CHAPTER ELEVEN; TIME SPENT.

"This all seems like a bad dream"

"I can't believe you sat through that. Scratch that, I can't believe you would let Jooheon bring his things into your house and have an inking session" Kihyun rambled, standing behind Somi as she stood in front of her mirror, eyes pinned to the newly added art on her body.

"I think he's done a good job, don't you?" Somi mused, smiling as she looked at the art, satisfied by what she saw

"A good job? He set up his own tattoo parlour in the living room and had at your body as well as Hyunwoo's and Hoseok's!"

"Why are you so upset about that? Jooheon did well, Hoseok and Hyunwoo got to see each other and things went well. If I thought it was that big of a deal, I would have fought more to stop them from doing that in my home" Kihyun's loud exclamation pulled Somi out of her happiness towards the tattoo and she looked back at Kihyun, frowning it him displeasingly. Kihyun let out a deep breath and looked down, avoiding Somi's eyes as she blinked at him.

"I don't know, I guess I've been a bit sensitive lately" Kihyun shrugged and Somi sighed, buttoning her shirt back up and straightening it out.

"I need to finish some work," She said dismissively, walking around Kihyun to go back out to the lounge room. Kihyun followed her with his eyes before making his way out of the room too. He sat down on the opposite side of the couch, ignoring the TV to look at Somi on her laptop instead, face creased in concentration, unaware of him looking at her. Kihyun sighed, his figure sinking down, he crossed his arms over his chest and bit down on his lip.

He didn't mean to be sensitive towards the young lady, he was tender, wanting what was best for her, but all not wanting to be pushed to the side. Kihyun didn't have to look deep down to know Somi could move on from him, to accept life for what it was and get back on her feet, the process was already happening, the little late bloomer that learnt to swim, ride a bike and drive after everyone else was also reaching her best, later than others, but at her own pace. With him out of the picture, the thought of what things could have been, or will be in the future, made Kihyun bitter.

How long could he refuse passing over? What was there for his spirit on the other side if the one most important to him was sitting with him, being the only one able to see him?

How could he bring himself to leave like he knew he should? Like he intended to on that fated night?

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"What are you doing here?" Jooheon's eyes widened and he turned in the seat he was leaning on, looking up as his body leant back and he gripped the back of the chair.

"I'm not stalking you" Jooheon defended himself as quickly as his intoxicated mind would allow him to.

"That's not really what I was saying" Hyungwon sighed and Jooheon blinked, mouth dropping open a few seconds before he could form an answer.

"Oh," Jooheon dropped down on the bench out front of the club, Hyungwon rose his brows, sighing as he looked at Jooheon.

"Well then, I'm out with friends" Jooheon shrugged his shoulders just as Hyungwon was losing his interest in him. Jooheon chortled to himself and swayed, looking up at the night sky.

"I didn't think that proving myself to someone would include letting them tattoo their signature on me before we went club crawling. Did you know that we're all here in the city?" Jooheon turned to look at Hyungwon, he smiled as Hyungwon scoffed and looked out to the people walking the streets instead of back at him, his face bitterly scrunched up.

"How would I know?"

"Right, no one's talking to you huh?" Jooheon mused and Hyungwon narrowed his eyes. Jooheon looked down the road, his calmed smile growing once again when he was able to see Hoseok coming towards him. He perked up noticeably and Hyungwon's eyes followed the direction that Jooheon's body faced.

"How are they?" Jooheon asked, swaying when he stood up again and walked to meet Hoseok. Hoseok shrugged, letting a breath out with a chuckle.

"They're still with some chick that was vomiting on the sidewalk, she was crying when I left," Hoseok told him and Jooheon snorted.

"I'm not going to do that tonight" He mused and Hoseok put a weighty hand on Jooheon's shoulder.

"Good" Hoseok laughed.

"Will they be coming soon?"

"Yeah, Somi told me to go ahead and find you, since you know, you walked off on us" Hoseok raised an eyebrow at him and Jooheon giggled.

"Did I? I could have sworn that you were right behind me the whole way here" Hoseok rolled his eyes and used his hands on Jooheon's shoulders to walk back to the public seating together.

