Yoon Dalnim was drowning in her own anxiety at this point. Her mind had blanked and she was in her own doomed world to realize what she had done. It's barely the New Year but why was so much already going on?

She had just let herself miss yet another call from Chanyeol.

And now he's calling again. For sure, this wasn't just a normal call. Chanyeol must be calling her about that idiotic scandal, she was positive of it. What can she even say right now? How could she explain that this isn't what it looks like?

Dalnim was so close to answering the call, her thumb just trembling just above the button, until a hand had swiped it away from her very grasp. Young Gi turned off her phone and toss it onto the bed, farther away from her. Automatically, her feet was making its way to the phone, not even bothering to give the male any attention.

She needs to talk to Chanyeol, she has to. 

She needs to hear his voice.

But a pair of arms stopped her midway. "Young Gi, let go of me!" She shouted as she tried to wriggle out of his embrace.

But the male stayed there, head into her shoulder, squeezing her like his life depended on it. "I'm sorry," he muffled out.

"Young Gi, I don't have time for your bullshit," she hissed at him. She swatted at his arms and tried to shove him away, but the boy was persistent. He held on no matter what, even when the slur of profanities left the athlete's lips, he didn't budge. "Young Gi!"

She tried to step backwards away from his hold. Instantly, her foot hit against the desk behind her, causing the books and paper to tumble onto the wooden floor. It was right then Young Gi had let go, so to pick up the items. Dalnim watched as he did so, her feelings for her best friend horribly mixed. He claimed to love her, but then caused so many things to happen to lead her into something she wanted so desperately to avoid.

How could she ever trust him again?

Young Gi slowly rose from the ground, all the books and papers in one hand, and another item in the other. The athlete noticed that it was a disc and judging by the way Young Gi's face paled at the sight of it, it was of some importance. She glanced over at him out of curiosity, despite how fumed she was at the moment.

"Hana took it?" The tan-skinned male grumbled under his breath, words Dalnim nearly missed. His lips pursed into a thin line as his mind processed what was happening. "What the fuck... If she hadn't... Then this wouldn't have..." Young Gi's words were clustered together, a jumble of hissed words that Dalnim couldn't completely grasp. What exactly did Hana take?

Right. She was furious with him. She shouldn't even pay him any attention or whatever bull he was spouting now.

Dalnim plucked her phone from the bed and stormed out of the room. She could hear the rapid footsteps behind her and before she knew it, her wrist was grabbed on again. "Dalnim-ah--"

"You have no right to call me like that," she snapped at him as she wrenched her arm out of his grip.

"Dalnim, c'mon. Look at this." He held up the disc for her to see. She stared at it for a good couple seconds before returning her icy glare back onto him. "It's mine."

"What do you mean, it's yours?"

"This was the disc that went missing at the Christmas show," Young Gi explained, his own rage written on his face. "Dalnim, this was mine!"

"Are you suspecting that Hana took it?"

Just as Dalnim had asked the question, the very girl has ascended up the stairs, freezing when she spotted the two standing there. Hana's eyes glazed over to Dalnim, even she had a sense of fury within her. "What are you doing here?!" She snarled at the other girl. "I didn't invite you!"

"Hana, we need to talk," Young Gi cut in.

"Not until Dalnim leaves."

"Don't worry, I was just going," Dalnim uttered. She shoved past her teammate and made her way outside the front, walking out as far as she could.

She slowed down her pace into a stop, breathing heavily. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the house a good distance behind her.

What was happening?

Why was it happening?

Dalnim looked down at her phone and finally turned on the power. She was suddenly spammed with missed calls and unread messages from various people, but most from Chanyeol himself. She decided to check the other ones first, some from Yeon Kyun and Tae Ri. Their messages started off with a simple Happy New Year greeting and some teasing that if she and Young Gi were having a little too much fun together. Dalnim had cringed when she read those.

But later messages were more frantic. They were suddenly asking her why coach had called them to say that ADIDAS postponed publishing their pictures. The sickening feeling returned to Dalnim's stomach as she read that.

It was because of her.

Her team was hurting because of her.

The sudden buzzing nearly had her drop her phone onto the ground. Yeon Kyun was calling her right now. Gulping down, she answered the call.

"H-Hello?" She meekly responded.

