This was hands down the worst day of your life.

You've been awake the whole night taking care of Cherry, your sick cat, and running around from vet to vet, in hope of finding a different opinion on how to further proceed with her.

Cherry was an older cat you convinced your parents to adopt almost 10 years ago. She was already pretty old when you got her, the vets could only tell you that she was a "senior" but gave you no estimate age.

Ever since you adopted Cherry, she's been your ride or die in everything. She consoled you in junior high when your first crush rejected you, she stood by your side when you were cramming up as much info as possible for your college entrance exams, and she's seen the fall-out you had with your parents when you ultimately failed to get into medical school and informed them that you want to follow a different path.

When they kicked you out, Cherry was the only friend you had that supported and loved you unconditionally, so no, for you, she wasn't "just a cat".

Therefore, you just couldn't accept the horrible news that every veterinary gave you; that's why you forced yourself to stay out all night and spent so much money you didn't have on consultations at 6 different clinics. So, when you finally held your cat for the last time at 6 AM this morning and said your last goodbyes, it felt like the whole world crumbled beneath your feet. The emptiness you were faced with was something you've never encountered before and coming home with an empty carrier was easily the most heartbreaking thing you've ever had to do.

But the bad day was just beginning, and as they say, worst come to worst. You went to college and took a very important exam that you couldn't focus on at all, the last exam from this semester, where you were supposed to do your best and get a high grade to ensure you won't have to pay even more money to attend classes next year, which would probably mean getting a second job.

Task failed successfully.

After your shitty exam, you went back home and just laid in bed, numb.

You awoke suddenly by your phone's ringing.

When did I fall asleep? You asked yourself confused, and concluded that you must've passed out from the weight of last night's events.

It was your friend, Eva. She was one of the only people that came to talk to you the first day at college, and she was a social butterfly, which, to be frank, didn't go too well with the introvert inside of you.

"Hello baby! What's up! Ready to party?" she asked giggling.

Oh yea, the party. You completely forgot. And it was somehow already 9 PM. How did so much time pass?

"What's up? Cherry's got your tongue?" she laughed.

Cherry... you thought, and felt tears forming in the corners of your eyes again. You don't know how much you already cried, it was like your mind blocked out the last couple of hours. What a bad habit you had, not telling anyone about what's going on in your life and about how hurt you are.

"Hi..." was everything you managed to reply.

"We're swinging by in 20! Lee Know's driving. The only responsible adult that doesn't wanna drink tonight. Can you believe that?! And girl" she started whispering "you should see him! He's wearing those black jeans you love! His thighs... He's really hot!"

"Should you say things like that when you have a boyfriend?" you mocked. Eva's been dating a guy named Chan that had a suspiciously large group of friends. You just couldn't understand extroverts, like, at all.

And in this large group of friends, there was this other dude... Minho, or Lee Know, as they liked to call him. He was stupidly attractive, but also so full of himself, you could barely stand him.

He was always such an asshole to you. In almost every conversation you two had, he was either mocking or bickering you.

That didn't make him any less attractive in your eyes, though.

That also didn't mean that you didn't have the biggest crush ever on him. And Eva knew this too well, she would always tease you about it or put you in situations where you'd have to spend time alone or talk to him.

Couldn't she see that this wasn't going to go anywhere? Minho was way out of your league. Guys like him never looked at girls like you.

"So, you'll be ready, yea?"

Would I be? You were sure that you didn't want to go out to the club tonight, but if you would refuse, Eva would start asking all sorts of questions and pestering you for answers, and if you would tell her that Cherry passed away, you were sure she would come stay with you instead of going out and having fun. This was just the type of friend she was. But it was her birthday; you couldn't do that to her. You would tell her some other time, not tonight.

"Yea, call me up when you get here."

Reluctantly, you got out of bed and rummaged through your closet for something at least a bit appropriate to wear in a nightclub. It wasn't your usual hang-out place, so you just decided on something simple: a black skirt and top; then you started doing your make-up.

