When Sehun got woken up because someone rang the doorbell in the middle of the night, he’s not surprised because it wouldn’t be the first time. There were two candidates since Naeun was too polite to do that and she never had a reason to – Sehun sincerely wished she would never find one – it’s either Jongin or Hyeri.
There’s no second bell when Sehun made his way to the front door, meaning the guest was patient enough to wait, so possibly sober.
Jongin, Sehun thought as he reached out to open the door without checking the camera.
It’s not. It’s Hyeri.
“Hunnie,” Hyeri said glumly, staggering inside. Sehun quickly held her arm, steadying her while Hyeri took off her shoes. She clutched a bottle of mineral water on her hand, and that was the thing that surprised Sehun. Usually when Hyeri drank her feelings away, she didn’t remember to take care of herself.
Sehun didn’t comment on Hyeri’s condition, he never did, simply taking her to the couch in the living room. Hyeri threw herself onto the cushions and Sehun left to take a glass of water and some bread from the fridge.
“Here,” he said a moment after, giving Hyeri the bread and placed the water on the coffee table.
“Um… Thanks,” Hyeri muttered before she took a bite and started to eat. Her eyes were swollen, she’s been crying again, Sehun realized.
He exhaled and sat himself next to Hyeri, letting the girl snuggled to his side. “We have school tomorrow, you know,” he said quietly, because the least Hyeri could do was picking a better day to be a mess in the morning.
It took a while before Hyeri replied, “… I can’t help it, I need to see him.”
No, you don’t, but Sehun didn’t say it out loud because Hyeri had Jongin to be the one who scolded her and there’s Sehun who simply offered his shoulder for Hyeri to lean on.
“… Sehun.”
“Hm?”
“I think… I think I met someone from the school.”
Sehun sat up abruptly and turned to Hyeri who already sat straight, looking down to her lap. “What?”
Hyeri waved vaguely at the empty bottle she put down on the table. “There’s this girl… I don’t really remember but she helped me, she’s the one who bought the water and called the taxi for me. … I think she’s our junior.”
Sehun heaved a long sigh after Hyeri’s story. “Hyeri…” The teachers already had their eyes on Hyeri since the first year and there’s only so much that Sehun could do to help her. If the junior told her friends about seeing Hyeri drunk in the middle of the night and then went to Sehun’s place, it would guarantee them a trip to his father’s office. “Do you know her? Please tell me you remember her face.”
She glanced guiltily at Sehun and Sehun sighed again, rubbing his temple.
“I remember thinking she’s your sister!” Hyeri blurted out.
Sehun frowned. “What is that supposed to mean? You know I don’t have a sister.”
“I don’t know, just…”
“Does she look like me?”
Hyeri nibbled on her lower lip, not answering, clearly didn’t remember why she thought the junior was Sehun’s sister. Sehun rubbed his face once more, very much awake now. He started to calculate their condition, the worst scenarios and what to do if they happened. There’s nothing they could do right now, and finally Sehun said, “Go wash up and sleep. We’ll see what happen tomorrow.”
“Sehun, I’m sorry…,” Hyeri said, tugging on Sehun’s shirt.
Sehun’s expression softened, reaching out to ruffle Hyeri’s hair. “No, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Let’s just sleep, alright?”
The next day, Sehun was already prepared to get called to his father’s office, Hyeri was extra conscious about how people looked at her, but nothing happened other than the usual. When Sehun checked on his various circle of friends, no one heard anything new about Hyeri.
Whoever the junior that helped Hyeri was, it seemed that she didn’t say anything about the encounter to anyone.
***
“Sehun!”
Four heads turned to the entrance of the Student Council’s office with the sudden appearance and Naeun stepped back immediately, eyes widened as she realized the members of the Student Council were all there. She was panic and she didn’t think properly, all she had in mind was to tell Sehun about what happened as soon as she could.
Yoo Youngjae the Secretary turned back to the computer in front of him. “Hi, Naeun,” he said flatly.
“Naeun-ah!” Kim Namjoon the President also greeted her warmly.
“What do you want? We’re busy,” Jung Soojung the Treasurer hissed, scowling at Naeun. Namjoon gasped and kicked her chair, shaking his head to reprimand her when Soojung glared at him.
“I’ll be right back,” Sehun said to the others before he stood up. Soojung channeled her glare to Sehun but Namjoon kicked her chair once again.
“Can’t you be nice to her?” Namjoon complained to his Treasurer as soon as Sehun ushered Naeun out of the room. “She’s Sehunnie’s best friend.”
“Maybe if she acts like a decent human being and respects us, I’ll be nice to her! Did you see her earlier? She didn’t even reply your greeting! She never does,” Soojung grunted, punching in numbers to the calculator furiously and scribbling down the result in a paper. “And I don’t care if she’s Sehun’s best friend. Unlike some people, I don’t wish to be included in Oh’s harem*,” she threw an accusing look at both Namjoon and Youngjae.
Namjoon furrowed his eyebrows confusedly while Youngjae snorted from across the room. “Sure you don’t. You’re into Kim.”
“Kim?” Namjoon repeated, eyes wide. “Kim, who? Kim Jongin?”
Soojung looked very much insulted with the question and she balled up a paper, throwing it at Youngjae. He avoided it easily with a smirk on his face, earning him another glare from the only girl in the Student Council.
***
Naeun rarely came to him for help because she’s not Jongin or Hyeri, Naeun was a responsible adult and she had better judgments; most of the times. But the onetime that Naeun didn’t, it’s the worst.
Whatever happened that made Naeun came to him must be serious and Sehun tried to be careful with his way, but Naeun circled her hand around Sehun’s wrist, dragging him into an empty room nearby.
“Someone saw!” Naeun screeched off the moment they’re away from prying eyes, fingers digging into Sehun’s skin as her grip tightened. “I forgot—I left—And she’s there—She must saw it—What if—” She stopped when she could no longer breathe properly, her whole body’s trembling.
Sehun quickly leveled his eyes to meet Naeun’s. “Naeun, breathe...