The Future Bride [EXO's Sehun]

Chapter 9 : Friend-Zoned

It was the last week before our debut. But neither of us were happy, except maybe Amber who had absolutely no inkling of what was going on.

I felt...crushed. I went through the days like a robot. SM came up with newer marketing strategies. People were beginning to get restless for the debut of a new girl group. I knew Bom cried herself to sleep everynight because I could hear her supressed sobs while Amber snored contentedly.

You know what hurt her the most? Not the fact that TOP didn't like her. She had gotten used to being ignored for years. What hurt was the fact that he played her like a toy. That he led her on, aroused her hopes and then dashed them.

Hanna would often ask me what was wrong? Why wasn't I eating well? Why did I put on so much makeup to hide my darkcircles? Wasn't I taking care of myself? I'd tell her I was fine and then ask her about Luhan.

"Ah, that guy's convinced I'm some girl called Risa," she chuckled.

"But you're not, are you?" I asked jokingly. She looked at me with wide eyes, "Of course not! What are you even saying? You've known me four years."

"So, what did you do before your joined our family?" I asked.

"I was broke," Hanna said simply. She would never say more than that. Why was she broke? What happened to her parents? Nobody knew.

In my moments of darkness, I found myself singing into the night or writing page after page in my diary. Kris would join me now and then during lunch, trying to cheer my up, cracking lame jokes.

I'd laugh along, I'd dance all day, trying to be perfect. The moves would get my mind off the tumoil in me. It also helped that our debut song - It Will Never Be You is a song about heartbreak. Even Ms. Kim complimented me on how well I sang it.

"You had so much emotion in your voice," she would say. How could I explain that it was exactly what I felt? Only Bom would shoot me a sympathetic glance.

But you know what hurt me the most? That he wouldn't even look at me. I know he was mad. But this is what I was born into, I didn't choose my path in life. I didn't sit one fine evening and decide 'Okay, I'll be the heir to Phoenix.' All these things, they were decided for me since birth. Hell, this is why they had decided to have me in the first place!

Though he was one of my dance partners, he'd avoid looking into my eyes. He'd never call me name. After practise, he'd simply walk away making some excuse or other. Even the EXO members had begun to notice his reluctance to join in.

On the outside, I'd be smiling. On the inside, I was broken. Sometimes, I'd wonder if he felt the same way too. Sometimes I'd catch him staring at me but he would look away as soon as I saw him. Or during the dance, our eyes would briefly meet and for that one second, it would feel like time had stopped. I thought I could regret in those eyes. Regret, pain, suffering. But the music would go on and the moment would be gone. He'd go back to ignoring me. Once, I'd even thought he was about to cry when he looked at me with such pleading eyes. But the next instant, he would turn around and walk away.

Xiumin simply declared, "The boy is love sick. He'll get out of it soon."

"And how would you know what love sickness is?" Kris scoffed.

"So says the playboy," Chanyeol grinned.

"I think Hunnie is going through a hard time," Luhan said in a worried voice.

"The girl must be a real bitch," BaekHyun commented. I resisted the urge to strangle him. Ut wasn't his fault, he didn't know.

"Either that, or she's really worth all this trouble," Lay said.