No matter how many eye patches and creams you used, your eyes were still puffy like hell from all the crying.

They will notice and ask.

You started shaking at the thought of having to explain to someone that today you had to put your best friend down. You wanted to stay in denial for a bit longer. Telling it out loud would mean admitting it. It would make it real. So, to the best of your ability, you covered the dark patches under your eyes with some concealer, used some foundation to make your skin appear normal, did your make-up as good as someone could in only 20 something minutes, and you were good to go.

You felt like shit.

"Hi guys" you said in a small voice, opening one of the back doors of Lee Know's car.

"Y/N!!! It's SO GOOD TO SEE YOU GIRL!!!!" Eva said excitedly and brought you in a big hug, bringing a smile to your face.

You were thakful for Eva. No matter how horrible you felt, she always managed to cheer you up – without even wanting to. It was just her nature.

"Happiest birthday!" You replied and hugged her back. Then, you said your hellos to the two other people in the car.

"I haven't seen you in so long!!!" your best friend squirmed. "I missed you sooo much!"

"Me too." You patted her back.

Chan waved at you and asked a quick "What's up?". Next to him, Minho had the stupidest smirk plastered on his face.

"You're late. We waited for you all this time only for you to come out dressed like that? Where are you going, to the club, or to grandma's bingo night?" he mocked you.

"Oh my, Lee Know, did you forget to brush your hair before coming to pick me up? You look all messed up! Wait a bit, I think I have one comb in my bag." you replied in a sickly innocent voice.

"No, I don't think I forgot. It must've just been the girl I was with earlier that messed it up."

"Oh, fuck you." You rolled your eyes.

"You wish, princess."

This fucking nickname.

Yea, Eva was too much of a big mouth to not let Chan know that you were crushing on Minho, and Chan let it out accidentally a few weeks ago that you liked him when you lied in a game of truth of dare that you didn't find anyone in the circle attractive.

You could still remember how cringy it felt when Chan's mouth operated faster than his brain and let out mindlessly a "Don't you like that guy or something?", pointing at Lee Know. And then, when you looked Minho, you saw a shocked expression followed soon after by a dumb smirk he's been wearing since that night every time you two met, which wasn't too often lately, since you had a lot to study, but still, it annoyed the shit out of you.

Ever since then, Minho obviously poked fun at you about it and told you all the damn details about his sexual encounters to make you jealous.

Normally, you would come up with a snarky reply, but tonight you felt sick of it. You didn't need to remember how alone and unloved you are after going through the worst day of your life.

"Is it just the 4 of us?" You decided to ignore Minho and his stupid nickname.

"God, no! We're meeting the rest of them at the club."

"The rest of them? How many is that?" you chuckled nervously.

"You know, just the usual! The guys, mainly, and oh! My bestfriends from highschool are also coming! I haven't seen them in sooo long! I can't wait for you all to meet them!" Eva was way too hyped up for you. Also, new people? Maybe some other day you would've been excited too. On a good day, perhaps.

"That's great." You tried to smile, but this turned out to be once again a task failed successfully.

"You ok? You seem a bit out of it." She asked with concern.

"Just... tired. I had those stupid finals today and did crap at them."

This was partially true.

"Oh no, what would you do?!" Minho faked sympathy. "You'll get an 8 instead of a perfect 10! Tragedy!"

"Some of us care about our grades, asshole." You retorted.

"Some of us are smart enough to get good grades without studying non-stop. You should leave the fucking grades and get a life, Y/N."

"Easy for you to say when you fucking have everything."

"Guys-" Eva tried to intervene

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know, not everyone has their parents' unconditional support. Some of us have to work hard to get through college."

"Get off your high horse, everyone works hard to get through college."

"Sure, Minho, keep lying to yourself that you have it hard-"

"Fuck, I can't stand you."

"The feeling is mutual!"

