"He got her text, and then without a second's thought, he just left the house to meet her." sighing, Lindsay finished explaining the story of how her romantic serenade with Namjoon was shattered just as quickly as it had started.

"Really?" Laila exclaimed shaking her head in disbelief. "After all that, he just left you all alone?"

Lindsay nodded with a heavy heart as she tore off the page of her notebook on which she had been trying to sketch some drawings to distract herself from the sorrow and anger she felt towards the world. Alas, not even her passion for the arts was able to provide her with a haven from her turmoil of destructive thoughts.

Lindsay and Laila found themselves perched on the weathered cement steps in front of Laila's doorstep under the blazing afternoon sun. The air hummed with the distant melody of car horns and the rhythmic patterns of footsteps on the pavement, as another day of a bustling urban lifestyle unveiled itself.

Laila's heart ached as she was met with the sight of her dear friend slightly sniffling before swiftly wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her baby blue sweater.

"It's just," she sniffled, straightening up a bit from her previous hunched over position while she was furiously sketching out her thoughts. She took a deep breath. "Why does it always have to be her? Why does he always choose her?" Her last words were barely audible. Barely even a whisper and it was laced with such longing.

Laila could only purse her lips as she mulled her friend's words in her head. She finally rested a gentle hand on Lindsay's shoulder, as a reminder that she didn't have to do this alone. "I'm not entirely sure, Lindsay." she whispered, her eyes absentmindedly following the vehicles on the streets as they zoomed by.

"But I know one thing." she said firmly before tilting Lindsay's head to meet her gaze. "I know that Namjoon loves you."

No sooner has these words left Laila's lips did Lindsay simply remove her face from her grasp with a hurt expression glazed across her eyes. Hunching over, she proceeded to doodle more lines and figures on her parchment papers, pretending to ignore the words that her friend had uttered in hopes of comforting her. Yet, they only elevated the sinking sensation in her heart as she knew that the chances of Namjoon falling for her was improbable.

"Look, you have to believe me, Lindsay." Laila desperately tried again, reaching out and gently shaking Lindsay by the shoulder. "Remember when he rescued you from those kidnappers? He risked his life for you, Lindsay. When you were being attacked, he could have just stepped aside and called the cops to handle everything, but he didn't. Instead, he let himself get beaten up, he almost bled to death just to ensure that you wouldn't leave that alleyway with nothing more than a few scratches."

Reaching out across Lindsay's lap, she closed her friend's sketchbook before clasping her face in her hands and making her look into her eyes again. Lindsay's somber soft brown eyes gazed back at hers. Gently taking her hands, Laila gave them a soft and reassuring squeeze.

"And didn't you say..." she started with a small smile. "That after the night of your kidnapping, when you were having nightmares about the storm, he climbed into bed with you and held you close to him while reassuring you from your fears? He accepted your past with nothing but pure love and he apologized for hurting you so deeply with so much regret in his heart, and not to mention that he fell asleep while holding you, to make sure you were protected during the night?"

At the mention of that recent night when Namjoon had chased the demons of her past away, Lindsay couldn't help but let a soft smile linger on her lips. She blushed pink when she reminisced the deep late-night conversations that she and Namjoon had shared as they both spilled their darkest pasts to each other through the midst of their cracked hearts.

When they listened to each other with open hearts, when she learned just how abused and constricted Namjoon was by his parents just as much as she was by hers, when they hugged and promised each other that they'd help each other be the best version of themselves... those tiny cracks in their damaged hearts were concealed for the very first time with sweet love and understanding.

She remembered that night on the couch she had spent with Namjoon's blemished and wounded body laid across her lap. Where she had tended to each wound with the utmost care. With each wound that she tended to, serving as a reminder of the lengths he would go to protect her.

She remembered how his eyes had widened in confusion when she had offered to tend to him as he had never been cared so deeply in such a tender fashion before. She could never forget how his eyes softened and seemed to radiate affection and pure love as he watched her tend to him.

Laila took her hand again before letting out a soft sigh. "Someone who didn't care," she said. "Wouldn't have gone through all those lengths to make sure you felt better from your traumatic nightmares. They would have left you alone to deal with them by yourself, not cradle you in their arms until the sun rise."

"And someone who didn't love you," Laila continued with the same conviction laced in her voice. "Most certainly wouldn't have insisted that you dance with them in the middle of cleaning up the house. Despite knowing that you have two left feet."

Lindsay gasped in mock offense while playfully slapping Laila's shoulder with her stack of parchment papers. "Hey!" she exclaimed with a mischievous snicker. "I danced pretty decently, alright? I didn't send him flying out the window and that's saying something."

