while Bora lied down on the ground, panting. He looked up just as I was reaching him.

"Hwa? What are you doing? Is Yeol bullying you again? Oppa can help you!" I laughed and nodded, derouting and turning to hide behind his back. "You still didn't punish him for helping Sungjongie!"

"Oh ho, that's right!'' he exclaimed, all the while tucking the slips of paper safely inside his pants' pocket. "Oppa will protect you! YEOL-AHHHHHH!" He raised his arm up with a warlike cry and ran in the direction of Sungyeol, who quickly skidded to a stop upon seeing this sudden change of plans. He mock glared at me and pointed a finger at me.

"I'll get you, Young-ah!" he called as he began to run in the opposite direction towards the rest of the group.

I smiled and walked back to the field, seeing L and Hoya both look at me, Sungyeol, and then to each other. A silent conversation seemed to pass between them and Hoya frowned. I cocked my head to the side in curiosity, but decided to leave it. I'll ask them about it later. I smiled at them as I passed by to rest under the shade of the tree.

Slightly exhausted from our somewhat insane chase a few moments ago, I softly closed my eyes as the lulling breeze pulled me invitingly towards slumber.

All of a sudden, the image of Sungyeol's face when he looked up at me with his rounded eyes when our foreheads touched flashed through my mind. My eyes snapped open as a trail of heat crept its way up to my face. What am I thinking? He's never made me feel so flustered before, so why do I feel like my face is on fire now? 

I tried to force such preposterous thoughts out of my head and closed my eyes again. but the image of him stayed on the front of my mind and refused to budge. I sighed inwardly and just let him stay there.

I explored all the features on his face slowly with detail; the sideswept fringe that had a rogue piece always falling into his eyes and swung gently whenever he turned his head, his big round eyes that glittered with life and laughter every time he cracked his childish jokes, his smile that was so contagious I found myseelf smiling like a fool with my eyes closed. His jaw line that was well defined, and the feel of his cheek under my palm if I rested my hand there...

I didn't even know I had fallen asleep until I felt a hand tap my forehead lightly. I stirred and slowly cracked my eyes opened to see Sungyeol's face right over mine. His sudden close proximity startled me and I yelped, quickly sitting up which caused us to bash our heads together and nearly, accidentally kiss.

The pain of the collision detached me from any thoughts of us almost kissing and I just laid on my side on top of his legs, groaning in pain. "Yah Oppa, you scared me! Look at what you did..."

"Mwoh? You're the one who shot up, Young-ah! I hope I don't become dumb like you now that I've lost who knows how many brain cells," he grumbled, rubbing his forehead gingerly. Sunggyu walked over and helped me up, brushing my hair aside to take a look at my forehead. "Hahaha, Hwayoung-ah, you have a huge red mark on your forehead here," he touched the spot and I winced in pain.

"Omo, is it really red? Is it noticeable? Do I look ridiculous? I don't have bangs to hide it!" I said in despair as I madly rubbed the spot despite the immense pain it was giving me.

Soyu walked over and took a look. She pursed her lips and looked at me. "Do you want my concealer?" I groaned. "It's that noticeable?" It caught the attention of L, who walked over and took a quick peek. "What concealer? Shouldn't you go see the nurse first instead of worrying about hiding it? Gwenchana?" I winced when he lightly touched the spot.

"Ani ani, I'm fine. It'll probably just form a bruise or something, but it won't be anything big," I stated bitterly. A dumb bruise right smack on the middle of my forehead, yeah that's attractive. With L seeing it in its full glory, yeah that's great.

"Guys, I'm the one who got hit here! Where's my sympathy?" retorted Sungyeol, still on the floor and holding his head. "Young-ah, next time I'm just going to let you be late." he groaned, looking just about to pass out.

Dongwoo, trying to stifle his laugh, strolled over and helped Sungyeol up into a sitting position, rubbing his back jokingly. "I'm here, my dongsaeng~" Sungyeol glared at him and pushed him down, and the two ended up having some childish wrestling match on the grass, Sungyeol's throbbing forehead forgotten.

I looked around, feeling disoriented. "How long was I asleep for?" Dasom blinked at me. "Around five minutes? It wasn't that long; we still have about ten minutes of lunch left." I nodded and started to go towards my bag, but stumbled a bit, my equilibrium lost. I tipped over and suddenly felt weightless, as if I was floating in space.

I heard voices that seemed far away yell my name. "Hwayoung!"

Arms caught me, half carrying me to prevent me from crashing onto the ground. My consciousness hanging by a thread, I looked around, to meet both L's and Sungyeol's worried eyes on me. My eyelids felt heavy and I mumbled kind of incoherently, feeling my consciousness slipping through my fingers as I raised them up to grip at their sleeves, fighting the feeling of blacking out. "Still...time...homework...due..." After that, my vision out and I went limp in their arms.

♫~◄~♔~►~♫

My eyes cracked open, involuntarily opening when the throbbing ache on my forehead flooded through me at once, enough to cause stars to dance in my vision. I groaned and reached a hand to my head, only to find that it had something holding it down.

I glanced down and blinked again. Who is this? A guy was sleeping on my hand, but he was faced down, and his fringe covered the rest of his face, so I couldn't make out who it was. I turned to my other side and was surprised to see another male figure with his head down on the bed, evidently asleep by his deep breathing pattern.

