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‘- are you going to watch? I’m not that big on-‘

‘The film starts at 6.35, so don’t be late. Our afternoon class got cancelled so Yerim and I will be in town beforehand.’

Joohyun arrives at their usual table just in time to catch the end of Seungwan and Joy Park’s conversation. Whatever the topic, it leaves the former shaking her head, looking quite perplexed; Joy Park, though, nothing ever seem to faze that girl.

Joohyun slowly takes place across from Seungwan, whose face lights up at the sight before looking back to Joy and saying,

‘But you didn’t tell me-‘

‘You can bring Joohyun,’ the youngest interrupts her immediately, having regarded the newcomer with a single glance. Once again, the brunette cannot tell what it is that Seungwan can take her to and whether Joy is actually welcoming to the idea. More importantly, whether Joohyun herself should be. Or not.

When Joohyun turns to the vocalist for answers, she notices with a dose of surprise a shy expression adorning the other’s face. Seungwan purses her lips just a little, the corners of her lips about to lift up which by now the older girl recognises as a sign of being somewhere between a soft feeling of glee and a full emotional outburst. Then again, it could concern anything and hardly helps Joohyun in her now somewhat urgent quest to identify its reason before she is pulled into a scheme there is no return from.

Meanwhile, Seungwan – by now in a healthy shade of a mature tomato - finally nods at her roommate and with that, their fates are sealed. Joohyun suddenly feels like somebody has handed her over to the devil on a silver plate, even though it is only Joy Park. Or maybe there is not difference, after all.

Picking up a fried drumstick from Seungwan’s tray and putting it in without delay, the youngest warns again,

‘Don’t be late.’ This time, however, the effect is slightly diminished due to the chewing sounds that follow and with that final word, Joy Park disappears into the crowd which is still queuing in hopes of getting to the cheese casserole before it sells out completely and all that is left are the unpleasantly looking meatballs.

‘I should find something to eat…’ Joohyun looks over her shoulder, trailing away at the sight. Waiting for the food alone will take her ten to fifteen minutes, which means she will then have to down it within less than three, a prospect she is not overly fond of. It cannot be helped, though; the career advisor kept her long over the scheduled period, hoping to persuade her to think about a law degree more seriously. She should not have mentioned the idea to him, not even in passing – and she would surely not have, had she known that it would cost her half of the lunch break.

And she is so, so hungry.

‘You were running so late, I thought you might not make it in time for the casserole so I bought you a plate. If you want…’ Seungwan adds shyly and only then does the older realise that there is indeed an extra dish to the singer’s left – and with the side of baby carrots and potato puree, just the way that Joohyun likes it. Overall, despite being only lukewarm at this point, Joohyun is certain that she has never seen anything looking more appealing.

‘Seungwan, thank goodness, I could kiss you right now,’ she mindlessly lets the words of gratefulness slip from and she halts her movements at the realisation, her arm stretched across the table in an attempt to reach the plate. She slowly looks up, hoping that the younger missed the unfortunate phrasing but no such luck. Seungwan’s own hand abruptly stops mid-air, half way to , her cheeks quickly remembering the deep shade of red from a few moments before.

Joohyun finally finds her voice and clears awkwardly. Despite the amount of students around them, it suddenly sounds way too loud.

‘What did Joy Park want?’ The older prompts, desperately wanting to find another subject. Even without the additional baggage of her conversation with Chanyeol Park from last night, the thoughtless remark would sound embarrassing. Now… Joohyun Bae’s whole being simply goes stiff.

Seungwan must be having similar impression because she chooses not to comment or tease the brunette about it, opting instead to go along with the change of pace.

‘Er, well, you know how it is. I think she really wanted me to join her and Yerim on a friendly outing to the cinema, but being Joy, she basically ordered me to go with her.’ That sounds exactly like something that Joy Park would do. ‘But I’d say, we’re finally getting closer, aren’t we?’

Joohyun nods lightly, momentarily forgetting about the uncomfortable situation. It does seem like the invisible barrier between the two roommates was if not lifted completely, then at least pushed aside a little to make space for the budding friendship. Joohyun feels happy for them – or more accurately speaking, she feels content for about a second before she remember that she, too, is now practically forced to tag along.

