Toward the Walk of Shame

25 {Sehun}

As I drove to Suzy's house, I replayed my conversation with Appa over and over in my head. And his offer to move in with him after graduation. He had a spare bedroom at his rental, and Jeju University was nearby. It even had a good marine-biology program, one that actually got into because of Suzy. To be honest, I had just filled out the paperwork to get her off my back. I didn't really expect to get in. But now . . . now everything was falling into place. It was perfect.

Even though I was dying to get away from Mark, I still didn't know how I could be away from Eomma. She didn't want me to go, but I had to do this for her. She wouldn't have to be between Mark and me anymore. She could finally be happy.

While Eomma updated Mark on the situation - I'll bet he was breaking out the good wine to celebrate - I ran over to Suzy's place. I wanted to tell her about Appa. I wanted to tell her about the university acceptance. I needed to tell her everything.

In my excitement, I didn't remember Mr. Bae until I already rung the doorbell. Crap. I wondered if there was still enough time to hide.

The door opened just as I was about to dive behind the rosebushes. Thank goodness Suzy was the one who opened the door. "Sehun? What are you doing here?"

She looked beautiful. I had to physically stop myself from hugging her. "I wanted to talk to you about something. Is the coast clear?"

"Uh, yeah. Appa's out with some friends. And Eomma's on the phone with my grandmother in the kitchen." She looked around for a few seconds before stepping back. "Do you want to come in?"

I still didn't move. "Are you sure your mom won't mind?"

"Doesn't matter. She'd probably let you in herself, anyway," Suzy muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's fine." She took my arm and pulled me inside. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something, too. Let me just tell Eomma that you're here first."

"Okay." I went into the living room to wait for her. Damon was already laying on the rug, and he let out an excited bark when he spotted me. He didn't get up, but he rolled over so I could scratch him. I stood and rubbed his belly with my foot.

As I waited for Suzy to come back, I picked up a pink daisy that was sitting on the table. It was lying on top of  a couple of calculus worksheets with today's date on them.

That seemed weird. Suzy hadn't gone to school today - how did she get the assignments already?

Suzy came into the room just as I picked up one of the sheets. "Did Soyeon drop these off for you?"

"Uh, no, not really." My eyes took in every detail of her. She looked tired but still beautiful, with her dark hair pulled back from her face. She sat down next to me. Not as close as I would have liked, but it was probably better this way. I didn't want to get another butt kicking from her dad. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

My leg bounced, already anticipating the excitement my announcement would get from Suzy. Damon flopped back and forth at the frantic movement. "Why don't you go first? My news is really important, and I'm pretty sure it's going to blow yours out of the water."

She gave me a half smile. "I don't know about that. I have some big news, too."

"It is good news?"

Her smile faded a tiny bit, and her eyes flickered to the flower in my hand. "Not all of it."

I looked from the pink daisy to the calculus work on table. Something clicked in my head, and I could feel my good mood fading. Damn. Appa and college blended to the background as I stared at her, hoping I was wrong. "Who brought you this homework?"