"Does it still hurt...?" 

Seohyun passed him a bottle of water, which he took and downed desperately. He rubbed the back of his leg, and shook his head. "I'm okay now. But you sure know how to kick noona". Seohyun bowed again for the umpteenth time that night, embarrassment blushing her cheeks. "Were you discharged today?" 

Chanyeol cleared his throat, and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "no I um.. actually snuck out". He immediately stretched out his hands, almost ready to calm her down when her eyes widened from shock. "What do you mean you snuck out!? Chanyeol-ah!"

He handed her the bottle of water he just drank from, offering her to drink. "Calm down noona. I-

He suddenly flinched when she raised her hand, as if she was about to hit him. "You're going to be discharged in a couple of days you know. There's no point in sneaking out!" He nodded in response, but began fiddling with his hat, "I wanted to see Kris hyung..." 

He sighed and muttered quietly. "If it wasn't for him, I probably would have collapsed during the event".

"What do you mean?" 

"I... was really exhausted that night. I thought it would've been okay, but I also came down with a fever", he put his head down just from remembering the incident and continued. "And around the middle of the event, my vision started to become blurry and I suddenly felt dizzy. Somehow, Kris hyung noticed I wasn't feeling very well. I didn't really realize it until I woke up on a hospital bed, but he actually guided me throughout the event. He even covered up the mistakes I made during our performance"

"But after the event he...?"

"I know", Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck and smiled weakly. "I wanted to thank him after it ended. To tell you the truth, we're not very close... So I was even more surprised that he was the only one to realized I was sick. Out of all people anyway". He took a short pause, and seemed to have drifted elsewhere. She watched him a bit closely and waited for him to continue. "But after the event he ran out. And I guess thats when I just gave up and collapsed. But I found out later from our stylist that hyung had ran off because he was looking for our manager. And apparently he was as angry as hell", he smiled at the last part. 

"Manager Kang was the only person who knew I was sick", he explained. "And... Kris hyung got mad that he forced me to go on stage". He laughed rather emptily, and ran his fingers messily over his hair. "He's quite unpredictable really. That hyung"

Seohyun felt something hit her in her gut. She had said all those mean things to Kris earlier that day, and felt like punching herself. "I didn't know a thing..."

But Chanyeol continued, oblivious to what she had just said. "Kris hyung told me not to tell the others about this though", he stared blankly at the ground and sighed. "I know it's wrong but it's the least I could do since he helped me. But the others still think badly of him..."

Seohyun nodded understandingly. It was so complicated. Or rather, he was just so complicated. But maybe not 'bad' complicated. The latter suddenly tore his gaze from the ground when he realized something. "Noona! You can't tell this to anyone okay? I wasn't supposed to tell anyone but I heard you ran after Kris hyung after I collapsed and-"

Seohyun smiled a bit and patted him on his shoulder. "Calm down. I won't mention a thing". He smiled at her sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks noona"

"What are you doing here?"

Both Seohyun and Chanyeol jumped with a jolt, and immediately staggered up from their sitting position when they realized who it was.

"Out of all people..." Seohyun felt like smacking herself.

Kris walked ever so slowly into the room, his eyes emitting lasers at the sight of Chanyeol. "Hy-hyung", Chanyeol gulped as Kris' burdensome stare begun to sink in. Kris stood tall and stern infront of him, still burdening him with his cold glare. "What are you doing here? Do the others know you're outside?" 

Chanyeol shook his head slowly, and peered a glimpse at Kris. "What if the others decide to visit you at the hospital? What are you going to do?" Chanyeol once more, felt himself growing smaller, like a child being scolded. "I-I wanted to see you hyung. That's why I came here", he swung his foot lightly on the ground, his eyes darting everywhere except at Kris.

Seohyun herself, couldn't look at Kris. She couldn't bring herself to. She had done wrong. She felt guilty. 

"There aren't any reporters in front of the building. But to be safe, we'll take the stairs and go through the back". Chanyeol slowly raised his head, and blinked with confusion at him. "We have to go back to the hospital, right?", Kris asked him in his 'as a matter of factly' tone. But this didn't seem to affect Chanyeol as his eyes immediately lit up just thinking about the elder's accurate plan. He nodded in response, but more enthusiastically than he was supposed to.

"And you"

Seohyun flinched at the thunder of Kris' voice, and glanced at him. "Yes you", he bent down to match her eye-level, and lifted her chin to face him. "You're coming with us too". Seohyun almost shrieked when she realized how close he was. Her eyes bulged to twice it's size, and she immediately fell backwards. "M-Me?"

"Her?" Chanyeol voiced at the same time. "Why?" 

Kris shrugged and straightened his back. "Because i'm selfish and egocentric?", he made sure to put great emphasis on the two adjectives and smirked coldly. He looked down at his 'supposed' senior amusingly, openly enjoying the look on her face. She stared at him in disbelief, and couldn't help but feel stabbed by his words. He was mocking her. 

Chanyeol shifted a little from yet another heavy atmosphere, and pulled Seohyun by her shoulders. He straightened her up, and gestured at Kris. "We'll be going noona. You don't need to come. Kris hyung was just kidding. Right hyung?"

