N sat on the bleachers to the side of the soccer field, idly bouncing his leg as he watched the boys’ team dart around after the ball. He was filled with restlessness these days, the freedom to do whatever they liked, of being unrestrained and in the open, had made him eager to try everything that he could.

 

N had always been the one to decide on what course he and the other boys took, in terms of how they would entertain themselves in the Cage or how they would deal with Saetbyeol. More recently, he was in charge of deciding where they went and what they would do with themselves now that they had a choice of their own. He was a bit concerned by the way the others always followed along with his decisions without question, but believed that they were just trusting in him to take care of them and the more serious aspects of their lives while they got settled in the world outside the basement.

 

Though, it never seemed to stop them from arguing over everything else that he chose, from what to have for dinner to what to watch on the motel’s absolutely ancient television set (TV, what a joy).

 

Leo had made a choice of his own to try out for soccer, which he had immediately become a fan of after watching a match on TV. Being trapped in the basement did not leave them with many outlets for entertainment, but now Leo seemed to be interested in a number of sports that he saw on television and was willing to throw his normally pliant nature to the side to wrestle one of the others for the remote.

 

For the past few days, the second oldest boy had been dragging them all out to the park to learn the game in time for tryouts at school – much to the other boys’ chagrin.

 

One night, after a long afternoon practicing with Leo, Ravi and Ken had come home wailing that they could not take it anymore and that they would drop dead if they even touched another soccer ball.

 

Hongbin hit Ravi in the head with said ball.

 

When tryouts rolled around during the second week of school, the younger kids had wished Leo good luck and then proceeded to flee to soccer free zones around the school.

 

N glanced towards the school, where they were lingering until it was time to leave, no one wanting to go home alone, and N saw Ravi and Hongbin through one of the large hallway windows. An unfamiliar girl was walking with them, carrying on a conversation with apparent enthusiasm and N wondered of she was the ‘Chae’ that Hongbin had talked about meeting.

 

Hongbin was between the two, practically glowing with delight as he bridged the conversation to include both Ravi and Chae, who were still awkward with each other.

 

Ravi had a slight possessive streak when it came to Hongbin, with all of them really, but he did seem to be making an effort to at least speak to the girl today. N would count that as a win in his books.

 

“Jung Taekwoon!”

 

The trio passed by the window and out of sight just in time for N to turn back towards the field, Leo’s new name ringing out as the boy was called for his turn.

 

N cheered loudly for his younger lover, earning a few odd looks from the others on the field and giggling from a pair of girls who had come to watch the tryouts as well.

 

Leo stubbornly kept his eyes away from the bleachers.

 

N was accustomed to such a response and remained undeterred. He never had been before either. N began shooting ‘heart’ fingers and making cute faces at Leo when the other accidentally made eye contact as he and the rest of the hopefuls were being sorted into mock teams and N felt and immense surge of satisfaction at the way a dull flush began creeping up Leo’s neck and ears.

 

Being ignored was one of N’s biggest peeves and he would do anything in his power to get the other boys’ attentions back on him. Most of the time, it led to them getting annoyed with him (Hongbin and Hyuk) or ignoring him entirely (Leo). Clingy, though he may be, N was only like that with the ones he loved. Their attention was all that mattered to him, so who could blame him for fighting to get it back when it wandered?

 

When the boys below were dismissed, N and the pair of girls headed down the bleachers to greet the players and N wrapped himself around Leo as soon as he was close enough.

 

“Off.” Leo huffed, trying to elbow the elder off and failing.

 

“You did so well!” N cooed, rubbing his cheek against Leo’s sweaty one, and held on even tighter as the soft spoken boy curled in on himself in embarrassment. “You’ve definitely made the team.”

 

“Let’s go eat.” Leo murmured, tugging on N’s sleeve as he changed the subject.

 

The elder stepped back with a grin, allowing Leo to escape his hold and head for the locker room with the rest of the boys from the tryouts.

 

 

 

It was two in the morning when Ravi woke to find himself wrapped around Ken like a koala, someone else’s back pressed against his own. Hyuk and Leo were sprawled across the pair of single beds in their motel room, their turn to sleep on the beds rather than the futon they had placed on the floor between them, where the remainder of the boys curled up together.

 

Ravi untangled himself from the others with little regard to their comfort and all but threw himself towards the bathroom, not even stopping when he accidentally stepped on someone. Dimly, he heard Ken calling after him, but the sound of his blood rushing through his ears drowned the elder out. He suddenly felt sick, stomach roiling as he emptied his dinner into the toilet.