Laila squealed and chuckled as she tried hopelessly to dodge the attacks. "Knowing you, I wouldn't have expected anything less than you somehow finding a way to get both yours and Namjoon's ankles tied up together like two strings of noodles."

This made Lindsay burst out in fits of giggles even more. Deep down, she knew that Laila had never had anything but loving feelings for her and she was not making comments like this to shame her yet to laugh with her and not at her.

"Anyways," Laila continued with a charming grin. "You have to understand that, sometimes, love is a puzzle. It doesn't make much sense and we may feel frustrated, but we should never give up hoping for the best."

"But, I really think that Namjoon has already chosen Rochelle over me," Lindsay mumbled miserably as she continued to let herself be absorbed in her sketching. "You didn't see the way he invited her upstairs to his room during that party. Besides, now she's inviting him over to her house."

Softly blowing at her bangs in frustration, Laila mulled over Lindsay's words in her mind. She had a point. Namjoon inviting Rochelle into his room during a major party and being delighted like a boy at a candy store when Rochelle invited him over, did sound really suspicious.

"Don't worry, Lindsay," Laila sighed and reassured her otherwise, resting her hand on her friend's shoulder. "A text asking him to come over could mean a lot of things and it doesn't have to necessarily mean..."

Laila trailed on and let her words get lost in the wind as she saw Lindsay's face take on a sorrowful and defeated expression. "I know," she mumbled, cutting her friend off as she continued to idly sketch. She still had her doubts over Namjoon's behavior, but she just didn't want Laila to finish that sentence before it ripped her heart in two.

Pursing her lips, Laila sighed before plastering on a cheerful smile. "Hey, so what are you drawing there, Lindsay?" she asked in a cheery tone, hoping that a change of subjects could really lighten up the atmosphere.

Lindsay briefly looked up before tilting her sketchbook to show her latest piece of work to her friend with a shy smile. "It's this new art technique I've been trying out." she explained with a proud smile. "It's called Surrealism Art."

"Interesting." Laila muttered, as she leaned forward to take a closer look.

"Yeah," sighed Lindsay glancing at the sketch. "It's an art form that depicts your unconscious mind. It consists of illogical and dream like figures but it shows how your unconscious mind perceives the world."

Leaning in closer, Laila swiftly brushed away Lindsay's hand that was partially covering her drawing. Taking the sketchbook in her hands, she tilted her head as she observed it intently.

The picture depicted a young girl trapped amidst a maze of distorted and structureless mirrors. Each mirror reflected a warped and heavily contorted image of the girl, transforming her into a series of twisted monstrous figures that made her look almost unrecognizable. On the other side of the maze of mirrors stood a boy staring into the back of the mirrors surrounding the girl.

The back of the mirrors too reflected the same distorted images of the girl in the boy's view acting as a repulsive barrier between the two.

"The guy can only see the girl's distorted image," whispered Lindsay with a hearty smile as she gently traced her thumb over the paper. "The worst reflection of herself. It causes a barricade between the two and the girl feels so hopeless and lost because the guy can never see the girl on the other side of the mirrors."

Lindsay sighed as she finally closed the sketchbook and took a deep, shaky breath. Almost as if the mere sight of the drawing which she spent half an hour creating was too much for her to look at.

"An art style that depicts the unconscious mind," muttered Laila underneath her breath to herself. Looking away for a moment, she sighed softly before reaching out and gently taking Lindsay's hand in hers.

Giving it a tender but reassuring squeeze, she smiled lovingly at her and Lindsay returned the sweet expression.

"Are you almost ready for the big biology exam next Monday?" Laila asked casually.

"Almost." Lindsay said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "I just have trouble with this one lesson."

"Hmm..." sighed Laila. A few seconds passed before a devilish smirk spread across her lips. Leaning over, she draped her arm around Lindsay's shoulders before pulling her against her side.

"Well, if you're having problems related to academics," she continued with that same teasing smirk. "It's not like you're completely helpless in the department of academic help, if you know what I mean." she flashed her a sly wink causing Lindsay to almost topple over with shock.

She felt her heart plummeting and her mind whirr with thoughts.

"Oh no, you don't mean." she started with a nervous chuckle as she witnessed her friend's grin grow even wider.

"Oh yes, I do." Laila confirmed, giggling ecstatically before playfully shoving a pink-faced Lindsay to the side.

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N : Long chapter this time. We're gonna be seeing a lot of Lindsay and Namjoon's awkward bonding moments. Hope y'all are excited for them. They are something.

Do vote and comment if y'all enjoyed! <3

Love you and I'll see y'all again with a new chapter.

Byee