Sehun’s POV

The bell rang for lunch time, waking me up from my reverie. I had been deep in my own thoughts during the entire period. I was surprised that the teacher didn’t catch me. I shrugged to myself as I got up and packed my stuff. My mind flashed back to last night, when Jiho let herself into my room seeking comfort. I admit, I was too sleepy at the moment that I didn’t remember half of what I said to her as she laid down beside me. But I figured it mustn’t have been anything too bad because when I woke up today she seemed relatively happy.

I walked alongside Kai, who was my classmate, as he led the way to the cafeteria. “How was your date yesterday?” he asked, a hint of suspiciousness in his tone. I rolled my eyes, telling him to shut up and that it was not a date, although I knew he didn’t believe me. He was just kind enough to let me have my way because he knew I wasn’t one who was good with expressing feelings.

“Have you seen Chanyeol?” I asked him. He shook his head. I still remembered that I promised Jiho that I would talk to him, although she didn’t have to tell me to do so. There were things that I wanted to know too.

Right then, I spotted Chanyeol exiting a classroom, hurriedly making his way through the crowd. I excused myself from Kai and hurried after him. It was easy to spot him though, because he was so darn tall. I slowed down as I realised he was heading to a familiar place: the rooftop garden. There would be very little people up there since today’s weather was especially chilly, so it would be the perfect spot if you didn’t want to be found. Smart, but not smart enough.

I slowly made my way up there, carefully opening the door to the roof, not wanting to startle him. When I opened it, I didn’t see anyone in sight though. I was about to give up and leave when someone spoke up, startling me.

“What do you want?”

Behind the other side of the door, Chanyeol leaned against the wall, eyes gazing into the distance. Had he known that I was following him? Embarrassed at being found out, I scratched the nape of my neck and slowly closed the door behind me. I then realised it was too chilly for my bare hands to handle. I really cannot handle the cold very well.

“If it’s too cold for you you should head back inside,” Chanyeol observed, getting up from the wall and walking towards the path of flowers ahead. His coldness was something I had not experienced before. Even when he was cold to others he had never been cold to me.

Hesitantly, I walked up beside him and leaned against the railing while he continued to gaze at nothing. “What happened between you and Jihyun?” I sort of blurted out, afraid that if I didn’t get it out now I would never find the courage to ask him about it again.

The thing was: Chanyeol was never one to be too attached to begin with. Having known him for such a long time, I grew to know him as the one who was more likely to be detached in relationships. Before Jihyun, there were many other girls. But it was different. I had seen him dump each girl, one by one, ruthlessly. He had never spared an inkling of feeling for any one of them. That was how his bad reputation came about- ‘Playboy Park Chanyeol’. Despite his reputation as a playboy, many people still wanted to be his friend. I wasn’t jealous, I had plenty of friends too. In fact, I considered the two of us to be the most popular guys in school, although we both thought nothing of it.

However, his playboy reputation had subsided and was now replaced with… well, nothing. To everyone out there now, he was a nothing, except for a select few. It was mainly me and the guys- and Jiho, but she knew nothing. Why? That was what I was curious about too. Up until Jihyun, Chanyeol had never been affected by his relationships. I had thought that him cheating on her had been something simple- that he was a playboy and Jihyun should have expected it. To my surprise, however, he didn’t seem the least bit happy that it ended. And usually he would have been all over a new girl by the next week, but he had been ‘alone’ for months. The wild and almighty Chanyeol became all tame and mysterious. It was a hundred-and-eighty degree change. Everyone noticed it.

Up until now, no one spared him from it. I could still see from the stares he got from some people around school that people were still having Chanyeol up as their hot topic. Over time, I have heard people say many mean things about him. ‘Serves him right, that playboy. Let’s see if he can get any girl now.’ ‘He’s just an idiot. Don’t pay much attention to him.’ ‘Since all his girls have left his side, I hope his friends see what a jerk he is and leave him too.’ There was many more, and some even directly came up to me and tell me not to waste my energy being friends with such a guy.