I frowned, wondering who the two guys were, and carefully trying to slip my arm out of the first male's head, I pushed myself into a sitting position, rubbing my temples. My hands landed on a lump on my forehead and I in a sharp breath as pain pierced through head. The sound seem to have woken up the two, who both sat up groggily.

My eyes widened. Sungyeol was the one sleeping on my arm, who had most likely an equally sized bump on his forehead under his bed head; under his right arm was an ice pack, so I assumed that he had been sleeping on both my arm and the ice pack. What surprised me even more was seeing L sleeping on my other side and currently looking at me with a worried expression. We haven't exactly been on friendly terms, so why is he here and looking so worried now?

"W-what are you guys doing here? What time is it, don't you have classes, L? Did the nurse tend to you too, Sungyeol oppa?" I let a train of questions escape my mouth in place of my shock, trying to mask it. Sungyeol stretched, tenderly touching his forehead and wincing a bit upon contact before looking at the same spot on my forehead while L did the same and leaned in a bit to examine my forehead, both ignoring my questions.

I frowned at them and repeated myself. "I said, what time it is and why you're both here?" 

L checked his phone. "It's almost four, and I only came after last period-the nurse forced me out to class." he said the last part with a hint of bitterness, making me wonder whether I was just imagining it or not.

Sungyeol nodded in agreement and realizing his close proximity to me, he leaned back in his chair, a ghost of pink on his cheeks. "The nurse forced me to.the other room to take care of my bump, but I sneaked over when she left," he explained, a mischevious glint in his eyes.

I looked at both of them in wonder. "I out for that long?" Sungyeol nodded, transferring his ice pack onto my forehead and instead just gently rubbing his own bump. I looked at both of them in wonder.

"And the two of you came over here?" Sungyeol nodded warmly at me, brushing my hand aside and kneading my bump lightly with his ice pack instead. "Well, I was just next door anyway," he looked at L. He cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably.

"I...wanted to see if both of you were okay." Sungyeol opened his mouth, probably to point out the fact that he came to my room, but I cut him off instead in an attempt to prevent awkwardness to settle in. "Oh, I see. Gomawo, oppa."

It felt weird to call him oppa again after what we've been through, but even though we weren't quite on friendly terms, he at least acknowledged my presence recently, and I was glad.

L stood up and put the chair back against the wall before turning to us. "Well, since you've woken and both seem to be okay, I'm...going to uh, go..." his eyes darted between us, not knowing what else to say. Sungyeol nodded and lifted his free hand to give a wave. "Gomawo, hyung!" I nodded at him too, saying goodbye. He gave a small smile and left.

Sungyeol turned back his attention to me and used a bit more force, causing me to wince. "Oppa! This is ice you're using, not your fingers! Ease up!" he laughed and playfully pressed a bit harder once more, causing me to yelp.

"Aigoo, you're such a baby, Young-ah~ You're lucky I'm here to take care of you!" I scrunched up my nose at him and playfully stuck my tongue out.

"I'll bite your tongue off, you ungrateful thing! Now stop fussing and let me see your bump." he brushed my hair aside and sat down next to me on the bed, leaning in and scrutinizing my bump, even though he had an identical on on his own forehead. My face suddenly heated up out of nowhere from when he mentioned at he'll bite off my tongue, even when I knew he was joking. I looked up at him to see him furrowing his brows in concentration as he lightly touched my bump and quickly averted my eyes, not able to meet his.

My heart raced faster and it felt like he could hear it from the close proximity that we were at. Why am I suddenly like this? I never felt like this around him before. Am I...starting to see him like a man?

"Young-ah, I'm sorry for waking you up so abruptly at lunch today, by the way. It caused us to miss classes and earned us bumps on our heads." his voice snapped me out of my reverie and I smiled at him. "It's okay, Oppa. I'm sorry for bolting up like that, which caused the bumps."

He laughed. "Well, at least you have me to take care of you." he brought me into a sudden hug. My heart raced even faster, but I managed to get my arms to wrap around his back in return.

"Gomwao, Oppa."

"But what are we going to do about your bump? It'll ruin your pretty face," he said thoughtfully and looked at me apologetically. I spluttered. "P-pretty? Ani...well you have the same bump on your forehead too!" he chuckled and patted the top of my head. "Oppa's a guy, Young-ah; we don't care for beauty."

I frowned, realizing that it was true and feeling my bump. "Eottokke..."

Sungyeol laughed and brought me in for another hug. "Don't worry, Young-ah. You'll always be beautiful to me."

Hey everyone, I'm back~ I've been working on this for a few days but never got the chance to finish it ^^;; Forgive me! Well, I hope you enjoy this and see you in the next chapter!

EDIT: EEEEEEEYYYYY NEW SUBSCRIBERS~ Forgot to mention them haha, was too tired last night ^^;; THANK YOU to Baekhyunexo101 and iliveforfood0214 for subscribing! EXO's Luhan's lawsuit omg /cries in a corner/ & I feel ya, second subbie. We all live for food. Anyway, haha see you guys next time! Don't forget to upvote and subscribe to show me some appreciation please (: