Hayi freaks out at the sound of a stranger’s voice rapidly shouting at her from the other end. Okay, maybe he isn’t a stranger and he isn’t quite shouting per say, but when she had dialed the number, she wasn’t expecting to hear Hanbin’s voice…Who, in her defence could pass off as a stranger since they had barely exchanged conversations with each other.

She loses her mind for a split second and does what she assumes to be what any other normal human being would have done in her position...hang up. Hayi stares at the number and reconfirms that it is indeed Junhoe’s contact info. Unless that devious kid sneaked in a false number from the past. But she remembers that no, it’s legit, considering that June used to text her random stupid birthday greetings every year.

A part of Hayi is tempted to call back and tackle the burning question of why the hell is the iKON leader answering the phone and two, why was he so pissy about her not calling? But doing so would mean that she would have to talk to him again. And the thought of it is seemingly intimidating because the Hanbin that she has only met so far was a blunt, semi-short tempered boy.

Why was she so attracted to that though? The way that Hanbin was so keen on trying to talk to her was the kind of attention that others rarely gave her when outside of the realm of discussing music. He seemed to be genuinely interested in just talking. And Hayi being so antisocial needed just that: more people to spend time with and just talk. Exposing yourself to a new environment never hurt, but the introvert in her found such things to be both scary and difficult.

“What happened?” A chuckle breaks the tension. Sehun studies the girl whose face has turned distorted. Her eyes are enlarged as she looks blankly at the device in her hands and the boy finds it to be absolutely hilarious.

“I’m not even sure…” Hayi turns to her friend, as if seeking if perhaps he could clue her in.

“If that’s the Junhoe you talk about, he sure does have a set of great lungs.” Sehun is referring to the obvious loud howl that greeted the girl just seconds ago.

“That’s the thing...it wasn’t June…” she talks slowly, taking her time as if by doing so, she’d finally somehow comprehend the situation better. “That was Kim Hanbin.”

“Ah, Hanbin-ssi…”

Sehun has heard of the name before. Obviously, just about everyone their age has heard of the guy. SMTM3 was the rave of variety show and the two YG trainees strung up their own set of popularity with the public and of course, other idols. And while Sehun grew a sense of fond admiration for the American raised kid named Bobby, Hanbin was another story. Because he knew there was an ominous thing between him and Lee Hayi.

“Yeah...so I guess I can’t fulfill that favour of yours bud~” she laughs it off awkwardly, hoping that Sehun won’t actually pester her further. “

“That’s fine,” Sehun replies, somewhat even forgetting the fact that he had asked her to try and get Bobby’s contact info.

It was a complete lie that he told.

Sure, he was a fan of the champion rapper, but not to the extent to go out of his way to try and figure out his phone number. Even if Bobby was a pleasant person to talk to earlier that day, any guy would agree that it may be a tad bit overstepping boundaries to all of a sudden call the other up...when both parties involved weren’t the source to even hand out their digits.

The truth to it all was that Sehun was walking Hayi back to the agreed upon location that her manager would be at. And he just wanted to stall. Simple as that, he wished for a slight minute longer with his school friend because he kind of missed the tiny girl. It was the random request for Hayi to gather Bobby’s number that stumbled out of his mouth that was made as the excuse...his way of spending a slither of more time with her. He never quite once thought that the girl would actually try to do so.  

“I’m serious Hayi, it’s alright,” he restates as he looks at the troubled girl.

“So about Hanbin...why didn’t you call him?”

“W-What?” Hayi stutters. She knows she shouldn’t be quite shocked that Sehun had heard, but she still is.

“Seems like that’s what he said...” he scratches the back of his neck.

“He says a lot of strange things. He’s probably drunk and that’s why he’s randomly answering other people’s phones…”

“You’ve been hanging out with him lately?”

“Seen him here and there. He once asked me for an eraser when he was using a pen.”

That’s an excuse Hayi-ah...he’s using that as an excuse to talk to you.

It’s such an old trick in the book that he can’t believe that the girl is so clueless about it. Sehun understands right away what Hayi is too slow to notice: Hanbin is likely into her.

“And..?”

“And...let’s stop talking about him…” Hayi fidgets as she skips along past the tall guy and continues walking, forcing the other to follow.

“You like him don’t you?” He calls out asking, while a part of him already knows the answer.

She comes to a complete stop and turns around, cheeks flushed.

Hayi reverts her eyes from Sehun’s face down towards the laces on her sneakers. They are messily tied, just barely hanging on and she strangely relates to that. Her mind is tangled. She wants to say no, but she can’t. She really doesn’t want to have this conversation at the moment, especially in front of Sehun, who she knows holds a kindle for her.

“Well, here we are~” Sehun sings, knowing that stirring the pot in this dialogue would likely not end to his favour. Sehun ruffles Hayi’s hair and sends her in before rushing away before the little girl can say anything. He’s running away from hearing a possible answer that he’s just not prepared to hear yet.

As she watches the familiar backside disintegrate into the horizon, she ponders about the question that was asked. It troubles her the more she sets her attent