Except You (EXO Fan Fiction)

35

35th Chapter

Eun Mi opened the door to her room and switched on the lights. Hyerin followed suit and immediately crashed herself into the bed, feeling the fatigue wash over her.

“Do you want to eat anything, Hyerin?” Eun Mi asked before going inside her walk-in closet to change clothes.

“No, I’m not hungry. I just want to lie down.” Hyerin answered in a tired voice.

Eun Mi walked towards the bed after she had changed and sat down at the side. “Are you sure?”

“Mmhmm.” Her cousin hummed in response. “Thank you for letting me stay here tonight, Eun Mi. Mom doesn’t want me to spend the night in the hospital and I really don’t feel like sleeping alone in the house.”

“You know you’re always welcome here.”

Hyerin smiled gratefully before sighing. “They said Dad’s condition is stable now but I can’t let my mind be at ease. I don’t think I can even sleep a wink tonight.”

“You have to, Hyerin. You’ve been lacking sleep for weeks and you still need to attend classes. Uncle won’t like it if you just neglect your studies.”

“Yeah, I know. You should tell that to Sehun, too, ‘coz he won’t even budge even after Mom’s insistence for him to go home and take a rest.”

The Princess’ expression became solemn as she remembered that time, a few hours earlier at the hospital’s rooftop.  “Sehun’s stubborn like that.” She softly stated.

Even if she felt so bummed, Hyerin noticed the change in Eun Mi’s tone when she mentioned Sehun. “When I went out of Dad’s room, Kai told me that you went somewhere with Sehun. Did something happen between you two?”

With everything that is happening with the Oh family, Eun Mi didn’t think it was necessary to make Hyerin more worried with her own problems. “No, it’s nothing. We just talked.”

Her cousin quickly sat up and faced her. “When you say it’s nothing, I know there’s something. Come on, tell me. Is this about Sehun’s confession before? Did you dump him?” Eun Mi shook her head. “Then, you’re together now?” She shook her head once more. “Then what is it?”

“He.. let go of me.”

“He.. what?” Hyerin found it too difficult to comprehend. Her oh-so-devoted brother, giving up on Bae Eun Mi?

“Sehun knew that my feelings are for Baekhyun now and he wanted me to be happy so he decided to let me go.” She started to explain. “He said he didn’t want to cause any more problems with Uncle anymore so he thought this was for the best. I.. really didn’t see that coming. I mean, I’ve realized long before that we aren’t really going to work out because we’re technically a family. And I’ve wanted to tell him that but because of the current situation, I wasn’t able to. Now, I’m having mixed feelings about it.”