✓ sorry, i love you || hwang hyunjin

[30] shit, i'm getting assaulted

Nabi's POV

Could Chan possibly have been... Aera's secret boyfriend? How else would he have known her? And why else would he have said that she never loved him?

Wait...

No one ever told him that Aera died.

My head was spinning and trying to reach out in millions of different directions, trying to comprehend how my dead best friend dated my friend-who-I-thought-I-liked-but-in-reality-he-liked-me.

Air. I need air.

I tiptoed down the stairs and scanned the living room, which seemed to be in place. The boys were sprawled across the floor, the couches, and each other. They wouldn't notice if I was gone.

Just in case, though, I wrote a quick note on a sticky note for Lia explaining where I had gone.

Hey Lia,

Went out for a walk bc I had a bunch of stuff on my mind. If I'm not back by 3 am, call the cops.
lots of love,
Nabi

I read over the note before placing it on the kitchen counter. I had about an hour before I needed to be back; that was more than enough time. I scanned the room again, but this time... I counted one less person.

The girls were in the guest bedroom— or should I say, Lia and Mark's room. Hyunjin and I had taken my room (we were only sleeping, I swear... but I think Hyunjin mentioned something about getting a drink and left when I did?), and Chan was still in the bathroom.

That meant that there should have been 8 people in the living room— Innie, Min, Sungie, Changbin, Minho, Felix, Mark, and Jaemin.

But I only counted 7.

Whatever. I shrugged it off. I knew I was slightly drunk, so the alcohol was probably messing with my head. There probably were all 8 men in the living room.

I slipped on my shoes that were resting in the doorway before slipping out of the house, breathing a sigh of relief when the cool air hit my skin. It was dark out, which made it hard for me to read the street signs, but I would probably be fine. I knew this neighbourhood like the back of my head; probably better, actually.

After quietly closing the door behind me, I took a deep breath and strolled up my street.

Chan was Aera's boyfriend? To be honest, it was really quite possible. Aera once mentioned that the reason she didn't want to introduce her boyfriend to anyone was because he was older than her. When I insisted on knowing more about him, she finally revealed that the mystery boy was around 3 years older than her... which is how much older Chan is than us. She also used to tell me that her boyfriend had the 'cutest dimples' and 'stars in his eyes'. To be honest, I could see where she was coming from, and why she would date him.

To be brutally honest: if I hadn't met Hyunjin, I probably would have accepted Chan's feelings. He was cute, athletic, caring, sweet, and kind. To be brutally honest, he was quite perfect. The only problem was that I had gotten over my small crush on him after I got close to Hyunjin.

And looking back, that was probably a good thing.

The hard truth was that Chan only liked me because I was like Aera. I was her replacement. I didn't want to love someone who loved me for who my dead best friend was.

That would have just hurt both of us.

Suddenly, I realized that I would have to tell Jeongin about this eventually. He, too, was Aera's best friend; he deserved to know. But I would tell him after I told Chan about what happened to Aera.