Chapter 19: Avoiding Luhan

Dahae's eyes fluttered open as she rolled over to the right side of her bed. It was unusually sunny for 7 in the morning. Since she woke up before her alarm, Dahae grabbed her phone from her side table to turn it off.

"MIJOO!!" Dahae screamed, jumping off her bed and shaking her friend awake.

"WHAT? WHAT'S GOING ON?" Mijoo threw off her blankets and fell to the floor.

"It's already 11! We over slept. we have to hurry so we won't be late for class," Dahae was frantically throwing clothes around the room.

"What?" Mijoo sighed and crawled back into bed, "There's no class today, the teacher sent out an email saying it's cancelled. That's why I didn't bother waking you."

"Oh..." Dahae picked up the clothes she threw on the floor and placed them neatly back in her drawers.

"Also it seemed like you were having a hard time sleeping last night so I thought you would need some rest."

Dahae remained silent as she folded her blankets and tidied up her bed. Even though she tried to sleep at 10, she spent the entire night tossing and turning in her bed, too busy thinking about what Luhan said to her. She couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Well let's go down to the cafeteria and get breakfast." Mijoo decided to get out of bed.

Dahae unlocked her phone and saw over 20 missed calls and texts from Luhan. She contemplated whether she should open the message and read it.

"What are you looking at?" Mijoo peaked over her roommate's shoulder.

"Nothing." Dahae quickly turned around and hid her phone behind her back.

"Why did Luhan leave you so many texts?" Mijoo asked curiously.

"Alright, let's go get breakfast. I'm pretty hungry." Dahae avoided her friend's question and walked passed her to the door.

--

"Text Luhan and Baek so they can join us," Mijoo suggested, taking a bite of her bread.

Dahae sighed, "I uh, left my phone back in the dorm."

Mijoo's eyes fell to Dahae's right hand, which was right next to her phone. She raised her eyebrow and asked, "Are you and Luhan having some sort of fight you wanna tell me about?"

"Nope. Everything is great." Dahae forced a smile.

"Dahae, why are you ignoring Luhan's calls and texts?" Baekhyun came out of nowhere and plopped next to Mijoo with a worrisome expression.

"Ok does everyone know what's going on here? Because I'm lost," Mijoo rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Well he hasn't told me any details but he said that he really needs to talk to you and explain? " Baekhyun tilted his head, still not sure what the situation is with his two friends.

"I don't really want to talk about it right now," Dahae looked down into the bowl of soup, avoiding Baekhyun and Mijoo.

"Welllll are you ready now? Because he's headed this way." Baekhyun pointed toward the doors.

Dahae turned her head and saw Luhan enter from across the room. Once they made eye contact, Luhan quickened his pace towards her table.

"I-I can't talk to him right now," Dahae stood up and raced out of the cafeteria in the opposite direction.

"Dahae, wait!" once Luhan finally reached the table, Dahae had already left.

"What did you do?" Mijoo leaned across the table and hit Luhan's arm.

--

Dahae found a place to hide behind a tree and sat on the grass, pulling her knees close to her chest. She knew she couldn't avoid Luhan forever, but she didn't want to talk to him yet, especially not infront of their friends.

"Dahae, there you are."

Dahae's head shot up, hearing the familiar voice nearby.

"I can see why you're upset. He told us what he said last night." Baekhyun sat next to Dahae on the grass. "But it was just an honest mistake? I accidentally call people the wrong name all the time."

"But you're not there when he talks about Dayoung," Dahae finally spoke up. "He praises her; he's still in love with her. She was his first girlfriend and she's Haru's mom, I'm nothing to him."

Baekhyun frowned, "Don't say that."

"But it's true. We all know the real reason why he's with me."

Baekhyun opened his mouth to try an console Dahae but she cut him off.

Dahae shook her head, "He doesn't like me. He just likes the idea of me because when he sees me, all he sees is Dayoung. I'm her replacement."

--

"What? She thinks that's what I think of her?!" Luhan exclaimed once Baekhyun finished talking. "No, I have to go talk to her."

"Just hold on Luhan. Simmer down a bit," Baekhyun tried calming him down. "I just want to clarify...are you using Dahae to replace Dayoung?"

Luhan narrowed his eyes but remained silent.

"I mean, we all know they look exactly alike, but you just had to point out that they act the same and laugh the same."