 

Warm hands swept over his face, pulling his long bangs away from his face, and another pair of hands rubbed soothingly against his back. For a moment, he was calmed by the motions before he began feeling oversensitive, everything too much to handle.

 

He wanted everything to stop. He wanted to be left alone.

 

Ravi shoved irritably at his helpers, turning to glare at them, and nearly toppled over onto the tiled floor.

 

Hyuk stared back at him passively, Ken peeking over his shoulder, the elder’s face pinched with worry.

 

Ignoring Ravi’s aggression, the maknae knelt before him, cupping the irritated boy’s face with firm but gentle hands, holding him in place but not forcing him.

 

“Breathe, hyung.” Hyuk murmured, flinching in surprise as Ravi grappled for his wrists and squeezed them tightly. “Breathe in and lock it down.”

 

Ravi bared his teeth at the younger boy, trying to prize him off and failing. Hyuk was never easily swayed and stubborn enough to keep Ravi grounded. Beneath Ravi’s fingers, the maknae’s skin had already began to redden, bracelets of bruises forming against the tan skin but still, Hyuk held on.

 

“Hyuk-ah,” Ken whined, eyes darting between the younger boys nervously.

 

“Ravi,” Hyuk murmured, leaning forward to press their foreheads together.

 

Ravi growled at him in response and jerked like he was torn between pulling away and staying where he was. He huffed a breath and met the maknae’s eyes, pushing down the insatiable itch beneath his skin and ignoring it in favor of focusing on his younger lover.

 

Hyuk smiled. Then proceeded to headbutt him.

 

Ravi hollered in shock and pain and fell back, the pain in his head overtaking all of his senses and focus.

 

“What the hell?” he shouted, clutching at his forehead as he writhed on the bathroom floor.

 

Ken looked like he was going to cry and laugh simultaneously. Hyuk just beamed at him.

 

“You can’t feel the connection anymore, right?” the younger boy said cheerfully, wearing an expression that just dared anyone to disagree.

 

“R-right.” Ravi stammered, eyes watering. He did not want to get hit again.

 

“Having a headache is better than breaking a sink,” Hyuk hummed, keeping his tone light and joking though his eyes darkened. He stood and tugged Ravi to his feet as well, hands gentle once more as they roamed over the elder’s arms and back. “Let’s go back to bed~”

 

Back in the main room, the rest of the boys were awake and watching the bathroom door anxiously. The trio emerged from the bathroom and Ken collapsed back onto the futon and into N’s arms, the pair murmuring quietly to one another. N held the other close but kept his eyes on Ravi even as he spoke.

 

“Ravi?” the leader asked, reaching for the tattooed boy once he was close enough.

 

Hyuk pressed a kiss to Ravi’s jaw before releasing him to the oldest boy. Content that Ravi was in control of himself once more, the maknae collapsed back onto his tiny bed and settled in to sleep.

 

“I’m fine now, hyung.” Ravi sighed, letting N pet his hair without protest. For once.

 

The eldest hummed in acknowledgment but held onto Ken and Ravi as he pulled them into a reclining position, Ken sandwiched between the group’s tannest members.

 

Hongbin slid in on Ravi’s unoccupied side, delivering a playful pinch to his bottom. “You stepped on me,” he huffed mater-of-factly, but tugged Ravi closer until they were flush together, the boys fitting together like pieces of a puzzle.

 

Even with the warmth surrounding him and his headache to distract him, Ravi still felt the mild buzz of irritation from Saetbyeol through his core. A flash of guilt and shame went through him when Hyuk stretched out, the streetlights peeking through the curtains and causing the bruising on the maknae’s wrists to stand out sharply against his skin.

 

A hand dropped onto his head from above and carded through his hair repetitively.

 

Ravi craned his head back to find Leo staring down at him from the bed above.

 

“It’s not your fault, Ravi-ah.” The quiet boy reassured him. “Talk to him in the morning if it still bothers you. Go to sleep for now.”

 

“Kay,” he sighed, casting his eyes back over the maknae once more. The bruises were already purple, tinged with green at the edges, and were liable to be gone when everyone woke up again.

 

He tore his gaze away from the other boy and buried his face against Ken’s back, drowning himself in the scent of his strawberry shampoo and the rhythm of his breathing, following the older boy into the land of sleep.