The dread of the challenge must be well reflected in the girl’s facial expressions because Seungwan chuckles, nodding.

‘What are we watching?’

‘Beats me. They show it at The Corner House at 6.35, though, so I guess we will find out soon enough.’ Seungwan is back to her old self, winking in delight and Joohyun cannot help but scoff.

She bursts out laughing right after, though.

Right after the exchange, the boys arrive with their food, one looking more miserable than the other. Joohyun, who was not aware they had been queuing all this time, moves her notebooks away to make space for Sehun. Surprisingly, it is Chanyeol Park who occupies the seat instead, letting the other two rest next to Seungwan.

‘Hey, Bae,’ he acknowledges, sending her a long, almost inquisitive look before turning back to his food and sighing deeply. It is not the cheese casserole that he is facing.

Joohyun nods at him, feeling that years will have to pass before she becomes comfortable in his presence. When she looks ahead, she notices that neither Sehun nor Yixing seem to be in a particularly festive mood, either. One reason for it could be that both – just like Chanyeol – have the unappetising meatballs on their plates.

Making what at the moment feels like the hardest decision of her life, Joohyun internally mourns her casserole for exactly three seconds before she pushes it over to Sehun. He looks up, slightly confused at the development but when she nods in confirmation of her intentions, he smiles, teeth and all, mouthing cheers before digging in. The plate is eventually split between Sehun and Yixing, with Chanyeol indignantly spouting words of We’d been mates long before you two hooked up when he is denied his share.

Joohyun is left with Sehun’s dish and the last fried drumstick that Seungwan generously passes over to her. Whatever possesses the older to eventually give it up in Chanyeol’s favour she will never know, but when he finally accepts it from her after a short moment of disbelief, there is a new-found appreciation in his eyes that makes the girl think the sacrifice has been worth it.

When Seungwan frowns at her questioningly, Joohyun just shrugs, smiling. A little secrecy never hurt anyone.

Entering The Corner House, Joohyun Bae suddenly remembers why she has never been fond of cinemas. It could be the off-putting smell of snacks being fried in deep oil or the hoard of casual film watchers who display absolutely no consideration for the fellow members of the audience. It might as well be the combination of both and then some, Joohyun nearly shudders at the thought. Yet here she is, moving towards the box office at a snail tempo thanks to the couple at the front who did not bother to agree beforehand on the flick they were going to see.

That is right; on top of it all, Thursdays are date nights around their area, thanks to the large number of university students who hardly have classes scheduled for the following day and like to start their long weekends as soon as possible, which usually falls on Thursday evening. Joohyun slightly changes her stance, putting the weight onto the other leg – she has tired of the situation even before the show really began. Next to her, Seungwan is equally annoyed - if her sighs are anything to go by.

‘Joy’s not replying to my texts,’ the singer finally puts her cell back into her pocket, looking around awkwardly as if her roommate were to magically appear from the Chinese buffet next door or the kiosk situated right across the staircase. She, of course, does not and Seungwan sighs again.

‘I thought it was her idea to meet here,’ Joohyun mumbles more to herself than anyone else but her companion picks up on it anyway and shrugs.

‘To be fair, I am still fairly certain that she will pop up in the seat next to ours five minutes before the film starts so we better just collect the tickets she’s booked and wait for her inside. Do you mind?’ Nothing about that plan sounds good to Joohyun, if she were to be honest, but she also does realise that friendships usually require varying degrees of selflessness and sacrifice of time so she nods, mustering her best smile. It must be working because Seungwan grins at her, now looking positively excited for the evening ahead of them. Her giddiness is all sorts of adorable, so Joohyun herself does not stay sulky for long. Plus, the title of the film sounds promising so it surely cannot be that unpleasant, can it?

It turns out to be more than just unpleasant – it is awful, and all the happy memories of the times that Joohyun played with her rug doll Annabelle are lost and tainted forever the moment her much meaner looking namesake appears on screen and attempts to eliminate the children living in the old house one by one. The film is of terrible quality but Joohyun cannot deny that it still unsettles her in the most basic and irritating way. She cannot help but jump every time a cheap scare or a loud noise takes her by surprise.