"That fucking attitude is why you don't have any friends and everyone's sick of y-"

"Lee Know" Eva interrupted him threathingly "Don't say shit like that."

Huh?

"Yea, that's a pretty low blow, man." Chan shook his head in disapproval, but Minho only shrugged and left it at that.

You didn't want to overthink what Minho said. You really didn't. But... was everybody just putting up with you because you were Eva's friend? Did you really suck so bad at human interactions that you failed to become friends with anyone else in their group? Lost in thought, you didn't say anything else for the duration of the ride, your friends' conversation becoming only a distant, blurred sound.

You entered the club and headed towards the table Eva's reserved for her party. As she said, it was already full of people that were waiting for her. Mostly the boys from Chan's friends' group and some girls from college, but also 2-3 other girls you didn't recognise.

So these are the bestfriends she was talking about.

As expected, they were gorgeous and wore stylish clothes, just like Eva. You were envious of girls like them that actually had a shiny personality they could match with cute clothes instead of being... plain and boring.

You looked down at your outfit, unsure if it was actually a good choice or if Minho's been right and you truly were dressed like a grandma, and shook your head. Whatever.

"So, girls, I see you've already met the Kids!" she laughed. "These other two are my friends, Y/N and Lee Know, and this is my boyfriend, Chan, which I'm actually going to steal for a bit! I really hope you'll get along! Now, excuse me~" Eva said cheerfully and went on to hug some other people at the table, Chan following her closely behind.

"Oh my, hello. We are..." The girls came around you and Minho and introduced themselves, but you didn't catch their names.

"I like your... skirt, by the way." One of the girls said and pointed at you with a fake smile, making Lee Know cackle.

"Thanks..." you looked down, feeling conscious.

"So anyway, you're a dance major, right?" they asked interested, their whole attention turning to Minho. It became obvious that no one actually gave a shit about you being there, so you just decided to let them be and stood down, pouring yourself a shot.

Can this day get any worse?

You gulped down your 3rd shot and watched how everyone was cheerfully dancing. Maybe drinking wasn't such a good idea, since you didn't have anything to eat today. You couldn't care less, though. How else were you gonna get through the night while feeling so shitty?

"Y/N! Wanna come too? I wanna see some of your moves!" Felix asked you, smiling ear-to-ear and trying to get you to get up, but you quickly refused.

"No, thank you Lixie, I think I'm good! Go have fun!"

"Aww, ok. Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find us!" he giggled and returned to the dance floor, and just like that, you were the only one left at the table, everyone else dancing their souls out and enjoying themselves.

You hated how loud clubs were.

I should've stayed home.

Observing the fun from the sidelines, your eyes quickly caught a glimpse of Minho and one of the girls from earlier grinding on each other like there was no tomorrow. Her hips moved provocatively and Minho, being the best dancer there is, knew exactly how to move around her. Their bodies were shifting together rhythmically, and they looked like such a good couple, it made your heart sting.

He would always tell you all about how he was fucking other girls, but you've never actually seen him with one before; you assumed it was all bullshit, just another way he teased you to get a reaction out of you.

Apparently, it wasn't.

You did the only logical thing you thought of that would perhaps stop these damn feelings: you poured down your 4th shot, closed your eyes and took it like a champ, feeling it burn your throat. It tasted like heartbreak and cheap alcohol.

You couldn't take your eyes off them. Her hands were loosely around his neck, his were on her hips, the distance between them closing with every move. Her back was turned at you, so you couldn't exactly see how close their lips were, but you knew that with this proximity, a kiss was sure to follow - he caught you staring.

And he winked at you. He fucking winked at you.

You tried to keep an apathetic expression, but the overthinking got the better of you, again. This was such a shitty day. Minho would go home with that girl and fuck her brains out, and you... you would go back to your empty apartment. Cherry wouldn't be there to cheer you up this time.

You glanced over to Eva – she was having so much fun, it wouldn't have been appropriate to interrupt her with the crap you were going through.

