Xiumin's POV

Ling's eyes were swollen when she came downstairs for breakfast. I leaned on the counter and examined her face curiously. Undoubtedly, she had cried last night but for what reason? The fans, or something else?

My mind thought about the existing tension between Luhan and Ling and I frowned. Luhan had been a big disappointment the past few days. First he lied about knowing Borin, then he let Ling get hurt.

I passed Ling a cup of coffee which she accepted with a whisper of thank you and avoided my eyes. I frowned in disappointment but did not press her with questions.

"You're gloomy this morning," Sehun sat next to her on the counter and leaned on his arms. "you alright?"

Ling flashed a perfect smile at Sehun. "Fantastic."

He nudged her on the head and smiled. "Don't hesitate to talk to me about anything okay? Keeping things locked up is not good for the soul."

We watched him walk off to join Suho and D.O on the couch. Ling looked at me and gave me a thumbs up. "The coffee's great this morning Oppa."

I smiled knowing she's feeling better and ruffled her hair. The two of us joined the rest of EXO on the couch and sat around the box on the coffee table.

My suspicions were confirmed when Luhan joined us and Ling leaned closer to me to avoid him. I locked eyes with Luhan who immediately glanced at the now frowning Ling. He sat next to Chen and Baekhyun and did not say a word.

"We're picking a fan today right?" Kai said staring at the box.

"I presume that's what the box is for." D.O nodded and looked at Suho.

Ling pointed at Suho. "As the leader of EXO, you should do the honors."

Suho blushed slightly and complied with Ling's request. He made a funny face as he reached his hand into the small opening of the box and swished the contents around.

"Nam Jin Soo, age 20." He paused. "and there are addresses."

The challenge of the day had been to find the fan and do various activities with her. Luhan did not participate with us as he had to prepare for his upcoming concert next week. The day was hot and we ran around Seoul with the fan, playing at various shops and restaurants. At the end of the day, everyone was exhausted as they filed through the entrance of the dorm.

"She was a nice girl," Chen said lying on the couch with his face down.

"Yeah, but wow, she has so much energy." D.O sat with his shoulders hunched forward.

Luhan walked down the stairs and stopped when he saw us. I watched as his eyes lingered on Ling who did not notice his presence. I went to Luhan to block him from Ling's view.

"What's the deal with you two anyway," I asked him putting a hand on his shoulder.

He sighed and we headed back into his room. "I told her I still had feelings for Borin."

"What?" I stood up after just sitting down on his bed. "You do?"

He paused and scratched his head. "I don't know, I think I do?"

"Oh, Ling," Suddenly everything made sense to me. Why she was avoiding him and why she was crying last night. "her heart must be broken."

Luhan looked at me curiously. "What do you mean?"

I smirked at him and sat on his chair staring directly in his eyes. "What do you think of Ling, and not as a friend, I mean as a girl."

He looked at me blankly. "She's cute."

I chuckled. He has no idea that Ling has feelings for him.

I shook my head hopelessly and stood up to return to the living room.

"You don't have to worry Xiumin, I'll get out of your way since you like Ling."

Anger shot through my mind as I thought about the broken hearted Ling. I turned and grabbed his collar putting his face up to mine. "You clueless bastard, stop hurting her with your stupid words and actions. It's precisely that kind of thing you say that hurt her."

I let go of him and suddenly remembered about the cameras in his room. I looked around then back at Luhan.

"I'm telling you now, she has enough to worry about, she doesn't need you to toy with her feelings." I muttered under my breath and left the room. I felt guilty for saying those words to Luhan but I did not regret it.

He had it coming to him for hurting Ling.

Luhan didn't come out of his room for the rest of the night.

-----♡
Luhan's POV

I sat at my desk scrolling through my phone reading reviews on the show and, seeing the majority of them were hate messages on Ling, I stopped. I moved to sit on my bed and listened to the sound of the EXO members and Ling playing some sort of game in the living room. I smiled as her light laugh pierced through the walls like bells.

There was a moment of silence and Xiumin's words echoed in my head like a broken tape. Ling has feelings for me.

It was pretty obvious now that I thought about it, all the times we spent together and all the times her face would turn red. I had always just thought that it was because she was my fan but I guess there was more to that. I thought about Borin, then Ling. It explained why she was so angry at me for not telling her about Borin, and it also explained why she kept her distance from me since knowing the truth. I groaned and realized how stupid I had been for not realizing it before.

Eventually, I drifted to sleep without changing into my pajamas. Without me knowing, the game they were playing in the living room had ended and the dorm was plunged into silence and darkness. I woke up to the sound of sniffling outside my door. I sat up and stared into the darkness as the sniffling continued.

It was Ling, and she was crying.

"Lu-ge, I'm sorry for burdening you all this time," her voice was but a whisper between her quiet sniffles. "I didn't realize that you had feelings for someone already."

I stood and tried to make my way across my dark room to her.

"I'm sorry I had feelings for you and I'm sorry that I thought I could be more than just a friend to you." she continued.

I reached for the handle of the door.

"I'm going to forget my feelings for you, I don't want this to effect the friendship we had."

I stopped, my body wouldn't move anymore.

"I know that my feelings were stupid and I'm going to be smarter with them now. I wish you the best with Borin."

She slipped a picture of me and Borin under the door and I hear her door close. My heart ached and tugged for me to go to her, to hold her and to reassure her but my body wouldn't move. I was frozen in front of the door that blocked my path to Ling, staring at the photo of Borin at my feet.

-----♡
Xiumin's POV

It was on my way to the washroom that I saw her sitting in the darkness against Luhan's door. She was crying quietly and rubbing her eyes vigorously. I hid in the corner of the hallway and listened to her shaking voice as she blamed herself for liking Luhan. It felt as if my heart was being wrenched out of my chest as I watched her silhouette break down completely on the floor. I moved towards her just as she stood up and I stopped in my tracks. She placed a hand on Luhan's door longingly and withdrew it. She turned without another word and returned to her room, her hand on her chest.

I moved to stand in front of Ling's room debating whether or not to knock on the door. My heart told me to hold her and to console her, but my mind told me otherwise. Ling would want her space I told myself and turned to return to my room. I looked one last time at Ling's door just as Luhan's door clicked open.

For a brief second, the two of us stared at each other in the darkness and the next thing I knew, my fist had collided with his face.

Notes

//Author's Note:
Xiumin punched Luhan! What does this mean to their friendship? Is it over? On the other hand, Ling has decided to cut her emotional attachment to Luhan for good. Does this mean that Xiumin will have a chance to win her over?
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~I apologize ahead of time if this story ends up stretching for very long~ (yes I realized that it has hit the 20th chapter :P )