Of course I wasn’t going to listen to them. He was my closest friend, one I consider my brother. I don’t believe the rumours going around saying that he was an ‘almost-’. I knew Chanyeol wouldn’t be that type of guy.

He remained silent for quite a while, before deciding to turn to look at me for the first time today. “I saw you hanging out with her, why don’t you ask her yourself?” he suggested, a slight spitefulness in his voice.

“She did tell me a few things, but they were minor things,” I stated simply, crossing my arms and leaning my back against the railing. “Now tell me.”

I had grown comfortable enough to ask him directly now, after recalling to myself how I had been there for him through all that. The least that I could get was the truth, right?

Chanyeol sighed and started pacing back and forth. It to see how different he had become. He used to exude such a positive vibe, but now he was just… down. I really wished that I could help him.

“What did she tell you?” he asked softly, looking at the ground as he paced.

I recalled the conversations I had with her for the past week. “Well, she did tell me about when she found out you cheated on her… with her best friend.” He stopped pacing and gulped. I tried not to make myself sound too harsh. “She was about to surprise you with a home-cooked meal, too. She snuck into your house to hand it over to you when she found you making out with that Yoon Bora.” 

He flinched at the mention of Jihyun’s best friend. I guess up till now, no matter how much he tried not to show it, he still felt really guilty for doing that. Not that it makes it alright for him to do so, but at least he knew his mistake. At least, I think he does.

“Yeah, well, what else do you want to know about it?” he replied coldly, refusing to look at me. His hands were in his pockets and I could see he was nervous even though he was trying to hide it. I knew him like an open book… or, more suitably, I used to.

“What had been so different about her? What made you actually care?” I asked. When he didn’t give me a reply, I sighed. “I know you, man. You used to treat girls like treats. You’d get them if you wanted to and throw them aside if you don’t.” I could see him spacing out as I said that. I knew he didn’t like what he was hearing. “Look, no matter how much you try to deny it, I can see it.” That got his curiosity, because he looked me in the eyes. “I know that you were affected by Jihyun. And not in the way that everyone expects it to be.”

Turning away from me, he replied with, “and what do you mean by that?”

“You really liked her, didn’t you?”

With that, he turned back to face me and the sight shocked me. I have never actually, for as long as I’ve known him, seen him like this. His eyes were b with tears, and he looked slightly paler than usual. He gritted his teeth, his stare falling to the ground. As much as he tried to hold it back, the tears kept falling, although it was just a controlled amount.

“I thought you told me you were over her?” I asked, staying rooted in my spot. We weren’t really much for physical contact like the normal hugs you would get from your normal friends if you were the one crying. The closest we’ve gone to was a friendly hand shake, now that I thought about it.

Chanyeol wiped away all the tears from his face and pulled himself together before answering me. “I am.”

“Then why are you reacting like this?” I pressed, trying not to raise my voice. I actually hated the sight of the people I cared about being sad.

He glared at me, looking at a loss. I got confused. What was it that he didn’t want to tell me? And why wouldn’t he? After a few more seconds of utter silence, I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe this guy. Claiming that I was his best friend yet he doesn’t want to tell me anything?

“Are you really going to stand there and ignore me?” I asked, giving him one more chance. I got my answer when I heard nothing coming out from his mouth. “Fine, suit yourself.” I stormed off towards the exit of the garden.

As I got ready to head down, I heard him shout to me. “It’s better if you don’t know anyway!”

I turned back around and glared back at him. “So this is how you treat your ‘best friend’?” I demanded, air quoting ‘best friend’. “I didn’t know your best friend meant nothing special in your books!”

He scoffed and looked at me in disbelief, although I found it completely outrageous of him to do so. Was it my fault that the situation blew up like this? It definitely was not. “You don’t understand, you idiot! You’d get angry too, anyway!” he shouted at me, his face full of anger.

I controlled myself from giving him the finger and continued glaring at him. “Oh really? Why? Try me!” I challenged him.

“Because I think I like Jiho too!”

I gulped… What?

A/N: Hey there, short update 'cause I'm really busy right now! I can't really address all the questions too in-depth for now but don't worry, I will... in time ;)

should I go for a Kai-Jiho plain friendship? :/