Chanyeol's POV

I threw my bag on the floor and slumped down onto my bed. It had been a rough day, especially since I ran into the mean queen Kang Jihyun and her posse. Out of the whole school, she was the worst person I could've run into at that time. I did try to run away from her just now, but after a while I found myself quite lame for doing that and just stopped. What else did I have to lose? ... Except for maybe Jiho.

A few hours before..

"Park Chanyeol!" There was no escaping now. She was definitely calling me out. And in front of a huge crowd of people, at that. People started piling into the hallway from the cafeteria to see what was going on. I guess some of them got the gist of it when they saw me and Kang Jihyun there. Murmurs started arising and I was starting to get uncomfortable.

"What do you want?" I asked her. I was getting sick of having to face her loud mouth every single time we bumped into each other.

She scoffed as if in disbelief. "Well nothing, really. I mean, you were the one who broke my heart first, oppa." She said 'oppa' in such a disgusting voice that I felt I might just puke. She already had Sehun hanging out with her, what more did she want from me? I said nothing and just put my hands in my pocket. Apparently that frustrated her, seeing from the angry look on her face. "Really, oppa, you should learn how to respect girls more! Our bodies are not for toying. Make sure your new- and probably only- friend Park Jiho understands that. Or maybe, she might just give you what you want."

That sentence managed to make me stomp towards her. I was seriously going to shout at her for what she said but then two pairs of hands held me back and I could see someone stepping in front of me, stopping me from going any further. "Suho, you can't be serious," I whined as Kang Jihyun and her posse ran away, crying about how scary I was. Obviously, they didn't really think I was scary, but it was just to get everyone else against me.

Suho ignored me and turned to everyone else who was still around. "What are you all doing here? Show's over." His voice was firm and strong. I barely ever heard him like that. Usually he sounded gentle and kind. I guess it sort of came to his advantage because everyone got freaked out by fierce Suho and started to leave, not saying a word.

Once I calmed down, the two pairs of hands let go of me. "Thanks Kai, Luhan." Suho said, still sounding fierce. I turned around and saw the both of them smiling as though saying 'no problem'. I was about to turn back to talk to Suho, but I realised that he had already took off for his class. I sighed. Great. Now what?

"Hey, I heard what she said," Luhan said, stepping in front of me. I didn't really know him well, but we all hang out together sometimes, so he wasn't exactly a stranger. I did know Kai, though, but he had become pretty quiet as of recent, though I didn't know why and didn't really bother to. I noticed that even Kai had took off. There was one thing I agreed on with everyone: Luhan was probably the only one who would give a about anyone. He was such a kind dude sometimes it irritated me. Why couldn't I be like that?

"Yeah?"

"Well, I believe you when you said you didn't," he assured me, patting me on the shoulder. "Don't let this get to you, okay?" I smiled in appreciation and thanked him before he made his way to class. I don't think he knew how much his sentence meant to me. Barely anyone else in the whole school believed my side of the story. They were all blinded by Kang Jihyun.

(Back to present)

I grabbed my pillow and covered my face with it. I contemplated on screaming into it, but I figured I didn't want to alarm my parents or my sister. They had been concerned about me recently, about why I always looked so worn out nowadays. I'd lie and tell them it's because I've been studying, and they'd believe me anyway. I wasn't the least bit disappointed that they couldn't see through me. It was better that they didn't know the drama going on in my life anyway.

I was about to get into the shower to cool myself down when I suddenly remembered why I ran into Kang Jihyun in the first place: chasing after Sehun. I realised that I hadn't apologized to him yet so I took out my phone and texted him.

Hey, I'm sorry about what I did just now. It was just out of anger, hope you don't take it too seriously.

Knowing how much of a slow texter he was, I decided to get in the shower first instead of waiting for a reply. The guy could take hours to give a simple 'okay'. He wasn't busy he just wasn't much of a talker. Sometimes he won't even bother replying. It was because I knew this much that it surprised me when a minute later, I heard my phone vibrate. I went out of the bathroom half- and saw that Sehun had replied. That's weird. He never ever replies this fast, not to anyone.

It's okay. I'm fine now, really. :-)

I stared at his reply. What got him in such a good mood? A fast reply and a smiley. There was definitely a catalyst to this. I wanted to ask him what happened to make him happy all of a sudden, but I figured I'd ask him tomorrow. I wasn't in the mood to celebrate anything for anyone right now.

Sehun's POV

As soon as I replied Chanyeol's text, I switched my phone off and laid down on the bed. Jiho was in the shower and she had asked me to wait, if that was possible. Of course it was. I just told her to take her time. After hearing what she said about her father, I couldn't help but beat myself up mentally for treating her the way I did. It didn't happen before I started to be an to her, but it definitely wouldn't feel good knowing that your only childhood friend, the one you could talk to about your father, only knew how to be a bastard to you. All the guilt was building up inside me, and I couldn't take it.