It starts out innocently enough. They buy two drinks and a tub of popcorn to share, which Joohyun reckons she will not eat but ends up helping herself to anyway, because there is nothing more additive than the peanut butter flavour. During the trailers, it becomes clear that Joy and Yerim are not going to join them after all, the fact eventually confirmed in the text that Seungwan receives just before the lights go out. Joohyun observes from the corner of her eye the other’s movements – she opens the message, initially frowning at its content, only to turn bright red towards the end of it. Right then, her phone vibrates again with additional information that has the younger’s jaw go slack, partly in surprise and partly in lack of comprehension.

‘Joy just texted me that she’s moving out in two days to live with Yerim on the first floor,’ the singer finally says, bewilderment in her voice. Joohyun’s frown matches the one on her companion’s face.

‘Why would she text something like this now?’ Seungwan shrugs. ‘Did she mention whether she was even coming here or…?’ At the second question, the blue haired girl adjusts in her seat somewhat nervously, giving the overall impression of bashfulness.

‘I don’t think so,’ she admits meekly and Joohyun just knows that there is something more behind her words, something that she does not have the time to probe further because the screening room becomes dark and the film starts. No, from then on Joohyun does not have the time to investigate the problem at all because she is too preoccupied with trying to will away the series of violent emotions running through her that when not contained, could easily lead to a serious heart attack.

That evening, Joohyun Bae discovers that while she might be the toughest cookie when it comes to leadership, her Waterloo takes a form of creepy dolls and squeaking staircases.

Seungwan, however, does not share that sentiment. At all.

‘Ok, I hope they’re not planning for a sequel, I mean, how dreadful would that be?’ The girl rumbles as they take the right turn to exit the cinema, initially not noticing Joohyun’s silence. ‘The cursed object trope should just vanish altogether, it’s getting so boring and predictable… Hey, Joohyun.’ The older looks up from the pavement, slightly out of it. While Seungwan continues her unfavourable review of the film, she has been walking next to the girl all this while, trying to shake off the feeling of general upset and uneasiness. ‘You all right there?’

She is not all right – and for more reasons than the terrifying plot she has just been forced to watch, tough she is not about to confess that to Seungwan of all people. The younger knows anyway, there is no way that she would not. Not when her right hand is still red from how tightly Joohyun clasped it once offered a chance.

It is Joohyun’s turn to redden uncomfortably.

‘Are you sure you’re fine? Are you feeling sick?’ It is the third or the fourth time Seungwan leans in to enquire in a low voice about Joohyun’s well-being. As the narrative progresses, the brunette turns to pursing her lips tighter and tighter, sensing that the moment she opens , she will let out an undignified shriek. So she just nods again, although much less energetically than before.

What she is not expecting is a palm enveloping her own fingers interwoven tightly at her lap, giving her a light squeeze of encouragement. When Joohyun looks up, Seungwan frowns at her, making a quick head movement indicating the door. Do you want to leave? Joohyun does not want to ruin the evening for her friend, so she just shakes her head once in objection, resolving to do her best to hold it in. Nonetheless, the hand offering comfort stays there throughout the film and Joohyun occasionally squeezes it, strongly too, depending on how affected she is by Anabelle’s malicious actions. Seungwan squeezes back once or twice, but her gestures – as it turns out afterwards - have more to do with how ridiculous, she feels, the plot is turning than anything else.

Joohyun can’t help but be embarrassed by her behaviour at the cinema and the readiness with which she accepted the hand holding. What if somebody saw them? Maybe she can tell Seungwan that she was not comfortable with it.

But what if… what if Seungwan takes it to heart and feels hurt? Worst, what if… she never does it again? Joohyun does not understand what spurred the sudden thought, but it is strangely an unwelcome one.

She shakes her head, trying to will away the chaos. She is tired and that is all. Seungwan is there for her way too often and way too close, and Joohyun does not know what to do with the fact. She is confused, it is understandable.

‘Joohyun, do you want me to find a taxi?’ Seungwan’s voice brings the older back from her thoughts. ‘We’d get back to school faster that way, instead of waiting for the bus. Your face is very red, are you sure you’re not running a fever? Stupid Tao, he was coughing the whole time during lunch yesterday, I bet he’d caught it from one of his girlfriends, god knows where his mouth has been-‘

‘I’m really fine. Really,’ Joohyun assures hastily, definitely not wanting to know what indecent acts the guitarist has been performing in his spare time. Seungwan looks like she knows that the other is not fine, but she does not mention the most obvious of reasons and Joohyun is thankful for that. She clears , looking around.

