"You knew all this time?" Eric half-shouted, barging into Juyeon's room without invitation. "You prepared it? Are you kidding me?"  

"Not now Eric," Juyeon grumbled, not getting up from his bed. His eyes were closed, one of his hands over them. His thoughts were all over the place already, and he did not need Eric to add to that. 

"Um... how'd you even get here?" Hyunjae asked. "Whereas the guard who's supposed to be outside your room at night? What is he doing?" 

"Who knows," Eric said, sitting on Juyeon's bed and shaking him. "Get up. We need to talk." 

"Go away," Juyeon sighed. 

"I think I'll leave for a bit..." Hyunjae mumbled. Juyeon heard the door open and close again. 

"Juyeon, get up." 

"I'm not in the mood right now." 

"I don't care!" Eric snapped, grabbing his arm and pulling him up. Juyeon met his angry gaze, giving him a glare of his own too. "How could you do this to me? And don't you dare give me the 'I wasn't supposed to tell you' excuse, because it's not working. I'm not a child. I wouldn't have given you away. But why couldn't you give me time to prepare?" 

"I'm sorry," Juyeon whispered, knowing that Eric had every right to be angry. "You're right, I should have told you. I'm sorry." 

Eric studied his face. "If you apologize so quickly, how am I supposed to stay mad at you?" he sighed in exasperation. Juyeon gave him a strained smile in return, hoping that it looked real. Of course, it didn't, and Eric's eyes became tinted with worry. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Juyeon said quickly. Too quickly.

"I don't believe that," Eric said, furrowing his brows at him. "Really, what's wrong? Can I help?" 

"I'm just worried about something," Juyeon mumbled, lying back down on my bed. "She's the cause of all my worries lately. But somehow... even when I'm not worried, I'm still thinking of her. Does that make any sense?" 

"It sounds like you're in love," Eric said after a moment. 

Juyeon sat up quickly. "I am not!" he protested, his eyes widening. Eric smirked at his reaction. "I'm really not," Juyeon repeated, though he didn't sound convincing, not even to himself. "I can't be." 

"Why not?" Eric said, shrugging. "Listen, I don't know who she is, but... why not? I bet most people would tell me that I can't be in love with Chanmi. But who are other people to decide that? Who decides whether or not you love someone? It's your heart. No one else can tell you otherwise." 

"I haven't even known her that long," Juyeon mumbled. "Plus, she's totally out of my range." 

"Says who?" Eric argued back.

"I don't think we'll be able to stay together." 

"I don't know if Chanmi and I will be able to either," Eric admitted. "Maybe we'll end up being torn apart. But I'll worry about that later. I want to love now, with no regrets. If we can't stay together in the end, at least I'll know that I did everything I could in the time that we did have. I don't want to regret not doing anything." 

"Love with no regrets," Juyeon whispered, the words striking a chord in his heart. He tilted his head, thinking about it. The words repeated over and over in his head. "I have to go," he said suddenly, standing up. "Thanks, Eric!" he called, running towards the door. 

"Thanks for what?" Eric asked, confused, but Juyeon didn't have time to answer him. 

He had to go before it was too late. He didn't want to have regrets. Eric was right, if he let this chance slip away he'd probably regret it forever. 

He didn't want to regret not doing anything either. 

Juyeon didn't think. He was done thinking. He let his heart lead, and he ran.