"Where the hell are you?!" Her unnie's voice rang out through the speaker.

"I'm outside."

"Back?"

"Front."

"Don't you move your ass. Tae Ri, Hye Rin, and I are coming to you." The phone call then dropped right after. It didn't take too long after until Yeon Kyun's car screeched to a stop right by Dalnim.

The passenger seat window rolled down to show all the girls inside, all with worry etched on their faces for the poor girl. "Come on, girl. This party was a bust anyway," Tae Ri told her with a warm smile. With a nod, Dalnim hopped right into the back with Hye Rin, who wrapped her arms around the older's body, holding her close to her and her head on her shoulder. Dalnim smiled at the gesture and hugged the maknae, thankful that she knew what exactly she needed. The four made their way back into the city and drove all the way to Dalnim's apartment.

"Let's have a sleepover, unnie!" Tae Ri suggested as the car was parked in the apartment parking lot. "We need a girls night in. We can watch movies, drink all the cocoa we want, and gossip--"

"Tae Ri," Yeon Kyun cut in, giving her a stern glance. She then bared a reassured look over at Dalnim, who had been abnormally quiet the whole car ride here. "We don't have to gossip."

Dalnim grinned at the three girls, shaking her head dismissively. "It's okay. And a sleepover sounds really good right now. Would you guys like some hot chocolate? I could make some for all of us."

"Oh my god, yes please!" Hye Rin beamed, latching onto her unnie's arm in excitement. "That's exactly what I need right now."

They all stepped out of the car and the four walked over to the apartment building, now enthusiastic to start the unplanned sleepover. But as they got closer to the entrance, they noticed a slumped figure standing right in front of the doors, sleeping. Even if she didn't see his face, his body structure was enough for her to know who it was.

The one she may have tried to avoid but wanted to see the most at the moment. 

She hurried forward, leaving the girls behind towards the man. She placed a hand on his shoulder and felt how thin the sweater was. He jolted awake at her touch, his tired brown eyes meeting her own. Once coming to his senses, he then launched himself onto her into a crushing hug, causing Dalnim to topple onto him in surprise. "Why weren't you answering my calls?" Chanyeol muffled into her wavy locks, holding her even tighter than before.

 It was a cold embrace. Chanyeol was frozen to the touch and that was enough to bring tears to Dalnim's eyes. If only she were careful enough to prevent this, if only she didn't just stroll around so carelessly, her head way up in the clouds, this wouldn't have happened. If she weren't as oblivious, if she had opened her eyes to the clues that were laid out in front of her, she could've taken care of Young Gi as well.

And here was Chanyeol who outside waiting for her, ignoring whatever he was supposed to be doing as an idol because of her lack of answering his calls.

He was on the brink of getting ill because of her idiocy. 

Dalnim couldn't even imagine why people would look up at her, whether it be fans or her own friends. Sometimes she could be assertive, but she's someone who will make mistakes too and will break.

"I'm so sorry," Dalnim sobbed into his shoulder, clutching onto his body. "I'm sorry I couldn't answer your calls, I was too scared to."

"Dalnim." Chanyeol pulled away to look her directly in the eyes. With hands gently caressing her face, he wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "You know that I could never be mad at you, okay? It's not your fault that any of this happened. Trust me, we'll get through this. Just ignore looking on the internet for now, ignore the media."

The crying girl nodded her head at him, agreeing to his words. She was just overwhelmed at how drastically things have changed for her and the people around her. She couldn't help feeling that underlying guilt, but Chanyeol was right. They'll find a way to emerge through this and turn things for the better.

It has to.

Chanyeol took notice of the other three volleyball players and bid them a hello, stepping away from Dalnim just slightly. "Hi, I'm sorry for suddenly being here. I just had to make sure Dalnim was okay."

"Chanyeol-sshi, how long have you been waiting here?" Yeon Kyun asked him, just as concerned as Dalnim was.

Chanyeol checked his watch. "About forty minutes."

"Oppa, aren't you freezing?" Tae Ri replied.

"Just a little cold," he shrugged off.

Dalnim frowned at this. "Come on. You're coming in with us before you get a cold." She shoved her into her building with the swipe of her card to unlock the door. The five of them hurried up to her floor and to her very apartment. Once inside, Dalnim was quick to grab the extra blanket from her hallway closet and wrap the lanky man in its warmth. "I'm going to make you all hot chocolate, okay."

