-Chapter 8-

Flashlight

You weren’t exactly sure how you made it to this particular aisle at this store you and your family were currently in, and you weren’t completely sure of the exact motive as to why your eyes were scanning the array of packaged flashlights hung around the aisle.

Usually when you came out of your house, all you wanted to do was to completely take your mind off the invisible entity stalking you in your own home. However during the car ride to the store this time around, all that preoccupied your mind was him- Luhan. And it was not ill thoughts that floated around in your mind but rather curious, slightly adventurous ones for the first time ever.

With all that in mind, here you were now- standing alone in the utility aisle, looking at flashlights. Almost instantly after formulating your plans for Luhan during the car ride here, the need to buy a flashlight had sprung out to you. You weren’t particularly sure why, but you were just hoping more than ever that this plan of yours would actually work out…

“This flashlight is too big… and this one requires way too much force to turn on…” you kept on murmuring to yourself, your voice almost becoming a drone in the background. Your ears perked up at the sound of footsteps pacing towards you from the side. (It almost became a habit for you to be alerted by the sound of footsteps no matter where you were since you were so used to this routine at your house).

You twisted your head to the side only to see a familiar face. “Sehun?” After being hunched over the selection of flashlights for about ten minutes now, you finally straightened yourself up and turned to face your older brother who was striding towards you.

“Mom and dad are pretty much done looking for a new mirror. They went off to pay for it now so they told me to come and get you.” There was something about Sehun’s tone that seemed a bit out of the ordinary to you. It almost seemed as if he was trying to conceal some type of dreariness he was feeling. He seemed perfectly fine this morning so what had gotten to him anyways? Sehun looked off to the side and gazed at the flashlights hung before you. “Why are you looking at flashlights?” he slowly asked as his eyes trailed back down to look at you.

There was a slight pause once you heard the question. Your mind had suddenly gone vacant against your own will and you were left literally speechless and unable to answer his question. Thankfully enough, you were able to break away from Sehun’s consuming eye contact and you continued in your search for the right flashlight. “Um, you know…” you uneasily started as casually as you could. “I figured… it would be best to have a flashlight handy. Just in case of emergency.”

You stopped yourself from allowing a long sigh of relief from slipping past your lips once you had seen Sehun nod to your response. You continued in your search but felt a bit unsettled since Sehun was now staring down at you. Not only that but you could almost feel the impatience radiating off of Sehun right now so you were finding it increasingly difficult to find anything now. Once again, you had Luhan to thank for your paranoia of being watched…

Sehun suddenly cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence in the air. “Jaeyun,” he started, stuffing his hands into his pocket and looking away from you. “Today, I was talking to my friend Chanyeol. You know him, right?”

“Yeah, he’s the tall one with the deep voice right?” you replied back, picking up one flash light and looking it over in your hands.

“Yeah, that’s the one…” He nodded. As he continued on, his tone seemed to have gotten a bit bitter. “Chanyeol told me how he met up with you yesterday… is that true?” Sehun was carefully observing your reactions to his words but became a bit irritated when he noticed that you seemed more interested in your search than in the topic at hand. “Jaeyun.” Sehun firmly called out.

“Yeah, he did.” You unconcernedly replied back with your eyes and mind still away from Sehun. Sehun felt his eyebrow twitch slightly at your complete lack of concern. He felt himself beginning to grow a bit weary as anger started to well up in the pit of his stomach. Sehun tried hard to stay calm though.

“Tell me the truth Jaeyun. Did he ask you out on a date?” he carefully asked. You simply nodded in response. Sehun let out a sharp sigh at the small gesture. “And did you accept?”

“Ah, I think I’ve finally found one!” you abruptly burst out. You picked up a small black flashlight and marveled at it in your grasp. You were so excited that you hadn’t even heard a word Sehun had said. Anxiousness was now racing inside you as you walked past Sehun to exit the aisle. You stopped dead in your tracks when you suddenly felt tight pressure on your arm. You look over your shoulder only to see Sehun almost brutally clutching onto your arm with his eyes still looking down at the ground. “Sehun, you’re hurting my ar-“

“Answer the question Jaeyun.” Sehun firmly demanded, still refusing to look you in the eyes. You silently stared up at him, a bit intimidated by his tone and mannerisms. “Did you say yes to a date with him?” Sehun asked, finally snapping his head down to look down at you.

“Y-yeah… I did…” you weakly replied back. In a flash Sehun turned around to fully face you and his grip on your arm strengthened.

“Why would you do that Jaeyun?! Why would you say yes to him?” Sehun harshly rebuked.

“B-because he asked me…” you hastily uttered out, looking around in the hopes that no one was witnessing or hearing you two.

“So you’re just going to accept any offer any guy gives you, is that it?! You know better than that Jaeyun!” You winced slightly at the immense pressure of Sehun’s grip on your arm. Bringing up all your courage, you were able to retaliate back.

“I was just doing it to be nice to him!” you ripped your arm out of Sehun’s grip and stared deep into his eyes. Your eyes softened at him and you continued on in a calmer tone. “Why are you always doing this to me Sehun…? Why do you always get so angry at me whenever it involves me and some guy?” You paused. “…Just explain to me why you’re getting so angry about this thing with Chanyeol?”

Sehun fell silent. He stared back into your eyes and just from looking into his eyes alone, you could tell that so many things were rushing through his mind at once. His cold demeanor appeared to have finally melted into a look full of sadness. Finally without breaking your stare, ever so faintly he finally spoke.

“How can you still wonder why I get so angry… after what had happened years ago…?”

Just a few measly seconds had past until realization suddenly dawned on you. You gazed up at Sehun, stunned and rendered speechless. I… never thought I’d see the day he’d bring it up again… Almost involuntarily, you turned your back on Sehun and speedily walked out the aisle without saying a word.

Sehun took a step forward with his arm extended out towards you but stopped once you were out of sight. He let out a sigh as his arm dropped back down to his side.