 

 

Unfortunately for Ravi and the others, Saetbyeol’s anger continued to simmer through their bonds, leaving all of them feeling antsy. Everything had become irrationally annoying to them and Hongbin’s eye had developed a twitch while the group waited in line for their morning snacks and caffeine. Ken had taken to tapping his foot, which only added to their ire.

 

Of all of them, Leo was the only peaceful soul, having abandoned the others on the way to the shop to get his drink first. The quiet natured boy watched his companions passively as he sipped his latte and stubbornly ignored the happenings of the world around him.

 

His tranquil aura was irritating as well, even to N, who was rarely upset with Leo.

 

“Enjoying yourself?” the leader asked sarcastically, frowning at his usually favored friend.

 

For a moment, Leo failed to respond, lost in his own mind. When it finally registered that the words were directed at him, he lifted his eyes to meet N’s.

 

“Yes.”

 

The quiet boy was as blunt as always, attitude seemingly unaffected unlike the others’.

 

N reached over to swat him, nearly falling over in an attempt to scold Leo and remain in line at the same time. With the way the others were acting, they would close in on his spot with no remorse. Actually, they would do that on normal days as well.

 

Such rude children they were.

 

“You’re trying to rile me up, aren’t you?” N accused, his lower lip jutting out into its usual pout.

 

Ahead, the line shifted and Ravi found himself at the register. He lit up at the prospect of coffee and managed to forget his irritability for the moment.

 

At the back of the line, Hongbin snorted at N’s words, poking their leader in the ribs. “You act like it’s difficult.”

 

“Biiiin!” the tanned boy whined, swatting at the wandering fingers. Hongbin only liked to pay attention to his hyung long enough to whine about his personality or to . The younger just smiled, dimples popping into place and turning his mischievous look into a mask of innocence.

 

A face capable of such a sudden switch ought to be illegal.

 

The girl behind the register looked up to call for the next customer and received the full force of Hongbin’s sweet smile.

 

Hyuk, who was at the front of the line, looked very unimpressed by the way that dazzling smile left the girl speechless. Even coffee and snacks were not enough to snap him out of his foul mood that morning. He took a deliberate step to the left, blocking Hongbin from the line of sight, and rattled off his order.

 

The cashier thankfully came to her senses.

 

The coffee was enough to make up for the minor mishap Hongbin’s loveliness had created.

 

The maknae joined the others to the side of the line as they waited on N and Hongbin, feeling his shoulders relax and droop a bit. Ken, hopeful that his youngest lover would not throw him off, dropped his head onto the tall maknae’s shoulder and cuddled up to him when there was no attempt to move away.

 

Leo threw Ken an envious glare. Their Hyukkie was so cute – Leo wanted to cuddle him too!

 

“Hongbin-hyung, when did you find out about this place anyway?” Hyuk asked, slipping his arm around Ken’s hips.

 

“Hmm?” the pretty boy hummed absentmindedly, looking over the menu as N shuffled forward to place his own order. “Jeon Chae told me about it.”

 

“Who?”

 

“His girlfriend.” Ravi said flatly, peeved that the younger had been getting along with the stranger so well and so quickly. He could have gone around with Hongbin to try out the cafes themselves. After all, that was supposed to be one of their new freedoms. It felt as if Hongbin was letting someone dictate his life’s direction once again.

 

They had just escaped one dictator. They had no need for another to wedge herself into their lives.

 

“Girlfriend!” N yelped in alarm, nearly spilling his latte on Hongbin as he spun to stare at him. “And you didn’t tell us?” Beneath his exaggerated expression of despair, there was a look of hurt in N’s eyes.

 

Hongbin gave him a deadpan look. “There is no girlfriend.”

 

“You’ve got a girlfriend already? I guess the girls around here don’t miss a chance after all...” a new voice chirped from behind them and all of the boys jumped collectively in surprise.

 

Chae smiled mischievously at Hongbin, poking him lightly in the back to move him along to the counter.

 

“Chae-ssi,” the dimpled boy sighed, one hand over his fluttering heart. His surprised expression quickly melted into one of annoyance when he registered her comments. “Would everyone quit saying I have a girlfriend!”

 

“He has a girlfriend?” the cashier whispered despondently and Hongbin gave up.

 

With an air of uttermost defeat, he gave his order and pouted.

 

Chae and Hyuk looked amused. Ravi, who had spilt a bit of hot coffee on his hand, glared at Chae. The rest of the boys looked between the trio of second years curiously.

