Coming out the carwash, we were greeted by a stunned looking Minho with a nervous looking Hyoli stood beside him, soaked head to toe just like us all present in the car.

 

Once the car was off the moving conveyor belt, it came to a stop.

 

I opened the car door at my side as water that had not managed to escape from the passenger side door that was still open; flooded out onto the pavement beneath the car.

 

I got out the car as Jonghyun, Taemin and Onew copied my action.

 

Walking over to Hyoli who was now biting down on her bottom lip, already knowing she had done something wrong.

 

I think Taemin took her by surprise however as he skipped over to her and literally jumped her while happily thanking her for the “best car wash experience of his life”. 

 

His words, not mine.

 

Jonghyun however was having difficulty coming to terms with what had happened during the ride and looked at his baby with a solemn expression on his face.

 

“She was so young” He hung his head low as Onew patted his shoulder, somewhat comfortingly.

 

Hyoli somehow escaped Taemin’s grasped at that point and stepped towards Jonghyun and Onew.

 

She laid her hand on Jonghyun’s arm, his head shooting up to look at her immediately.

 

Everyone was still to see Jonghyun’s reaction to this, it was clear to see he wasn’t in the best of moods after what happened and if it had been anyone else besides Hyoli, that person would be pushing up daisies by now.

 

“Jonghyun Oppa, I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean to do this to your car. I’ll somehow find a way to repay you, I promise” She said softly as Jonghyun looked into her eyes which were shining either from tears building up or over the fact that she had called him Oppa.

 

The atmosphere became heavier as the 4 of us watched on, trying to anticipate Jonghyun’s next move.

 

I for one was getting ready to wrestle Jonghyun off Hyoli after finally snapping from all the stress.

 

But it never came.

 

Jonghyun’s reaction shocked us all when a bright goofy smile appeared on his face as he shrugged his shoulder.

 

“It’s okay, I didn’t like the car that much anyway. Don’t threat over it”

 

Instantly, all our jaws nearly hit the ground with the exception of Hyoli’s and Jonghyun’s.

 

“B-But you said that car was yo-your Baby” Taemin stuttered out, loud enough for Hyoli to hear.

 

Jonghyun’s eyes snapped in our direction and let out what I know realized was a completely fake laugh.

 

“Taemin, that’s silly. It‘s just a car after all”

 

“He’s restraining himself from having a mental breakdown in front of Hyoli so she won’t feel guilty. I’m impressed” Minho whispered as Jonghyun turned back to smile at Hyoli.

 

I folded my arms and smiled to see Jonghyun was trying his best not to completely lose it.

 

Suddenly, Hyoli turned to me and laughed.

 

“Thinking about it, it looked kind of funny when you guys rolled out of the car wash in that state. When I walk into an enclosed space I think about you being there and holding the walls to stop them from closing in on me. Maybe if I think about this incident and how funny it was then I might be able to get into a car without freaking out?” She said with a smile on her face.

 

“Only one way to find out” Onew grinned quickly jumping into the drivers seat of the car.

 

“How about we take Hyoli home in this hunk of junk?” Onew questioned as we nodded.

 

Jonghyun however looked slightly hurt from Onew’s mention of his former ‘Baby’.

 

Piling into the soaked car, Hyoli took the passenger seat next to Onew as the rest of us squished into the back after playing a game to decide who was sitting there. 

 

-

 

-

 

-

 

Taking Hyoli home proved to be a bigger task than getting her into the car.

 

She had no problem getting in the car this time and although she was shaking slightly when Onew put the car into drive, she didn’t cry or anything.

 

When we reached the estate that her house was apparently on however showed us just how much Hyoli’s family seemed to have, possessions wise.

 

Jonghyun’s family was well off but compared to Hyoli, Jonghyun was even surprised at the estate her house was on, we had to go through some electric gates to just travel down the road her house was built upon.

 

Of course a guard gave us strange looks after seeing Minho, Taemin, Jonghyun and I squished in the back, Taemin sat on a seriously cross Jonghyun.

 

He was the one who suggested rock, paper, scissors in the first place, knowing full well that he at the game just as much as Minho and I ruled at it, and yet he still complained when he was announced as Taemin’s high chair.

 

After a 10 minute wait while Hyoli talked to the gate guard, he finally let us pass after realizing that we weren’t trying to sneak onto the estate and that one of us did actually live there.

 

Hyoli directed Onew around the long winding road until we reached some more metal gates in front of a long paved road with a huge house, if not a mansion stood proudly at the end of the road.

 

“This is my stop” Hyoli smiled before turning around in her seat to look at the 4 of us in the back.

 

“Thanks for today guys, I think with a bit of practice and a bit more confidence I might be able to one day actually buy a car of my own and actually learn how to drive it” Hyoli beamed sending Jonghyun into a trance from her bright smile.

 

I smiled and nodded my head.

 

“So, when’s our next phobia conquering day?” She questioned, mainly looking at me for an answer.

 

Just as I was about to answer, Jonghyun jumped in.

 

“Next Saturday. We should make it a weekly thing right? I mean the sooner you get over your fears, the better” Jonghyun said with a hint of excitement in his voice as Hyoli bit her lower lip and her eyes lingered on me.

 

I let out a silent sigh and nodded my head.

 

“I guess that seems reasonable. It’s not like I have a life. Next Saturday okay for you?” I questioned with a hint of sarcasm appearing in my voice. 

 

Hyoli’s head nodded in reply to my question.

 

“Then we’ll see you then” Taemin piped up making Hyoli laugh as she looked over Jonghyun and Taemin in their seating arrangement.

 

“We’ll see her in school aswell” Minho spoke up as Taemin nodded.

 

“Oh yeah”

 

Hyoli laughed at Taemin’s slow moment before waving her hand and saying her goodbyes.

 

She got out of the car and shut the door behind her and walked towards the black gates to enter her house.

 

“Hyung, in that big house, do you think Hyoli ever gets lonely?” Taemin questioned as Hyoli made her way through the gates.

 

“What do you mean?” Minho asked curiously.

 

“Well Jonghyun’s parents work a lot and always seem to be living in hotels around the world rather than their own home, I never really thought about it since Jonghyun has us but Hyoli’s house appears to be even bigger than Jonghyun’s and if her parents are busy a lot aswell, a house like that can seem pretty lonely for just one person” 

 

We all sat there looking up at the mansion before us as Hyoli made her way down the long path behind the metal bars that separated us now.

 

Could Taemin’s assumption be correct?

 

I mean, a phobia does have to start from somewhere or something has to happen for it to appear, was Hyoli all alone in that mansion?

 

And if so, had her loneliness caused her to become vulnerable to the different threats around her until they turned into phobias?