Fuck, you wanted to forget everything for a moment so badly. The alcohol was already getting to your brain, but it had the opposite effect to what you were hoping. It just made you more emotional than you already were.

You should've eaten something. Maybe if you did, you wouldn't feel so tipsy and vulnerable.

Tears pricked your eyes once again and you decided that fuck it, you couldn't be here anymore and see Minho like this. Your heart was already broken after what happened with Cherry, you didn't need someone else to start shattering the broken pieces into even smaller ones.

You got up and quickly made your way out with tears streaming down your face, when suddenly someone grabbed your hand and jerked you back.

"What a beautiful doll, what happened sweetheart? You can tell daddy everything, daddy will make you feel better!" A disgusting man that looked at least a few decades older than you was holding your wrist tightly and looked at you hungrily. He reeked of alcohol and slurred his words.

"Leave me alone, you creep!" you screamed and pulled your hand back, determined to leave this fucking nightclub already.

You barely got out of the door, when you felt your wrist being grabbed again.

"What the fuck, I told you to fucking leave me alone!" You screamed and turned to face the man angrily.

"Y/N?"

You were surprised to see that Minho was facing you instead of the old creep from earlier.

"What's wrong?" he frowned, looking at your messed up state.

"Nothing." You quickly wiped your tears off your face. "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you leave and..."

"And what? Was playing with that girl no longer fun as soon as the audience left?" you asked. You were truly sick of this.

Deep inside, you knew it would've been impossible for him to like you back. His behaviour towards you should've been a dead giveaway, at least. But you still hoped that he would realise how well you two clicked. You had so many common interests, and before he found out you like him and start the bickering you used to talk about so many things...

Now, it seemed so obvious to you that as soon as he found out about your crush, he decided to let you down in his own way – by acting like a dick. Why were you so blind?

If you were willing to stay oblivious to his mocking words, however, seeing him with that girl dancing like that was the last nail in the coffin. You finally got it in your head that your crush was hopeless. And funnily enough, it didn't hurt at all. You doubted you were capable of feeling more hurt than you already were. Your feelings were so numb, you didn't really feel like yourself anymore. The ringing in your ears wouldn't stop. It was like you've been cut out from the world, like you weren't actually there. This wasn't happening to you. You were seeing everything in third-person.

"Did you really leave because of that?"

"Because of what? Because of the guy I like dance-fucking in front of my eyes with some random woman he just met 3 hours ago?" despite your harsh words, you asked this in the calmest way possible.

Fuck, were you feeling pathetic. You started laughing bitterly.

"You know what, Minho? That's okay. Go back inside, I'm sure she's waiting for the best fuck of her life, wouldn't want to disappoint, no?"

You smiled, patted his shoulder and turned around to leave. You didn't even remember which way was home, and the alcohol surely made it more difficult for you. But you couldn't be here anymore.

"Wait! Let me drive you home, at least. You drank a lot of shots..."

"I'd rather die than spend another minute with you right now."

"Come on, Y/N!"

"I really hope I'll never see you again." You stared at him blankly.

"You don't mean that."

"Oh, but I do. This must be so funny to you, right? Fuck you. Fuck you for playing with my feelings like that. You should've let me down when you found out a few weeks ago instead of acting like this and making me feel like shit... Fuck you, Minho. Truly."

You tried walking away from him, but managed to stumble on your feet and almost fall to the ground.

"You're drunk. We can argue more tomorrow, but now let's just go." He grabbed your arm and dragged you to his car.

You didn't have any more energy to object, so you just followed his lead blindly.

"So, care to tell me why you're still here?" you questioned, looking at how Minho watched you fiddle the keys in your hand trying to find the right one.

"Until I see you go inside, eat something and drink 3 glasses of water, I'm not leaving. You'll thank me tomorrow." Looking at his face, he had the polite cat meme expression, which brought out a small chuckle out of you.

