Behind These Walls | Park Banryu

VIII

Banryu POV
I smiled as I stared at the pouch in my hand which I received from Soo yeon. Suddenly Suho walks in the room and I try to shove the pouch into my robe but give up seeing that he has already caught me.

"Yah! Answer me honestly, do you like Soo yeon?" he asks strictly.

I sigh. "Yes, I like her a lot." He grabs me by the collar.

"Well stop, you know with our families it won't work out with you two."

"Sounds like you're concerned for me." I scoff.

"I'm worried for Soo yeon." he harshly pushes me back and leaves the room.

Areum POV

"Yah! Answer me honestly, do you like Soo yeon?" I hear Suho's voice and Banryu soon follows.

"Yes, I like her a lot." My heart drops at his answer. I should've known but here I am crying over someone that won't ever care about me. (a/n: ahahah me)

A minute later, Suho walks out of the room and his eyes meet mine. "O-oh, hi." I awkwardly say.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asks,

"I just got here." I lied. He lets out a breath of relief and then smiles at me.

"Let's go for a walk." he says and I nod.
_________________

"What were you talking about with Banryu? You seemed mad." I decided to play dumb and ask him about it.

He exhales loudly. "You're friends with Soo yeon right?"

"Yeah."

"Has she ever talked about Banryu?" I gulp, not wanting to expose my friend.

"It's okay, I won't get mad at her or anything." I nod hesitantly.

"Hm, well Banryu likes Soo yeon and I'm assuming Soo yeon likes him back."

"Oh." I respond plainly.

"Am I a bad brother?" he suddenly questions.

"What? N-no, why would you ask that?"

"Am I being too harsh on Soo yeon? I'm pretty much stopping her from having a love life but at the same time it's because I don't trust Banryu." he explains.

"I get where you're coming from, you're just trying to protect her but I believe Banryu is a good person. It's just a matter of getting along." I say and he stares at me.

"What?"

"You give good advice."

I giggle, "Thanks I guess. You know, I'm jealous of Soo yeon and Ah-ro. They have an older brother who is there to protect them, care for them and sometimes annoy them." I chuckle.

"I can do all that for you." Suho winks and I scoff.

"So you'll be a brother to me?" he shakes his head.

"Yeah except I don't wanna be called your brother, I like 'boyfriend' better." he smirks.

"Aish, stop flirting." I scratch my head.

"Until you agree to become my girlfriend, I won't stop." I sigh in defeat.

"Anyways, I'll get going now." I wave goodbye to him and continue to walk around the area. I don't know if it was fortunate or not but I spotted Banryu.

Feeling bored I decided to approach him.
He stared blankly into space and as always didn't acknowledge my presence. "You like Soo yeon a lot don't you?" he snaps his head towards me.

"How did you know."

"I saw you kissing and I heard your convo with Suho. Plus, I'm friends with Soo yeon, how could I not know?" I chuckle and he looks down.

"It won't work out between us." I suddenly have a glint of hope in me but then shake it off thinking it would be selfish.

"I know I'm not the one to tell you what to do but if you really love her you'd fight for her, but just know that if you need anything I'm here." he looks at me and his gaze softens and finally shows off his cute smile.

I smile back at him and turn around to leave until I feel myself being pulled back and trapped in his embrace.

"Thank you." he says and I hug him back. Although I knew I didn't have a chance with him I felt happy that he was able to show some emotion to me.

We pulled away from the hug and there was an awkward silence between us for a few seconds.

"U-um, I'll get going now." he nods and I turn the other way and walk off. Tears started to run down my cheeks but I quickly wiped them away and I took a deep breath.

Soo yeon POV

From afar I see Banryu with a smile on his face as his arms are wrapped around Areum. My heart breaks at the sight.

I didn't want to assume that my friend was trying to intentionally hurt me so I tried to brush off any negative thoughts I had.

I wanted to spend some time with Banryu before they left for Baekje so once Areum left I called Banryu.

He looked up at me and his gaze turned cold which wasn't normal. He approaches me and I smile at him. "I wanted to spend some time with you before you, I'll miss you."

I expected a response but not a word left his mouth. He only nodded and gave me a small smile before walking away.

"Why are you ignoring me?" I start to sob yet I still get no response.

"It's because of Areum isn't it?" he stops in his tracks and turns to me.

"What?"

"You like Areum don't you? I saw how you looked happy when you were hugging her. Was our kiss fake to you?"

His eyes widened. "S-Soo yeon, no-"

"We're over." I ran off before he could say anything else.

Areum POV

I got ready to tuck myself into bed until I heard a knock at the door. "Hm? Who would be here at this hour?" I mumble, then open the door only to reveal a scary looking Banryu.

"Oh Banryu, what are you do-"

"It's all your fault! She broke up with me because of you!" he yelled.

"W-what? Banryu, calm down what happened-" he cuts me off again.

"She saw us together, she thought I was cheating on her with you! You did this on purpose didn't you?" He holds my shoulders and pushes me against the wall harshly.

"No! Stop!" I try to push him off me.

"S-stop you're hurting me." I cry out. Suddenly he brings his fist up and brings it towards my face. I flinch when I hear his fist bang against the wall, only a centimetre away from my face.

He lets go of me aggressively and storms out the door. Leaving me a crying mess on the floor.