 

Chae and Hongbin failed to notice the simmering rage that was radiating off of Ravi as they chattered to themselves about some test that they had today.

 

Not too long ago, Hongbin could turn the entirety of his attention on the other boys or Ravi in particular, focusing so intently on their presence that it removed any other from his mind. It was a defense he developed long ago to deal with Saetbyeol’s tortures and with her no longer looming over all of them like an always angry specter, it was a defense that he no longer needed.

 

To Ravi, it was the loss of something special, the loss of being someone important to someone he loved.

 

He felt as if he had been cast aside in favor of something newer and shinier. A more interesting person.

 

The girl at Hongbin’s side turned towards him and smiled and Ravi hated her.

 

Ever since Hongbin met her, Ravi had been civil at the least, and did not say a word about the interloper. His best friend was just captivated with her and her humanity, the unfamiliarity of a stranger and something different from himself.

 

Ravi, too, was curious about her and the rest of the human world and had, at times, been charmed by her complete contrast to the only other woman he had known in his life before this one.

 

Where Saetbyeol was cold and beautiful in a traditional way, with pretty feminine features and full of confidence, of the belief that no one could ever bring her down from the pedestal she had placed herself on, the girl Hongbin had befriended was more pleasant, warm and welcoming even to strangers like Hongbin and Ravi.

 

Even when Ravi turned away from her in conversation and refused to speak, there was no anger, no irritation on her part. The girl simply offered him that shy smile of hers, cheeks bunched up cutely from the movement, and turned the conversation back to Hongbin, but never left Ravi out when he was at Hongbin’s side. She never showed any of the sort of jealousy that Ravi himself felt for her budding relationship with his best friend and he hated her even more for it.

 

How could she not get angry with him, even once? Here she was, taking his best friend away from him, and being so kind about it that is seemed unreasonable to be cross with her even in the slightest.

 

(How dare she make it difficult to hate her.

 

How could he hate her, really, when she had not done anything wrong? How could he be angry with Hongbin for getting what he wanted, for finding a friend that showed him nothing but the kindness and gentleness that they had always longed for? That showed that same kindness and understanding to Ravi as well?)

 

Hongbin offered Ravi a sweet smile and an affectionate brush on the wrist, ever subtle in his gestures.

 

“I’m going to walk Chae to class,” Hongbin hummed happily through sips of coffee. “You coming?”

 

“No.” Ravi groused, turning from Hongbin and the offer so he would not have to watch the girl walk away from the counter and stand beside Hongbin. Watch her take Ravi’s place.

 

“Ra- Wonshik,” Hongbin sighed, starting to become annoyed with Ravi’s avoidance of Chae. It would be nice to enjoy the company of both his friends without Ravi pouting about everything for once. Hongbin had grown rather fond of his new friend and wanted to spend more time with her, but why did it have to be at the cost of Ravi’s company? “Fine. Be that way. Chae-ssi, I’m ready whenever you are~”

 

Chae looked at Ravi apprehensively, the tension between the two boys palpable. “O-kay,” she said, voice cracking a bit as her awkwardness in dealing with such a situation emerged.

 

She allowed Hongbin to lead her out of the cafe, calling out quiet good-byes to all of the boys present, and gave Ravi another timid look. He scowled at her.

 

After the pair left the cafe, and awkward silence fell over the boys left behind, Hyuk and Ken staring at Ravi discretely while N shuffled closer to Leo, who was still the most collected of them that morning.

 

Noticing the behavior, Ravi huffed, downing the last dregs of his coffee, which had steadily been consumed in annoyance as he watched Hongbin with his new interest, and trashed the cup before storming out of the cafe.

 

A few customers, though still clumsy with the last touches of sleep, could still recognize the thunderous expression on the boy’s face and instinctively feel the frantic magic stirring around him, out of control from his emotional turmoil. Humans may not have understood why Ravi was practically repelling them, but any magical creature could see the air rippling around him as his magic lashed about angrily.

 

“Ravi-ah!” Ken yelped, grabbing Hyuk by the hand and tugging him along after the angry boy in hopes of doing some damage control. “Let’s go together! Ravi-ah!”

 

“These kids,” N sighed, fanning himself like an exasperated, rich housewife.

 

Leo looked unimpressed with his display.

 

“Stop being an idiot so we can go.”