"That explains why you were out here on your own then" He scoffed.

"Oh," Hoseok stopped moving, looking at the male with the swooped hair sitting on the bench, Hyungwon looked at them both, up and down slowly, he took in a breath and went back to watching the pedestrians on the street.

"Yeah, don't worry about him," Jooheon waved dismissively in Hyungwon's direction, "he doesn't want to talk to me. Unless you think you can get him to strike up a conversation with you, then go for it" Jooheon sat down, letting out a deep breath as his hands landed on his stomach. Hoseok cleared his throat and sat down next to Jooheon, falling into silence as anything that could have been said fled from his mind. The music from the club behind them was loud, as were the people walking the streets. The buzz that Hoseok had been feeling on his way over was dying down quickly, now all he felt was tension and discomfort that had him clearing his throat as he avoided looking in Hyungwon's direction. Looking to the ink-covered man, Jooheon was seemingly able to handle the situation well, he was still smiling at whatever he was thinking to himself and the docile look on his face almost had Hoseok wishing he was capable of the same thing, drunken ignorance that looked like it would also occur without Jooheon having to drink.

"My god, we're never doing that again" Hyunwoo gasped and Somi slapped his arm, annoyed with his antics.

"You're the one that started being friendly with drunk people. She wouldn't have followed us around for so long if you weren't so nice to her in the first place" Somi retorted.

"What was I meant to do? Tell her to get lost?" Hyunwoo threw his hands up in defeat.

"Maybe that would have been for the better" Somi confirmed with a strict tone. Hoseok looked up at the pair, trying to smile at them as they made their approach.

"About time the two of you got here" He commented, making Jooheon aware that Somi and Hyunwoo had finally arrived.

"Oh! You guys, what took you so long to get here?" Jooheon asked he smiled at them over Hoseok's shoulder. Hyunwoo jumped into explaining the situation with the queazy woman that was back at the other club as Hyungwon let out a deep sigh and stood up. Somi's face dropped as he looked at him, he ignored their presence and walked back into the club, Somi's eyes followed him and even Hyunwoo had stopped talking to watch him walk away.

"You're talking to Hyungwon?" Hyunwoo asked Jooheon who waved a hand dismissively a second time.

"I've tried but he doesn't want anything to do with me" Jooheon quickly explained.

"Can you blame him?" Hoseok scoffed and Jooheon's mouth fell open as he looked at Hoseok, not prepared for the blow he was delivered so suddenly.

"Hey, I let you tattoo me, isn't it time to be nice now?" Jooheon pouted in a sulky manner and Hoseok shoved him away, rolling his eyes.

"Ready to go in?" He asked Hyunwoo and Somi, ignoring Jooheon behind him.

"Yeah let's go" Hyunwoo turned to the club and Somi nodded.

"Hey, don't try and leave me behind!" Jooheon complained, wobbling as he followed after the other three. Hoseok snorted when Jooheon put a hand on his shoulder and glared at him. After a look up and down, the security standing on either side of the door let the small group drag each other into the club, where the music got louder and lights danced with the people around them.

"Time for another round!" Somi exclaimed over the music, much to the delight of Jooheon who became giddy at the thought of another drink.

"Come on!" Jooheon grabbed Somi and dragged her over, the woman falling into step with him as Hyunwoo and Hoseok followed behind them. Hyunwoo looked around, bobbing his head to the music as he watched the people filling the club. His chin tucked in when a drink was shoved under his nose and he looked to the one responsible. Jooheon winked at them with a dimpled smile and Hyunwoo took the drink from him with the command to stop winking at him spurting out his lips just before he was taking a long swig.

"Let's go dance!" Somi took Hoseok's ar, beaming up at him. Hoseook's eyes widened and his grip on his drink tightened as Somi pulled him forward, closer to the dance floor that had him going rigid.

"Won't you dance with me?" Somi whined, wide eyes shining as her fingers wrapped around the jacket protecting Hoseok's arm. Hoseok grumbled, his face scrunching up.

