"Moon! (Hurry up! We're starting),"Chin-Mae hyung shouted as I quickly unlock my phone and texted Shiya.

Me:
Best of luck for your exams!

Shiyo:
Thank you 💜

I smiled as I switched off my phone then kept it as aside and joined others for practice. After we returned to Korea, we immediately started working on a comeback for our XO. And now we're going through the choreography of our new song then after a day or two we would shoot our MV.

Then finally the MV would get released in the last week of January or first week February.

The month of November has now ended and December had started with the cold weather and snow in Seoul. We all had started wearing warm clothes whenever we would step out.

When it was time for break, we all sat down together as I asked Baekhyun hyung, "(has the date been fixed?)"

He nodded as he gulped down the water from the bottle in his hand, "(yes, it would be On 3rd March.)"

"(Wonderful. Do let us know if you need some help.)" I replied with a smile.

"(Now that you've mentioned, I've a list of things that Jisoo-ah has told me to do. So you guys should do it.)" Baekhyun hyung said with a straight face as everyone else glared at me while I pout. Suddenly Baekhyun hyung started laughing loudly, "(oh my! You guys are so fun to tease.)"

We all faked a laugh with him, while secretly glaring at him. He might be the oldest one here, but he is also the most childish.

Jae scooted closer to me as he whispered, "(how's everything going on with Shiya?)"

I instantly started smiling, "(good, we talk almost everyday now. But her exam has started so we don't talk for long. And she told me that she and Tanishka might fly to Korea during her Christmas vacation.)"

"(That's good, that's good.)" He said while he nodded, "(did she tell you the whole plan?)"

"(Not yet, she will confirm with Tani and her family regarding the dates then get back at me. I was thinking of putting a request for a fan signing after she confirms the dates.)"

He wriggled his eyebrows teasingly, "(did she specially request you to do that?)"

I laughed, "(of course not, she had mentioned that Tani and herself have this dream to go to Blackpink's and X7 fan signing together.)"

"Blackpink?"

I nodded, "(she is a blink, while Tanishka is a XO. I can't wait to meet her again.)" he smiled at me as I smiled back.

Glancing at the clock I dialed her number as I settled down on my bed hoping that she isn't too busy. After a second later she face appeared on the screen as my eyebrows immediately furrowed, "what happened to you?" I couldn't help exclaim.

"I—I just," she sighed, "it's just been really stressful since few days," she smiled sadly as my eyes once took in her appearance. She had eye bags under her eyes which were red for some reason and the glow she used to have had now disappeared, her cheeks looked hollowed and her lips were permanently tugged down.

"Are you sure it's only the exams which is troubling you?"

She sighed again, "I had a fight with Tani," she said as I sat straighter on my bed.

"Sit somewhere comfortable. Maybe on your bed." I requested as she nodded then started moving and flopped herself on her bed. Like always she was wearing a black T-shirt maybe with sweatpants, this time due to cold because of the rains. "Would you like you share what happened?"

She shrugged while trying to act nonchalantly but I knew that she didn't wanted to tell me, "I don't wanna bore with some silly fights between best friends."

I nodded despite the fact this is not the reason why she doesn't want to tell me, "fair enough, but just know that nothing related to you would bore me." Suddenly her lips started trembling as she looked away from the screen, "Hey! What happened?"

"Why are you so far away from me?" She cried. "Why do you always know what I need?"

I smiled slightly, "because you opened yourself like an open book to me, sweetheart. It's something people do around me."

She laughed lightly as she wiped her tears away, "Well, mr. open—book—reader, What have you been up to lately? How's the practice going?"

"Splendid," I answered with a smile, "you XOs would soon be receiving a comeback."

"I'm happy to hear that," she smiled but it didn't travel till her eyes. As I raised an eyebrow at her in question, "I—I had a really bad panic attack... recently. It was so bad, that I was finding it hard to even stand."

Me eyebrows furrowed in worry, "was Tani with you?"

"That's the thing. Between all of the fight, I felt like Tani shouldn't know about. Nobody knows about my panic attacks except you and it's only getting worse. I fear that it might turn into something major."

"I'm flying there immediately. Give me a day and I'll be there." I said as I was already off my bed to grab my laptop to buy tickets.

"Dalhyun! Have you lost your mind!" She scolded, "don't be stupid. You need to be there, XOs need you guys more than I do."

"Are you hearing yourself? Your panic attacks are getting worse and you don't want anyone's help too."

"I'm offended! I just told you about my latest panic attack!" She slammed her head down as I saw her hair in a messy bun, "why do people don't understand that I need their help not accusations!" She growled.

Wait what? Where did this come from?

Is this related to her fight with Tani? Why does she need help? Moreover why did Tani deny and accuse her?

What goings on over there? I don't like this.

"If I volunteer to help you then will you let me?"

"Yes," she growled again while snapping her head towards the screen, "why else did I tell you about it then? I don't go to people and say 'hey, I had a panic attack but I refused help because I need your help.'"

I pursed my lips, tightly as I tried to hide my laughter which was threatening to come out. But I failed when I saw her trying to puff her hair out of her face with the a blow from her mouth. She glanced at me as I continued laughing while a small smile adored her face.

When I sobered up I said, "if you want my help, you just need to follow this one rule and it's the most important one. Don't try to suppress it and take someone's—anyone's help who is around you."

"But I—I just feel like they—you don't deserve all of such stuff."

"Shiya, you are not suppose to choose what we deserve or not. It our choose. You need to become a bit selfish in what you want. It's your life not ours."