 

“So mean!” N pouted, trailing after the younger man into the early morning crowds. “You should be nicer to your hyung! Leo-ah, be nice or I won’t give you anymore kisses.”

 

“What an empty threat...” Leo mumbled to himself, pointedly ignoring N.

 

The older boy gave him the stink-eye.

 

The pair continued on down the street towards the high school, the crowds around them changing from sleepy businessmen to reluctantly awake students in uniforms like their own, the Boseon colors standing out brightly in the dawn.

 

N slipped his arm around Leo’s, linking them together when the crowd threatened to pull them apart, and smiled to himself as Leo tugged him a step closer, his body a long line of warmth against his side.

 

As they made their way up the slight hill to the school, a building with large windows caught his eye. From the street, he could see a dozen or so small children, dressed in leotards of varying colors, clumsily trying to follow the instructor at the front of the classroom. There were a few trophies placed proudly in the center of the window’s display and a few of the kids had become distracted by them, occasionally wandering a little too close to the shiny objects with small, grasping fingers and minds led by curiosity.

 

N tugged Leo to a stop to point them out, eyes sparkling at the adorable sight of the toddlers’ dance class.

 

“Leo, let’s have a lot of children one day, okay?” he hummed, knowing that it was an idea that Leo would enjoy.

 

As he expected, the younger man looked completely taken by the children, a look on his face that could not be anything but pure adoration.

 

Despite their long years being kept under Saetbyeol’s thumb, Leo still managed to be surprisingly soft-hearted about the more innocent majority, namely any king of animal and small children, which had his rather cold and stiff exterior breaking away to reveal his true self: a marshmallow with emotions.

 

“Cute,” Leo breathed, eyes wide and a smile twisting at his lips.

 

“How many kids should we have?” N teased, slumping over Leo’s back and herding him towards the school, knowing that they would be late if Leo was left to coo over the children. “Three? Four?”

 

“Six.”

 

“Ambitious, aren’t you?” N grinned, pinching the younger’s cheek lightly. He dodged the slap aimed at his face. “We’ll have a couple of soccer players and a dance prodigy, right? Those kids looked so cute doing ballet… I want to learn something like that too.”

 

The image of N wearing a leotard came to Leo’s mind, unbidden. The thought made him stumble, Leo turning to stare at N blankly, ears flushed.

 

“…. are you thinking something naughty, Leo-ah~”

 

“Drop dead.”

 

“You’re so dull.” N stuck his tongue out childishly at Leo. “I think I may sign up for dance classes one day. It’ll be nice to learn something fun too!”

 

“Then you’ll be gone and won’t have time to be annoying.” Leo nodded, approving of the concept. “Sounds good.”

 

“Yah!”

 

N tripped over his own feet in an attempt to slap at Leo’s shoulder, the younger dodging the hit with years of practice (and experience with getting on N’s nerves).

 

 

Despite the initial awkwardness she had felt from talking to a stranger (to anyone really), Hongbin seemed happy to hang out with her, remaining her desk-mate even after some of the other girls in class offered him and Wonshik a place in their circle of friends, and even accompanying Chae outside of class when the time came for them to make the trip to the gym or cafeteria or even to the gates of the schoolyard, where they eventually parted ways.

 

Hongbin was nice, not only to her, but their classmates as well, his refusals gentle and polite… as long as the requests themselves were polite. Hongbin was also a master of sass and capable of throwing out some subtly cutting remarks that warded off anyone who tried to suggest that Chae and Wonshik were not really worth the pretty boy’s interest. Despite his flower-boy appearance and sunshine smile, Hongbin’s demeanor could become quite chilly if someone annoyed him.

 

He was not a perfect person, or filled with nothing but kindness at every waking moment, but Chae never expected him to be. After all, was anyone?

 

He spaced out at odd times, sometimes in the middle of speaking, and, apart from befriending Chae and a boy from their gym class (Hyunwoo-ssi) who occasionally teamed up with the trio that Hongbin made with Wonshik and Chae, Hongbin did not seem interested in getting closer to any of their other classmates – though, quite a few of them were certainly interested in him. It was like he was finished filling in the rest of his ‘friend slots’ and was not taking anymore applications at this time, thank you and have a nice day.

 

Unlike Chae, though, he did not seem to have any shortage of other friends, having transferred to Boseon High with five other boys who seemed to be as close to him as family, one of which he introduced to Chae as his best friend.

 

That best friend being one Kim Wonshik.