"Finally!" you cheered and opened the door to your apartment, only to be met with... silence. Deafening silence.

You turned on the light and took off your shoes quietly. Minho did the same.

"Hey, where's Cherry? Does she not come to welcome you? My cats always run to the door as soon as my key's in! I can barely get inside without them sneaking past my feet."

You didn't reply. You couldn't.

"Oh no, water bowl is empty. Such a careless owner, Y/N. I'm disappointed in you." He shook his head playfully and grabbed the bowl from the floor, going into your kitchen, and filling it with water.

"See? Was it that hard?" he returned with a full bowl of water and seeing it just made you remember Cherry and the fact that she was really... gone.

Before Minho got the chance to put the bowl back down, you marched over to him and grabbed it from his hands with so much force, all the water spilled on the ground. Then, you also grabbed Cherry's food bowl and went directly to the trashcan in the kitchen, throwing them away.

Minho watched all of this with a confused expression.

"Hey..."

"I don't need these anymore. Cherry died this morning." You clarified in a cold tone and avoided Minho's gaze.

Admitting it out loud felt even worse than you expected. You were so irrationally angry with Minho. It was his fault you had to say it. If he didn't come here, you wouldn't have had to say it.

"Anyway, I'm home safe, so you can leave now."

"Y.N, I-"

"Just... Just leave. I'm sure that girl's wondering where you are. So please..."

You tried to force a smile, but your voice was shaking, and you couldn't stop your tears streaming down your face again, this time more aggressively than ever.

"No... Y/N, I'm so sorry... Come here." He said and came to you, pulling you into a close hug. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you alone."

"But-"

"Shh. Stop it. I'm not leaving, no matter what you say."

"I just - I can't believe she's actually gone, Minho." You cried.

"That's okay, you can let it all out. I'm here." He petted your head, and you cried your hardest, sobbing loudly and uncontrollably for what felt like 20 minutes.

Minho didn't let you go for even a second all this time. He held onto you as hard as he could, as if you would disappear if he didn't.

When he heard that your sobs became quieter and you've calmed down a bit, he looked at you and wiped a few of your tears with his thumbs. Then, he guided you to sit down on one of the chairs in your kitchen and filled a glass with water, bringing it to your lips and helping you drink.

"You're doing so well." He praised you as you gulped down the water. "Did you eat anything?"

You shook your head.

"Okay. Let's see what you have here."

He went to your fridge and grabbed a few eggs and some cheese. A few minutes later, he was done cooking an omelette and placed the plate on the table.

"Here, open up!" he smiled and brought the fork to your mouth.

You complied. Minho's never been so gentle with you, not even before, when you were "friends" and not teasing each other non-stop.

"Is it good?"

You nodded and he continued feeding you, until the whole plate was empty. Then, he filled the glass of water once again and gave it to you to drink.

"Good girl. Let's get that make-up off and get you changed." He grabbed your hand gently and guided you to your bedroom, not seeming to care about how messy it was.

You stood on your bed and watched him pull out some cleaning pads from the open package on your desk. He wiped your foundation off with the make-up remover and then instructed you to go wash your face. When you finally came back to the bedroom, he asked you to change your clothes.

"Do you need my help, or can you dress yourself?"

"I'm... fine. Thank you."

"Can I also have some cosy clothes, please?"

"Why? Are you... staying?"

"Of course." He smiled sweetly.

You rummaged through your closet and found some large pants and a t-shirt and gave them to him.

"Thank you! Let me know when you're done so I can come back."

He exited the room and let you change in peace.

"I'm all changed..." you opened the door and saw him standing there, waiting for you.

"Good! Those pyjamas are so cute!" he cooed at you, making you giggle.

"You're like a little kid." You replied, smiling a bit.

You didn't understand why he wanted to sleep over or why he was taking care of you like this, but you also didn't want to question it right now. You were too strapped of energy.

