A week had passed, apart from catching up with school work and working at their part-time job, Jihyun and Hyorin had been spending almost every day with EXO. It seemed they have grown accustomed to them dragging them to lunch and hanging out with them after school.

Truthfully, they were thankful that they had been pulling them around everywhere; they didn’t feel that lonely with just the two of them, and they were glad the boys were all so caring and welcoming towards them. Thus, they had already grown immune to the stares and glares they were receiving from the students that passed them.

“Don’t forget we have our first dance class today.” Luhan reminded as he walked to the canteen with Jihyun. “Yes Mr Luhan, you have been telling me that since I stepped into the class this morning.” Jihyun rolled her eyes while Luhan chuckled, “I’m just really excited about it.”

They entered the canteen and Jihyun could see Hyorin was already there waiting for her as she perked up and patted the seat next to her as she skipped over while Luhan went to get their lunch.

It was then she realized Sehun was sitting opposite her, listlessly scrolling through his phone. It had been a week since she had talked to him; he wanted to ask him if his wound has healed, and if he was feeling okay since that incident. She tried asking the rest of the boys who were the guys they met the other day, but they basically shrugged it off, saying they were just some people who didn’t like them back in high school. But there was something off, and Jihyun could tell because of their tense expressions, and she was determined to know who they really are.

She didn’t realize she was blanking out while staring at him, “I know I’m handsome, but it’ll be helpful if you stop staring.” He said monotonously without looking up and she snapped out of her thoughts immediately as they gained the attention of the entire table. She blushed and looked away, which caused some of the boys to look at her with teasing expressions. “What.” She glared at them and they just shrugged playfully as they continued with their conversations.

When she was sure no one was looking, she turned back her attention to him and examined his lip. It seemed like the wound had recovered since he had taken away the band aid, but there was still a small scar at the side.

However, this time, he caught her eye and stared intently into hers, and if it wasn’t because Luhan came back, he would have continued gazing into those mesmerizing black orbs of hers. She was surprised he didn’t look away as he stared into her eyes, it wasn’t a death glare, it was more of a soft stare, and Jihyun was surprised that he was able to emit such an expression when the person was her.

“There you go.” Luhan said as he placed the plate of chicken sandwich on the table. “T-thanks.” Jihyun stuttered as she straightened herself from the awkward moment a few seconds ago.

After school, they had all decided to gather at the corridor, and while Hyorin, Kyungsoo, Chen, Baekhyun, Xiumin would go for their first singing class, Kai, Sehun, Lay, Luhan, Tao and Jihyun would go to their dancing class while Chanyeol, Kris and Suho went for their basketball practice.

When she stepped into the dance room along with the boys, she was met with a few more other students who looked like they were warming up. They smiled warmly at them and they just bowed. The students were right; there were only 20 students exactly, and although she didn’t recognize any of them except for the EXO boys, she could tell they were skilled dancers as she observed some of their moves.

She placed her bags at the corner along with the boys and did some warmups while waiting for the instructor to enter. It wasn’t until 15 minutes later when the instructor finally entered and settled them down in a circle.

“Let’s have some introductions first and each of you will show me what you’ve got, is that alright with everyone?” The dance instructor, Miss Lee said while everyone nodded in agreement.

Jihyun couldn’t help but feel nervous as her turn approached. She looked at each of the student’s performance; they were all flawless and great, and they looked like they had been dancing for years, while her? She had taken a break from dancing, and she hasn’t freestyled in a long while.

Calming herself down, she took deep breaths and closed her eyes, trying to get a peace of mind before she prepared herself. “You said you wanted to show me how to dance, I’m expecting something good.” He whispered and she opened her eyes immediately. She turned to the voice and saw Sehun looking away, as if he didn’t say it at all. She silently smiled and calmed herself, “I can do this.”

When it was her turn, she got up and went into the circle before she started dancing. She freestyled and let her body move to the music, and she was lost in her reverie until there was a sound of applause. She bowed and let out a huge smile, skipping back to her seat. Sneaking a glance at him, she was pleasantly surprised when she saw a small smile forming on his lips.