‘I’m a little hungry. Would you like to stop for dinner before we go? I’ll buy. We’ve already missed the meal at the canteen anyway…’ Seungwan nods, suddenly invigorated, and leads them towards the place that looks so typically Seungwan, Joohyun smiles despite the internal conflict she is having. She tells her companion as much and Seungwan laughs heartily, confirming her preference for junk food. The place claims to sell original Turkish kebab and smells of spice so strongly, no passer-by within the thirty feet radius can be indifferent to its existence.

It puts the older in a slightly better mood for just about twenty seconds, before she notices the boy standing behind the counter, strengthening out the menus next to the cash register and observing their entrance. She grabs the other girl’s sleeve, effectively halting her movements.

‘Did you know he would be here?’ She frowns, sighing loudly. She does not feel ready for another fall out, much less right now.

Seungwan gives her a sympathetic look.

‘I didn’t know for sure, but I’m not surprised. He got Jongin this job in the first place, so it’s no wonder he’s here himself.’

And indeed, Kyungsoo Do is there in the flesh and his earlier words clearly ringing in Joohyun’s head despite having met him only once. That was then, she likes to think that she has more or less made peace with everyone, even if it is just the first step. Even Chanyeol Park has apparently found it in himself not to bully her anymore, but this is different. Jongin Kim has not forgotten, nor has he forgiven anything. When Joohyun and Sehun went to meet Minseok and his cousin that fateful afternoon, Jongin could barely contain his displeasure and practically pretended that she was not there. He also did not react in any way to her apology, something that she could understand – to an extent, anyway – because at that time, the apology did not sound or feel sincere, not even to her. They basically parted ways having resolved nothing and Kyungsoo Do must be more than aware of it.

‘I-I’ll save us a seat so why don’t you buy two of whatever is good and join me there?’ The shop is nearly empty so the excuse is a highly unbelievable one, but it is what it is – just an excuse. Joohyun hands Seungwan ten pounds and hastily retreats to the only corner from which the counter cannot be seen, hoping to lessen her guilt by distancing herself from the object of it.

She manages to remove her jacket and hang it over the chair, letting her long hair fall over her shoulders in disarray. Before she thinks to do anything more though, a long shadow appears, looming over her. Her head shoots up at the sensation of being watched.

Kyungsoo Do is standing in front of her, a tray of food in his hands and a blank expression on his face. He puts it down, taking a seat in front of the girl and still regarding her with a long look.

‘W-where’s Seungwan?’ She manages to say after a long moment of silence.

‘She needed to use the loo, asked me to bring the food over in case I was done first.’ He leans in, as in deep in thought which makes Joohyun lean away in turn. ‘I can kinda see why Jong’s parents wanted so badly for him to get together with you,’ he says, quietly this time but she nearly jumps at the words in shock. Kyungsoo Do, however, does not acknowledge her reaction because more than anything, he just looks at her inquisitively, like she is something that he cannot quite comprehend.

‘Joohyun Bae.’ He opens his mouth for the third time and by then, the brunette really should have seen it coming but she still does not so she shudders anyway. ‘Do you know how Jongin and I met?’ Mute, Joohyun can only shake her head but the boy in front of her does not seem to wait for her approval before he continues, ‘In the church. We met in my church.’

Kyungsoo Do sounds random, changing the topic from sentence to sentence and so when he once again takes her by surprise with his statement, her eyes widen considerably. She is not quite certain just why he is there and where this is all going.

‘I’m from Surrey, he came to visit his uncles during the Christmas break and left us both terribly, terribly confused by the end of it. To be quite honest, until now I feel that he’s always had more faith in our relationship… Even after his folks kicked him out of the house.’

‘I’ve apologised to him, I don’t think I can do anything else unless he allows me to,’ Joohyun mumbles, appetite long gone. She just wants to go home and forget about the nightmarish doll, the embarrassment of this conversation and how hard her heart was beating in that cinema. Especially about the last one.

This is all just tiredness.