He guided you to the bed and laid down behind you, covering both of you with a blanket. Then, he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer to his chest. So close, you could feel his breath on your neck.

"I'm really sorry about Cherry. She was a great baby."

"The best." you replied with a sleepy voice. It was getting hard to keep your eyes open, all the events of today weighting heavily on your eyelids.

"My three cats would disagree." He chuckled, while gently caressing your arm with his fingertips, and it wasn't long until you drifted off to sleep.

You felt an empty space beside you as you slowly opened your eyes and glanced at your sheets.

Was it just a dream? You asked yourself, dread washing all over you when thinking that Minho's never been with you last night. Maybe you were really going insane. Some people are capable of dealing with grief in a normal, healthy way, other people go crazy. You were definetly the crazy type.

You took small steps to get out of your room and knocked on the bathroom door. No reply. You slowly opened it, but it was obvious no one was inside. Then, with the same small, unsure steps, you headed towards the kitchen. No one there, either. Apart from you, the apartment was completely empty.

Despair was rapidly settling insite of every corner of your mind as it dawned on you again that you were so utterly alone.

Just then, you heard the key turning in the front door lock. Minho was balancing two bag carriers on his shoulders; another one stood still on the ground in front of him.

"Can I get some help here?"

"W..."

"Have you been crying again?" he frowned.

Have you? You didn't notice you did, but you wet cheeks said otherwise.

"You didn't think I would leave you, did you?" he continued. "So anyway, Y/N, these are Soonie, Doongie and Dori. It's the first time you're meeting them, right?" he was short of breath and barely able to talk after carrying the three fur babies.

"... yea, it is."

"I cleaned Cherry's bowls before leaving to grab the cats and I didn't bring any others, so please don't throw them away again. Oh, I brought another litter box and some more food, though; everything's in the car. Let the cats out and say hi to them while I go grab the other things. I'll be quick!"

"Minho, wait! What's going on?" you grabbed his sleeve and stopped him from leaving.

"Woah" he scoffed. "You really thought I left you here alone! Tsch, what a dumbass." He poked your forehead.

"I don't... get it." You replied, covering the spot he hit with both your hands.

"Y/N, I thought you knew me better than this. There's no way I'd let you stay by yourself after you lost your best friend! We'll be crashing here for a bit, even though the three catsketeers are used to more space... now that I think about it, we should've crashed at mine."

"But... I mean... it's not like you've been the kindest to me until now, yknow? You also said no one could stand me... So why...?"

"I just wanted to get back at you. I was a dick and I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

"But..."

"You should shut that pretty mind of yours off for a minute and stop overthinking, or I will do it for you."

"My mind...?" you asked, confused. "How could you shut off my mind?"

"You know what I mean." He winked.

"No, I don't." you smirked. "You should show it to me."

"Princess, you know I would blow your mind." He took a threatening step forward, closing the distance between the two of you.

"Is that a promise?" you glanced at his glossy lips, then raised your head to find his eyes staring directly into yours.

Suddenly, his lips were pressing on yours as your back somehow found the nearest wall. Despite your feelings being all over the place, nothing ever felt so right than kissing Minho. It was like all the teasing from the past weeks was fuel to your kisses; like your tongues waited for this moment all this time.

Just as his lips met your jawline, a loud "MEOW!" echoed behind him, catching you both off-guard.

"Fuck, we forgot to let the cats out!" you both chuckled.

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(A/N) 5K Words, everyone!

Hope you liked this story. It's inspired by two songs by MARINA:

- Miss Y (especially the lyrics: I feel like a substitute sitting on a sideline // I walked all night long in the dark just to be standing here, only to feel like nobody I'm Miss Y am I here?)

- The Outsider (Feeling like a loser feeling like a bum, sitting on the outside observing the fun //  I look myself in the face and whisper "I'm in the wrong place" // All I know is I cannot pretend, so I'm sitting on the outside again)

Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think!  <3