 After a couple of hours and a number of routines they had been taught by the instructor, they finally took a rest and thankfully, the instructor had concluded the lesson earlier since it was the first one.

They dragged their tired bodies back to the dorm, and Jihyun was too tired for anything else as she waved goodnight to the boys and entered the dorm quickly.

“I am soooooo tired!” She whined as she plopped onto the bed, while Hyorin was flipping through a fashion magazine at the side. “Things were okay for me though, we did a couple of songs and warm ups, pretty fun.” Hyorin shrugged and Jihyun just nodded lazily.

“I’m really tired. See you in the morning.” That was the last thing she said before she dozed off.

--

Jihyun dragged her feet to the cafeteria; she had barely survived the first few lessons of the day without dozing off, and she was glad it was finally lunch.

While on her way to the cafeteria, she bumped into Baekhyun, and he was surprised to see her so weary and tired, but nevertheless, he dragged her to the table.

“Wakey wakey, Kim Jihyun.” Hyorin knocked her head lightly and Jihyun lifted her head slowly. She had laid her head on the table immediately after Baekhyun led her to her seat.

“You look horrible today, Jihyun.” Chanyeol commented and Jihyun rolled her eyes, “Thanks for pointing it out, Mr. Obvious.”

“Someone’s a little cranky today.” He sang while she sighed, “My body hasn’t really adapted to dancing yet and I’m really exhausted from yesterday.” She said and he nodded understandingly. “Sleep.” He patted her head and she groggily nodded before sleeping again.

By the time lunch ended, she felt more energized and she was glad she took her nap. When she arrived in English class, Luhan was already there and waved to her, where she happily skipped over.

“Feeling more awake now?” Luhan asked and she nodded furiously, “So much better! My energy level was literally zero just now.” She replied and he chuckled.

He placed a packet of sandwich on the table and motioned to Jihyun, “Eat up. You didn’t eat just now.” It was only then that Jihyun realized she was getting hungry. She nodded her head and muttered thanks before gobbling down the sandwich, silently thankful for Luhan’s thoughtfulness while he chuckled and ruffled her hair.

However, that didn’t go unnoticed by the other students as they started gossiping about the two.

“Are they together?”
“Duh! Isn’t it obvious? She’s the only girl he befriended in his entire college life!”
“True, he even bought her a sandwich!”
“Oh my god, Luhan is attached? My hopes are dashed!”
“But Jihyun’s really pretty though, they look good together.”

Murmurs filled the entire classroom and Jihyun ears perked up as she heard her name, while Luhan clasp her ears with his hands, “Don’t mind them.” His actions seemed to spark more gossip as the murmurs got louder, causing the teacher to turn and shush everyone up.

--

Jihyun headed to her bubble tea shift herself after school as Hyorin had singing classes and she decided to work alone. She made her way to the bubble tea shop and met Youngmin on the way.

Greeting Mrs. Kim, she headed into the kitchen to put on her apron before she started serving the customers. The rest of the day had been slow, but thankfully, Youngmin was there to accompany her and as there weren’t many customers, they chatted most of the time and Jihyun had got to know him better, since she normally stuck with Hyorin when she was there. 

Youngmin and she were in charge of closing as Mrs. Kim had left earlier to run some errands. Closing the shutters, she bid goodbye to Youngmin after assuring him she would be fine since the dorms was just a few streets away. Heading in the opposite direction, she walked towards the dorms, just in time to see a couple of rowdy boys sitting along the side alley, holding cigarette sticks.

She plugged in her earphones and acted like she didn’t see them, but she could feel their stares on her. She turned her attention to her phone and even through her blasting music; she could hear their shouts and whistles.

She turned back to see them following her, it was too late for her to run back to Youngmin. Quickening her steps, she wanted to rush to the dorms but she hadn’t taken more than 5 steps before she got pulled back by her arm into the alley.