 

Wonshik might have been considered as Hongbin’s biggest flaw – if Chae had not felt immensely guilty for even thinking the thought in passing. She had felt so rueful about the unfriendly thought that she bought both Hongbin and Wonshik an extra ice cream (which she had to sneak onto their trays to avoid any protests) at lunch to make up for it. She never actually mentioned having any negative thoughts, but resolved to be more considerate about Wonshik and Hongbin’s relationship, which she did not know all the facets of, before getting annoyed with the other boy.

 

But getting annoyed with him was no difficult task.

 

Wonshik seemed to literally repel her attempts at being friendly towards him, but welcomed Hyunwoo’s company with more grace. Though, Chae could attribute that to Hyunwoo’s time spent with Hongbin and Wonshik only accumulating to about thirty minutes every school day, whereas Chae found herself accompanying the pair of boys nearly everywhere else in school – and at Hongbin’s invitation, which seemed to annoy Wonshik.

 

Hongbin seemed exasperated by Wonshik’s less than pleasant attitude, but never seemed to say anything to the other boy while Chae was around, though he did get tense at times. If the way that Hongbin essentially left Wonshik to go along with Chae that morning was any indication, then the flower-boy was getting tired of the situation too.

 

It made Chae uncomfortable.

 

She felt like she was driving a wedge into an old relationship, sort of like a secondary drama villain or something. No thank you for that.

 

Cliche situations were not really her thing.

 

Therefore, when she happened to glance over in the boys’ direction during class only to find Wonshik glaring angrily at her once again, she decided to have a talk about him with Hongbin.

 

(It might have been a better idea to actually talk to Wonshik about it, as it was his attitude that was bothering her, but he was more than a little intimidating and she never said that she lacked in self-preservation instincts.)

 

Her opportunity to speak with Hongbin about Wonshik did not actually come until a few days later during gym class.

 

Wonshik had paired off with Hyunwoo while they did their warm-up exercises, having walked off in a huff when Hongbin asked Chae to be his partner instead of him.

 

“He’ll get over it,” the dimpled boy sighed, mostly to himself but not so quietly that Chae could not hear. “It’ll be good for him to get some distance… right?”

 

Chae watched the boy stare at Wonshik, his expression troubled as doubt filled his mind. The girl touched his arm hesitantly to draw his attention back to her and away from his worries about the other boy.

 

“Hongbin-ssi, I can ask Hyunwoo or one of the girls to be my partner if you want to go with Wonshik. I think Seola’s still looking for a partner–”

 

“No!” Hongbin yelped, grabbing her hands in alarm. At Chae’s startled jump, he remembered himself and looked flustered. “No… don’t worry about him, Chae-ssi. We all decided that we wanted to make new friends when we moved here. It’s not your fault that he’s being a brat because I’m hanging out with you too.”

 

“I still feel like I keep stealing you away from him. You’ve been friends for a long time, right? I can understand why he’s upset.”

 

“We live together though.” Hongbin shrugged. “It’s not like he can’t get me to himself at home.”

 

That doesn’t make having your friend leave you for someone new hurt any less. Chae thought uneasily, frowning at Hongbin’s nonchalance about the situation.

 

Maybe he had never been afraid of losing Wonshik’s attention to someone else, maybe he was confident enough in their friendship that he did not worry about such things, or maybe he was expecting Wonshik to eventually find a friend of his own, but to Chae, it seemed like Hongbin did not really understand Wonshik’s feelings.

 

Chae was no mind reader, and she really was not close enough to perceive Wonshik with complete certainty. She was, however, familiar with feelings of jealousy, of her old friends, of her classmates with friends of their own, and of the anxiety that came from being insecure of yourself and feeling unimportant and uninteresting.

 

Of being abandoned by your closest and most precious people.

 

It was truly frightening.

 

“Hongbin-ssi,” she tried again. “What kind of things does Wonshik like to do? Maybe we could all go do something together after school. Being left alone is – I don’t want him to feel – There’s some fun places to visit in town! Maybe we can get him to stop being so pouty.” She threw on a teasing grin at the end of her request, trying to distract from her awkwardness with a playful change of direction.

 

“Sure thing,” Hongbin agreed, smiling half-heartedly.

 

Chae had the sinking feeling that Hongbin had noticed more about her than she had intended to reveal, worried that she had come across as too desperate to fix things. That she showed just how much of loneliness she understood.

 

---

 

Here's my design for Chae!