"Wrong", he flatly answered. Chanyeol's smile immediately sank, and he tried to clear his throat awkwardly. Seohyun sighed and picked up her bag from below her while strongly eyeing Kris. "Okay, let's go"

"What?", the younger blinked. "Don't worry", she whispered, "I need to make sure you don't end up coming back you know". Kris walked ahead of the two, and knocked on the door to get their attention. "This way"

The three walked to the end of the hallway, and trudged down the flight of stairs. Unlike the other two, Chanyeol couldn't keep his excitement and flapped his way happily down the steps. "Doesn't it feel like we're in a James Bond movie, hyung?", he nudged the elder, as if he was a world renowned spy. "This is so fun!" 

"Wait... Don't you hear something?" Seohyun whispered quietly as another set of footsteps echoed the walls above them. The three made an abrupt stop to listen intently for another sound besides their own, when the foreign trudging suddenly became louder. They immediately sprinted down the stairs in alarm, and the footsteps above them also began to quicken in pace. Kris was the first to jump down and break open the door, and hurriedly motioned for the other two to follow. The footsteps were now quicker and louder than before, and Kris began to shudder when he was able to make out a figure from above. He impatiently raced towards Seohyun who was lagging behind, and signalled for Chanyeol to go ahead as he passed him. He jumped across the steps, grabbed Seohyun by the hand, and seized her bag with the other. "Hurry!", he ushered. Seohyun allowed herself to be dragged down the stairs, and Kris kicked the door open. "What are you doing? Keep running!" Kris scolded Chanyeol, who immediately followed, and the three ran together in the dead of night. 

Seohyun felt her steps grow heavier and heavier as they continued to run, and felt a gush of fear rush from within her. Was that a reporter? The janitor? Someone they knew?

By that time, they were now blocks away from the company building. But they didn't stop. They ran away desperately as if they had just committed the gravest sin known to man. It was unusual, and it was a new sensation. For the first time, she felt rebellious and defiant. And unexpectedly, she began to feel excited. She ran breathelessly behind the two males, with Kris still strongly gripping her hand. She didn't know where they were going, nor did she think they did either. But surprisingly, she didn't care. She felt mischievous, fearless and different. 

Different.

"Let's rest here", Chanyeol wheezed with difficulty and fell flat against the grass. Seohyun and Kris followed, and immediately dropped dead on the grass with him. Seohyun panted heavily in exhaustion, and rubbed the sweat from across her forehead. "That was close"

She turned to Kris, who nodded with great effort, but with a smile plastering his face. She stared at him intently, realizing that it was the first time she had actually seen him smile. It looked so genuine and child-like under the moonlight. "Do you enjoy holding my hand?"

Seohyun stared at him blankly, and suddenly turned to their hands which were still intertwined. She instantly pulled away, rolling backwards from embarrassment. She shook her head vigorously, almost to the point where she could develop a headache. "Yo-you held my h-hand first!"

"No I didn't", he retorted. As if he was long forgotten, Chanyeol broke into a sudden laughter, suddenly making his presence known to the other two. "That was fun wasn't it?". Seohyun and Kris peered over at him, and Seohyun smiled silently.

"Don't sneak out again okay?" Seohyun warned him as they reached the hospital. Luckily, Chanyeol was familiar with the area, so they took a taxi for the remainding way. Chanyeol saluted obediently, still beaming from earlier. "Thank you for coming all the way here with us noona". He then turned to Kris and pounced at him. Rather than a hug, it seemed as if he was desperately clinging on to him. Nonetheless, it seemed to have been their first form of bodily contact. Of course, Kris' expression said it all. "Thanks hyung. When I get back, i'll treat you in to something good. And no! No matter how many times you try to shove me off, I won't budge", he smiled cheerfully, and ran back into the hospital.

Kris cleared his throat a bit awkwardly, and began dusting his clothes. Seohyun tried to hide her laugh, and began to scan the street. It was unusually empty that night. Was it because of the ruckus earlier that day? "We should get going", she reminded him.

Kris nodded, and he began to signal for a cab. When the vehicle arrived, he gestured for her to go in and started to leave. "Wait, you're not coming?", Seohyun stopped him by his sleeve, and he just stared boredly at her, as if it was obvious. "No"

He shrugged her off, and continued to walk ahead. Seohyun apologized to the taxi driver, and followed Kris in pursuit. Kris sighed irritably, when realizing she was trailing a couple of steps behind him. She followed his slow pace, keeping a good distance between them, and stopped when he did. She turned to the left when he did, and paused if he was looking for where to go. He whirled back, glaring tiresomely at her. "Are you going to keep following me?" 

"I don't know the way back from here and... I don't have any money", she bowed her head down, a little ashamed. Kris huffed irritably, and charged towards her. He took his cap off, and ed it down her head. "Wear this and tie your hair. Keep your head low. It'll take a while to get back by foot since..." he cleared his throat, and avoided her gaze. "I don't have any more money either"

Seohyun tried to hide her smile, and pulled the brim of his hat close to her face. She nodded and obediently tied her hair. Kris pulled his hood down to his face, and scanned the street. "This way"

SEOKRIS INTERACTION GUYS. I'm having more fun writing as the chapters go along! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it! Please feel free to leave some feedback! And GUYS. 38 subscribers!? I'm so happy! Thank you so much for subscribing to my story! I'll be sure to leave some updates with the chapters and announcements if ever I do make any. Thank you! <3