Turning to the person who held her hand, she looked up to see a menacing yet familiar face she had encountered the other day. “What was his name again?”

“Hello pretty girl.” The guy cooed and she shivered in disgust as he scrutinized her up and down. “Well you look pretty familiar… where have I seen you before?” He asked as he traced her face with his fingers while she froze on the spot.

Then it struck her. That voice, that menacing stare, that face. It was the guy she encountered the other day with the boys, “Myungsoo.”

She widened her eyes, and then he smirked in amusement, “Ah, I remember, you were the pretty girl who was with EXO the other day, weren’t you?” He lifted her chin up and she slapped his hand away. He cackled and stared at her, “Feisty, aren’t you? Seems like EXO always gets the pretty girls.” He commented and she raised her eyebrows in curiosity.

“Good things should be shared, shouldn’t they? But what a pity, they don’t share, so I guess I have to take it by force.” He snarled and took off his jacket slowly, then closing the gap between him and Jihyun as he leaned forward, attempting to kiss her while his gang just stayed behind to watch the show.

Jihyun’s breath hitched, and she couldn’t choke out any words as she stared at him in shock, and when she regained from the shock, she sent a slap across his face upon realizing what he wanted to do.

Wrong move.

He stayed at his position for a while, clutching onto the side where Jihyun slapped and looked up at her in fury, “How dare you slap me?!” He growled and slapped her, causing her to fall onto the ground, before pulling her up and sending another slap to her, causing her to scrap her knee and elbow as she fell again.

He lurched towards her and sent another kick to her, causing her to hit her back against the wall, where she laid, dazed from the impact. He was slowly walking towards her again, and she held onto her shirt tightly, while he tried to remove her hands and forcefully kiss her before she struggled again.

“Get your filthy hands off my girl, Myungsoo!” A voice suddenly shouted and Myungsoo stopped moving, turning his attention towards the voice. Jihyun could recognize that voice anywhere even though it was hard to look at the guy’s face in the dark, she let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

Sehun ran towards Myungsoo and punched him continuously; and even when Myungsoo’s group tried to intervene, he fought each one of them single-handledly, pushing Jihyun to the side so she wouldn’t get hurt.

They backed off one by one when they saw the fury in his eyes, and Sehun finally stopped punching when Myungsoo laid flat on the ground.

 “Stay away from her.” He said sternly and pulled Jihyun up and walked out of the alley quickly, while she quickened her pace and tried to keep up with him.

Jihyun was surprised at his words, they were obviously not lovers, and she didn’t even know if they were even friends. However, she couldn’t help but remember his authoratative and protective voice just now, when he had claimed her as his girlfriend. It felt so real.

She allowed him to pull her away, she didn’t have any more energy to react and she was slightly dazed after getting slapped and hit. She knew he was livid, judging from the fury he was emitting through his eyes, his gaze was cold and she could tell he was furious.

When he was certain they were far away from Myungsoo and his group, he stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. Looking at her scared expression, he knew she must have been shocked from what happened, and he could already see tears glistening in her eyes, causing it to shine under the moonlight.

She looked so fragile and vulnerable, and he wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay, but he was too prideful for that.

Seconds and minutes passed, they stood in front of each other without a single word, the air containing a thick atmosphere as Jihyun stared onto the ground and he stared at her.

“Just this once.”

He pulled her into his arms and put a hand over her head protectively, and he could tell she was surprised at first as her arms were pressed onto her sides when he hugged her. However, she eventually gave in and wrapped her arms around him tightly, letting the tears flow, wetting his light grey tee shirt.

“Everything’s okay now.” He whispered softly as he patted her head gently and occasionally while she nodded slightly and continued crying.

He couldn’t be bothered about his shirt getting wet, because the sense of warmth and comfort spreading through his body was so overwhelming. It was a kind of feeling he hadn’t felt in a long while.