"But Dalnim-ah..."

"No buts, Chanyeol."

While Dalnim was in the middle of making the sweet, hot drink, she overheard her friends and Chanyeol talking to one another. She could feel her cheeks burning when she heard the girls bombard the idol with questions of their mysterious relationship.

The two had quoted that they were childhood friends back at the ADIDAS photoshoot. But after seeing how the two of them acted upon seeing each other, there were definitely some questions that needed to be answered about the two. Dalnim will admit, it was a bit sudden on how things changed between the two, but these feelings have been brewing for years now. It's about time that her and Chanyeol developed a relationship more than friends.

And judging by the high pitched squealing and the non-stop chatter after what seemed like a calm conversation, Chanyeol ended up telling the girls the truth.

She walked out to the living room with a tray full of mugs of hot chocolate. After setting the tray on the coffee table and handing out the sweet drink to everyone, she made herself comfortable on the couch, squeezed in between Tae Ri and Chanyeol. 

"Dalnim-unnie! I cannot believe you haven't told us a thing about this," Hye Rin whined before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. Her hand pressed onto onto her cheek and a dreamy sigh left her lips. "You two are seriously the cutest. I totally shipped this from the beginning."

"Sure you did," Tae Ri chimed with the roll of her eyes. The youngest shot her an annoyed glance for the snarky comment, turning her head away with a pout to her lips. "But, trust me, unnie, you two look great together. I hate that this had to happen to you."

"I agree," Yeon Kyun put in. "We'll help you with this crap, Dalnim-ah. We'll help clear up this mess. With the scandal and the ADIDAS photos!"

Dalnim beamed at the three girls. "Aigoo, you guys are too much," she murmured before getting lost in the sweetness of her drink. She glimpsed over at Chanyeol and couldn't help but smile. 

Of course they weren't alone. She also knew that the other members of EXO were behind them, as well as their own families.

It really did make her feel better. 

"I should be leaving soon," Chanyeol muttered with a grimace as he stared down at his Christmas watch. "It's getting quite late and my manager won't stop spamming me with voicemails and messages.

All four of the girls were quick to reject the idea.

"Are you sure you have to go? It's way too late," Dalnim frowned. She tucked the tall man tighter with the blanket she provided him. "You're not completely defrosted yet."

His arm snaked around Dalnim's shoulders, pulling her close to him. "Well, then, I guess I'll have to stay a little longer to get warm, hmm?" 

"Oh my god, guys. Get a damn room."

"Unnie, please. My eyes."

"There are minors in this room, unnie."

Dalnim made sure to glare intensely at her teasing teammates. 

But, being here right now, with four people she cared a lot about, made her nearly forget about the cruel reality. 

She knew what's there to come. 

Questionings, interviews, endless attention.

Yoon Dalnim will just have to prepare for it... but not right now.

"Guys, let's play some video games or something. I'm not one bit sleepy!" Hye Rin suggested as she burst out from her seat. "Unnie, unnie, what games do you have?"

"A lot," Dalnim murmured in reply as her eyes shifted over to the cabinet where all her video games and consoles were stored in, untouched for she doesn't know how long. "But, I'll have you guys know, I will kick all your asses."

"We'll see about that," Chanyeol chuckled as he stood up and made his way over to the very cabinet. He searched through her decent collection of games and slipped out one that caught his eye. "Smash Bros? You're all going to get destroyed."

"You wish!" 

"Aish, stop flirting, you two. You're already together!" Tae Ri butted in. "Besides, I'm going to be the one kicking everyone's asses. Even your's oppa."

"It's on."

And so the five played until the sunrise, only to crash straight after the long night. 

Such an eventful start to the new year.

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A/n: Pfft, I feel like this chapter could have gone so much better. But... I wanted it out of the way, because I'm really revving to write the next chapter. And yes, I may have named this chapter after whatever came up randomly in my playlist. 

To be honest, I want to end this story hopefully less than ten chapters after this. I don't know. We'll see where I'll take this. 

I ALSO RECOMMEND EVERYONE TO WATCH SALUT D'AMOUR. THEY HAVE IT SUBBED OVER AT KISSASIAN.COM SO GO GO GO!