"I know I messed up. But she won't even give me the chance to explain anything."

--

"So how are you lately? Mijoo asked Dahae who remained idle in her bed.

No answer.

It's been a week since Dahae has seen Luhan. She hasn't been going to class because of a sudden fever she caught, but  she was thankful that she got sick in case there was a slight chance she'd see Luhan around school.

"Your temperature is going down now. You think you'll be able to go to class tomorrow?" Mijoo double checked if she had all of her school supplies before opening their door.

"...I don't know. Maybe." Dahae answered.

Mijoo grabbed her backpack and pillow, "Well I'm going down the hall to SeolHee's dorm so we can study for our English test. I'm staying there for the night, so will you be ok by yourself?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. See you later," Dahae replied in a soft voice.

"Mijoo. Can I speak to Dahae?"

Mijoo immediately closed the door and turned to face Dahae.

"I-is he outside?" Dahae got out from her bed.

Mijoo nodded, "What do you want me to do? Tell him to leave?"

Luhan knocked on the door, "Dahae, can I please talk to you?"

Dahae looked over at Mijoo and nodded her head hesitantly, signaling her to open the door.

"Are you sure?" Mijoo asked.

"No," Dahae admitted, "But I can't not talk to him."

Mijoo slowly opened the door to reveal Luhan, "You have her permission to enter." Mijoo glared at Luhan one last time before leaving the two together in the dorm.

As Mijoo closed the door behind her, Luhan made his way towads Dahae and sat next to her on the bed. Dahae wrapped her arms around herself and looked to the left, avoiding Luhan's stare. Dahae felt Luhan place a hand on her cheek and she abruptly moved away.

"I heard that you've been missing school because of a fever. Has it gone down yet?" Luhan asked, now placing his hand on Dahae's forehead to feel her temperature.

"A little," Dahae said, feeling uncomfortable with the small talk.

"Is Mijoo not going to look after you tonight?" Luhan asked.

"No, she's staying in someone else's dorm to study. I don't want to get her sick anyway."

"Oh," Luhan said to himself, shifting in his spot on the bed, "Well do you want me to stay here tonight? I can take care of you."

Dahae made a subtle uneasy expression on her face and cut to the chase, "Luhan, what did you come here to say?"

Luhan let out a loud sigh and stood up, "I've been trying to get in contact with you for a long time, but you never answer my calls or texts."

Dahae didn't reply. She knew that she was purposely avoiding Luhan.

"I know that you don't want to hear what I have to say, but Dahae, I'm so so sorry. I still can't believe that Dayoung's name slipped out that night, and the fact that the way I talk about her is like I'm comparing you two . Baekhyun told me that you said I just think of you as her replacement and I...I can't believe I make you feel that way. If you want, I won't point out your similarities, and I won't even say her name anymore." Luhan pleaded. "I don't want us to break up."

Dahae's eyes watered as she looked down at her hand which Luhan was tightly grasping. She released her hand from Luhan's to wipe the almost invisible drops from her eyes.

"I don't want you to forget about Dayoung. It would be nice if you didn't call me by her name anymore...but I don't expect you to forget about her. I know that she was a big part of your life. I'm sorry that I never called you back and that I avoided you in the cafeteria. It just..." Dahae paused. She found it hard to pour out what she was feeling. "I was just mad at the time because I didn't think you actually liked me for me."

"That's not true," Luhan whispered as he grabbed Dahae and pulled her into his arms. She dug her face into his shirt, dampening it with her tears. He kissed her hair which slowly calmed her down.

"I don't want to break up with you either," Dahae said softly, her voice muffled by Luhan's shirt.

Luhan cupped the sides of Dahae's face, now looking directly at her. He smiled as he wiped his thumb across Dahae's cheek.

"I love you," the whispered to eachother in unison, as if rehearsed.

Luhan moved his hand to the back of Dahae's neck. His lips barely brushed against her bottom lip

"Sorry if I'm interrupting something, but Haru found the candy in my room and she's really hyper right now." Baekhyun unexpectedly entered Dahae's dorm with Haru squabbling in his arms. "I'll leave you to do your dad stuff," He handed the little girl to her father and exited the dorm.

Dahae laughed seeing the chocolate all over Haru's face when her door reopened, "Oh yeah, did you guys make up by the way?" Baekhyun asked, peeking his head into the room.