Standing in each other’s embrace, they finally parted when Jihyun lightly pushed him away and rubbed her tears as she looked at Sehun with her swollen eyes. Noticing the cuts and wounds she got just now angered him, and he didn’t know why. He wanted so badly to give a few more punches to Myungsoo for doing that to her.

Figuring she was too weak to walk further, he bent down to reach her height.

“Get on.”

He could tell she was hesitating and embarrassed, so he grabbed her hands and put it around his neck, gesturing for her to get on. She blushed a deep shade of red, and she was glad it was dark and Sehun couldn’t see her face.

When they were finally in close proximity of the dorm, he rushed over to the 24 hours convenience store beside the dorm, grabbed a few bottles of medicated oil and band aids before running back to Jihyun, where he found her examining her wound.

Without exchanging any words, he expertly applied medicated oil onto her knee and elbow, and they couldn’t help but think to themselves how the situation they were in now was similar to what happened the other day, just that this time, the roles have changed.

Ignoring the stinging pain in her wounds, she bit her lip hard and clenched her fists as Sehun treated it. It wasn’t that much of an issue, but the wounds would definitely take a few days to recover, and thankfully the red mark on her cheek had decreased.

“Why did you call me your girlfriend?” She suddenly asked when he finished treating her wound, and he turned to her with an amused expression.

“You cried in my arms for at least half an hour just now and this is what you say after that?” He raised his eyebrows at her while she blushed. “Thanks.” She muttered and they fell into silence again.

“Don’t think too much about it, I just wanted to distract him.” He suddenly said and Jihyun couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed, but she shrugged it off.

“What were you doing there?” She asked and he shrugged, “I was about to get my daily bubble tea but then I passed by and saw Myungsoo and you.”

It was silent for a while before he stood up, “Be careful next time.” He said before turning to the dorms, preparing to leave. “I’m injured and you don’t even bother sending me back.” She muttered and he stopped in his tracks, turning to her.

He smirked, bending down again to her height, and gestured her to get on. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” He asked and she tried to hide her growing smile.

Truthfully, she was.

--

The next day at school, she was questioned by all the EXO boys and Hyorin, since by the time Hyorin came back, she was already asleep.

“What happened?!” The boys asked worriedly when they saw her entering the school. They had all gathered around her, and a few, namely Kai, Luhan and Tao were holding on to her, afraid she’d fall anytime.

“I tripped and fell yesterday.” Jihyun lied; she didn’t want to let them know the truth to prevent more trouble from happening as she knew they’d be even more furious considering the tension between the two groups.

She snuck a glance at Sehun, only to find him looking disinterested in the conversation as he gave a bored look, as if he didn’t care about what was happening around him, a complete opposite to how he was last night. Jihyun frowned, unable to comprehend his sudden change since he had been nothing but soft and caring last night.

“What can I expect? He was just doing what a normal person would do.” She heaved a sigh, things were back to square one again. "Just when I thought we were finally friends."

Still immersed in her thoughts, Jihyun was suddenly being pulled away by Hyorin. She on the other hand wasn’t as easily convinced like the other boys as she tried to force the entire story out of Jihyun.

Eventually giving up since she knew how obstinate her best friend was, they went to a secluded corner of the school, and Jihyun ended up telling everything to Hyorin, however, missing the part where Sehun claimed her as his.

“I am so sorry for not being there for you.” She said as she gave Jihyun a hug. “Don’t worry about that, nobody expected this to happen.

“Those jerks, they’re dead the next time I see them.” Hyorin muttered angrily as they separated from the hug. “Hyorin, I’m fine, okay? I didn’t want to tell the boys because I don’t want any more trouble, so I hope you don’t do anything rash too.” She said solemnly and Hyorin nodded reluctantly.

“Thank god Sehun was there though, these are the only times I’m glad he has his 10pm bubble tea.” She commented and Jihyun chuckled, “Yeah, me too.” She whispered to herself.

Author's Note: Updateeeeeeee! Tell me what you guys think and thank you for subcribing!!! I appreciate every single one of you reading!! :)