☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧ Aisha POV･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

"I'm sorry. I love you guys."

The last bell rang, everyone fled from their classrooms into their last period. The nine of us stayed where we were though. They stared at me, all thinking something, most roughly along the same lines. I took a deep breath. I went from serious, never talking to anyone all the way to Sorry, I love you in a matter of around 2-3 hours. They all had my heart. They knew that deep down I love them too much to shut them out fully. I couldn't live without them. I need them.

It's not too late...

Ignore the voices.

Listen to us, Aisha.

I SAID IGNORE THE VOICES even though you know you want to listen. You have no choice.

I have a choice. They will go away soon except we might never go away. You can't get rid of us.

My expression must've gone blank at the sound of the voices because Hyunjin grabbed my hand, trying to get my attention. I looked at him, blushing as soon as my eyes met his.

"Aisha, are you okay?"

A tear ran down my face one last time. "Yeah," I told him, sighing. "I'll be alright,"

At least that's what you think.

"I love you," A voice came from one of the other seven people in the room. I turned to see who said that, but I didn't know who to match the voice with. Then he spoke again.

"I've always loved you, Aisha. We all have." Jeongin spoke up from the corner where he stood. "You're the first person I can actually mess around with who's younger than me." A small giggle came from the depths of my soul.

They all were still stunned by my sudden emotion, almost like it was abnormal. And if I'm being honest, it kind of was. I shouldn't have listened to the voices. Don't say that, we're protecting you.  A slightly stressed out look appeared on my face. I tried shaking it off as quickly as possible so they didn't question it. Thankfully, they didn't.

I looked down, only to look up again at the feeling of Chris coming to hug me again.

"C-Chris-" I could see Jisung coming over to hug me again as well.

"Oh no not you too Jisung,"

Jeongin must've taken that as an invitation, because he came to hug me too, followed by Hyunjin, Seungmin, Changbin, and Felix. But Minho never did. He stood there this time, waiting for everyone to stop crowding around me. Unfortunately for him, though, it took 15 whole minutes.

Felix's arms wrapped around my waist tightly. I could feel his breathing on my neck. Not wanting to do anything about it, I stayed still. The warm feeling of him on me was comforting. All of our body heat crammed together with us, getting trapped in the gym closet. Somehow, we managed to heat up the entire closet, despite how big it is.

When we broke apart, everyone was smiling again. I'm glad I could do that, at least for them. Chris smiled at me, genuinely happy. I couldn't help but smile back. The only person who wasn't smiling was Minho. Did something happen? Did he not like me?

"What's wrong?" Seungmin asked me.

I looked at him, acting a little more squirrel-ish than intended. "Oh nothing," I lied.

"It's good to have you back. We really missed you. Please, never leave us again," Changbin said.

No promises.

Shut up.

You'll regret this all, Aisha. Just watch.

"Now that there's no more tension, can we please make a pact?" Jeongin asked.

"Why?"

"So then nothing like this happens ever again,"

We all looked around at each other, silently agreeing that it was a good idea. No more pranks, no more problems.

"Deal?" Jeongin said, putting his hand in the middle of the circle we created. He stuck his pinkie out as a promise. Everyone else did as he did, putting our pinkies in the middle like him. My eyes locked with Minho as we both did so. There was a tension between us, and I couldn't tell what type of tension it was.

"Let's take turns saying something," Chris suggested. "I'll go first. We'll promise to never keep secrets from each other. If we do, then we have to be open up about it once we're ready,"

Jisung: "Promise to never hurt each other, physically, mentally, or emotionally. Including pranks,"

Minho: "To apologize and make up as quickly as possible after a disagreement, fight, or anything else that happens."

We all knew what Minho was referring to. His eyes were on me as he said it, I gave him a weak smile so he knew that I forgave him. Everyone shifted their gaze towards me to see my reaction to this. A sigh of relief came from the majority of people in the room, making me feel less tense.

Jeongin: "Promise to always be here for each other, no matter what happens or what the other person did,"

Seungmin: "Promise to accept the flaws and past of everyone by not judging anything that's happened back then to anyone. Forgive and Accept,"

We all nodded our heads at what Seungmin said, agreeing that it was a good idea. It almost slipped my mind, too.

Hyunjin: "Promise to not get mad over other people's feelings, or opinions," He said, glancing towards me while he said it. "Whether you feel the same way or not."

Everyone seemed slightly unsettled by Hyunjin's promise, but we glossed over it as if no one felt that way.

Me: "Promise to respect   each other's thoughts, feelings, opinions, and boundaries."

Felix: "To always be loyal and honest with each other, and to not break any of these promises unless it's an emergency."

"That's two," Seungmin pointed out. Everyone laughed. "It's fine," Chris insisted.

Changbin: "Promise to choose our battles wisely. If someone doesn't then make sure we're there for them,"

Chris: "To love each other unconditionally. Whenever one of us is sad, give them space or cheer them up."

"You already did one too, Hyung." Seungmin commented again. We all chuckled at his comments. Chris smiled, laughing at Seungmin's statement as well.

"Just wanted to throw in another one," Chris explained.

Changbin piped up. "We should be writing these down,"

Right after Changbin's words, the bell rang again, signaling it was the end of the day and we could go home.

"Let's go," Chris said. We all began leaving the closet except for Minho, Felix, Hyunjin, and I.

Felix and Hyunjin looked at me, then back at each other again. "You guys can go, I'll be with the others in a second." Understandingly, they left me and Minho alone to talk. He stared at me. I stared at him back.

As soon as they stepped out of the room, his voice broke the silence.

"Aisha..." He exhaled as if he was holding his breath. His emotions finally showed through on his face. A tear rolled down his face for the first time I'd ever seen. Even when his cat passed away he didn't cry in front of us, and he was six.

"I'm sorry. I've been sorry since the moment I sent the message. It was me who told you Hyunjin died. I was stupid- I shouldn't have done that," He wiped away the tear.

As much as I was shocked, and a little pissed off, past is past. It's time to forgive. But before I did, I wanted to at least know the reason.

"Why?"

"Because..." He took a deep breath. "Don't tell anyone..." I nodded my head, promising I won't.

"I have a crush on Hyunjin," 

(Extra long chapter for y'all! I hope you guys enjoyed~  Make sure to star the chapter! Love you all, and I'll see you in the next chapter hehe :D)