When she fell to the ground just now, I couldn't help but embrace her. We stayed like that on the floor for a few minutes. I let her rest on my chest and cry as much as she wanted to, not caring about getting my uniform stained. It felt so good to hug her after all this time. Although I had really only resisted her for one day, apart from not seeing her for 7 days, it was already enough to make me crave her. We just had this instant connection that I couldn't explain. It was just there. I confirmed it when she suddenly stopped crying halfway to look at me- just look. No words were exchanged. We were just taking each other in. Maybe silence between us could be awkward, but intimacy somehow wasn't.

I smiled at her first, making her feel at ease. She rested her head against my shoulder and noticed me tugging at her bandages. She flinched under my touch. I knew she probably felt uncomfortable showing it, but I really needed to see. Reluctantly, she agreed, and I slowly undid her bandages. The cuts showed themselves once their shield was gone. It pained me to see such a sight- to see what this girl would do to herself after such a thing happened. She even admitted I was a part of it, but she said she wanted to take a shower before she would tell me anymore.

Honestly, I didn't know if I should know how I had a part in all of this. I already knew the reason, actually. It was just hard to admit that you regret doing whatever you did because this was the outcome. Maybe if I hadn't been so harsh... maybe if I didn't look like I meant it... I shook those thoughts out of my head. What's done was done. All I could think of now is trying to repay her, and if that meant I had to be by her side, I would, how ever long it takes.

Five minutes later, Jiho came out of the bathroom dressed in an oversized sports tee and these short dri-fit pants. I tried to keep my surprised look to myself. She looked so attractive in that. I guess I couldn't hide it because she smirked at me. "Don't look at me like that, I'd get shy," she teased, taking a seat on the bed beside me, towel over her neck. She linked my arm with hers and rested her head on my shoulder. Her hair was a little wet, but I didn't mind. At least she smelled great.

"So are you ready to tell me now?" This wouldn't be my normal reaction to people who are upset. I would think that they shouldn't talk about their problems because they'd probably get more upset. But I knew Jiho like the back of my hand. I knew that she'd feel much better after letting it all go- by telling someone everything. And anyway, once she calmed down, she would be calm for the rest of the day (or night), so I knew it was safe to ask her now.

Jiho shifted closer towards me, and I could feel her cold skin pressing against mine. "Well, I was about to go to school on Tuesday when my umma called. She was crying and crying, and I couldn't make out what she was saying. I had to wait a whole five minutes until she could finally talk normally," she said, a hint of laughter in her voice. She was trying to make the situation lighter, although I didn't want her to. It was perfectly fine for her to feel sad if that's what she really felt like. But I let her continue anyway.

"She then told me that he had gotten into a car accident. Apparently, some drunk truck driver was going home after drinking one too many shots, and he didn't notice the red light, then banged into my father's car. Umma told me it was instant though, for that I'm thankful." I could hear her voice getting shakier as the story progressed. I guessed she was getting to my part in all of this. It seemed like she was hesitant all of a sudden. "I wanted to go to America and help her with everything, you know, the funeral and such, but she told me not to. She told me to stay here and find.... you." Oh, her mother still remembers me too? "I couldn't bring it in myself to tell her that I actually did find you and that you were pretty much not the same Sehun she probably was thinking of."

Wow. Great. Now I was feeling ten times more guilt. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean what I said," I apologized, subconsciously intertwining our fingers.

She just shook her head. "It's okay, I know you didn't." I tilted my head and looked at her. She looked up at me through her lashes. "What? It may have felt very ty but after a few days of thinking about it, I decided that you were still the old Sehun I knew. You're a good person. You'd never say that without a good reason. Although I don't know what that reason was, I believe that it's valid."

This girl really amazed me. How the hell did she just make these butterflies in my stomach appear? Hearing her say such good things about me made me feel really good about myself. It was as though she believed in me unconditionally. I appreciated that.

"Then why did you still..." I trailed off as I stared at the cuts on her forearm.

I guessed that she was really comfortable around me because she just raised her left forearm and ran her fingers over it, unlinking our arms. "I told you already, it took me a few days to come to my senses. Before that I guess I was losing it." I really didn't know what to say to that. I really shouldn't have made her feel so unwanted.

"Sehun-ah?"

"Yeah?"

"Please stay.." I could hear that she was unsure. She was looking in the other direction, not daring to meet my eyes.

At that moment, I knew I couldn't conceal myself anymore. The feelings for her that I suppressed all these years were surfacing. Maybe now was the right time to tell her about it. Sure, there was a lot she didn't know, but I would figure out a way to tell her. For now, I knew I had to stay. I wanted to stay.

I scooted over closer to her and made her face me. Jiho just looked me in the eyes, all watery and innocent like a small baby. How could one resist not taking care of someone like that? She was about to look away again, but I stopped her.

"I'm here. I don't care if you need to stay up crying all night long. I will stay with you. I think I love you, and there's nothing you can ever do to lose my love."