‘I know you have. I didn’t approach you to give you crap about Jongin, because Sehun’s told me about what happened after that. I guess I just sat here, wanting to see for myself what you’re all about.’ Then he smiles, like he knows something that nobody else does. ‘I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but the way you smiled at Seungwan outside the shop suddenly reminded me of myself, somehow.’ Joohyun frowns at that, not really understanding the meaning – or purpose – of the story.

‘Are you friends with Seungwan, too?’ She enquires hesitantly, fearing saying the wrong thing. Kyungsoo’s lips stretch in a smile again, though it does not quite reach his eyes.

‘Not quite. You probably know her much better. I was just thinking that soon enough, you might find yourself in a situation that I was in once before, though then again, it’s just a feeling.’

‘I’m afraid I-‘

‘Didn’t expect to find you here. What’s hanging?’ Seungwan chooses the moment to make her way to the secluded table, interrupting the already awkward dialogue between the two, for which Joohyun is thankful.

‘Nothing much,’ Kyungsoo looks up smiling serenely, like he did not just run through three different equally uncomfortable topics within the span of a minute and leave his companion terribly confused. ‘Sehun told me that Joohyun was considering law as a degree so I came over to see if she needed any help.’ Seungwan only nods, apparently not finding anything unusual about the fact that Jongin Kim’s boyfriend not only did not decapitate Joohyun on the spot, but was being excessively friendly with her.

Also, Joohyun needs to talk to her younger brother about keeping his mouth shut.

Kyungsoo looks back at her and says,

‘Ask him for my whatsup if you want to make an informed decision. You gals have a good meal, I need to clean up the fridge now.’ Seungwan waves at him lightly and takes his spot once he leaves.

‘Did he say anything strange to you?’ The younger worries but Joohyun only shrugs, not really knowing how to describe what just happened.

‘Surprisingly, not really. At least I think so.’

‘Well, in that case,’ She moves one of the wraps towards the brunette. ‘You really need to try this, it’s the best kebab in Notts, I promise. Cross my heart and hope to die.’ She winks, to which Joohyun scoffs, but more out of habit than any real annoyance. That stage has long passed.

‘You really shouldn’t say things like that, you know.’

Seungwan waves her away with a smile, taking out her phone to check the messages. Having nothing better to do, Joohyun decides to do the same. She hardly pays attention to her cell; not remembering ever being very attached to it, so it comes as no wonder that it has been in silent mode for the better part of the day. She expects a spam message at most, or maybe nothing at all. What she does not expect are 10 unanswered phone calls and countless messages via text and whatsup - and all from Junmyeon. He has even left some on their sibling-only group that Sehun made for them when they still more or less got along and which has not been used since early 2014.

It alarms Joohyun immediately, because it has been radio silence all this while between them so if Junmyeon decided to swallow his pride to reach out first, it has to be important. Joohyun’s hands are shaking as she opens them one by one.

Next to her, Seungwan types furiously on her own phone, her dinner also completely forgotten.

Where are you?

Joohyun, where are you? Call me now.

This is all your fault, did you know about this

You’ve gone out? You’re not in your room

Call me!!!!

More messages of this kind appear one by one as she scrolls down the feed. Junmyeon has even resorted to reviving the old family group, hoping to attract Sehun’s attention. Sehun’s response was negative, he had no idea where Joohyun was.

I beg you, call me back. They’re going to take seulgi away, is the newest and last of the desperate appeals that her twin left for her about 25 minutes before.

Joohyun stands up rapidly, ready to find a quiet place to contact her brother but a hand on her forearm stops her from leaving. Seungwan looks shell-shocked when she speaks.

‘Wait, something huge has happened. Chanyeol’s telling me that Seulgi Kang’s parents just arrived at school to take her back home and your brother is going crazy trying to stop them. They’re right at the front and it’s not even a scene – it’s like a whole bloody musical in there, they’re screaming their heads off. They say she’s pregnant?!’

Joohyun sits back down at the words, suddenly feeling dizzy.

A/N: I shall try  my best to update twice next month, I'll be home on holiday. Also, twitter has blocked me - I still don't know why because I'm as peaceful of a user as they come, so if you want to follow me, my new handle is @sheepofsheep. Please upvote if you like, I'm always very thankful for those.