"Dancing isn't my thing, you know that Somi!" He argued and Somi pouted, the long dress flowing side to side as she swayed her body, trying to convince Hoseok.

"But it's the school dance Seok! Let's go dance, let's have fun!" Somi clutched at Hoseok's hand with both of hers and pulled him forward, closer to the other dancing students that were already having fun together.

"I don't know Somi..." Hoseok trailed off nervously and Somi laughed.

"Why not? There's nothing to be ashamed of"

"I can think of a few things to be ashamed of" Somi stopped and Hoseok looked to who Somi was already blinking at with wide eyes full of disappointment.

"Firstly, you're still following her around?-" Jooheon looked Hoseok up and down. "Secondly, I was told you came to the dance together, you've even matched your outfits, how embarrassing' Jooheon clucked his tongue, looking down at their joint hands. Somi let Hoseok's hand go and Hoseok took a step back, clearing his throat.

Hoseok looked back at Jooheon and Hyunwoo, who were following them closely behind them, no look of hesitation on their faces as they merged with the people dancing. Hoseok looked back down at Somi, who happily raised her drink in the air. Hoseok squeezed her hand clasped in his and looked up at the lights dancing around and over them, raising his drink in the air and cheering with Somi, Hyunwoo and Jooheon drunkenly copied, just happy to be happy.

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Jooheon couldn't help but smile as he looked down at the tray of drinks that he was holding. It was getting warmer outside again, to hot for a normal coffee on a day like today where Jooheon once again had some spare time. The sun shone down on him until he was under the cover of the building he entered, taking in a deep satisfying breath once he was walking through the air-conditioned air. Hani quickly ducked down into her seat when she saw Jooheon and typed away on her laptop with hurried fingers.

The sliding doors of the building slid open again and another figure walked in as Jooheon got in the elevator, Hani looked up, eyes widening before she quickly stood up with a smile.

"Welcome, are you here for a meeting?" She asked, bowing as she smiled.

"Oh no, I'm here to see someone" Minhyuk explained as he approached the desk Hani was behind.

"Sure, who were you here to see? I'll let them know you're here" 

"Han Somi" 

"Oh, no problem, go to the top floor and her office door has her name on it down the hall on the right" Hani explained, gesturing to the elevator with both her hands.

"Thank you" Minhyuk bowed, disappearing into the elevator when it opened its doors for him. Minhyuk hummed to himself, holding a bag of food in his hands as he waited for the elevator to take him to the top floor. When the doors slid open, Minhyuk stepped out cautiously, looking left and right as the elevator doors slid to a close behind him. He cleared his throat and straightened his collar, moving down the hall with his eyes on the doors to the right of the hall, looking for Somi's name that he was told would be engraved on her office door. As he got closer, Minhyuk could hear laughter, coming to realise it was coming from the office that he was looking for, he read Somi's name on the door and raised his hand. He hesitated as another cackle of laughter echoed out. 

Minhyuk closed his eyes and his head dropped, fist stuck in front of the door. A wince pulled at his lips and he grimaced.

"Can I help you?" Minhyuk jumped out of his skin and bit down on his lip in a habit that stopped him from cursing in front of his students. He looked over his shoulder, lip falling from between his teeth and closed fist dropping back to his side

Changkyun took a step back, his breath caught in his throat and his hands grew clammy suddenly. His mouth fell open, then shut, and open again, but he couldn't get any words out. Minhyuk straightened himself again and turned to Changkyun, smiling softly. The door behind Minhyuk swung open and Minhyuk was pushed forward as an apology fell from the mouth of the culprit on instinct.

"I'm so sorry!" Hyunwoo exclaimed and Minhyuk caught himself before anything too embarrassing could have his cheeks turning red. Changkyun swallowed, looking at Hyunwoo as Minhyuk turned around again.

"What? Minhyuk, not to be rude, but what are you doing here?" Hyunwoo's face scrunched up as he looked at Minhyuk with Changkyun standing behind him, the scene was confusing for him.

"I was dropping by with lunch?" Minhyuk asked rather than explained.

"How does everyone suddenly know to come here?" Hyunwoo turned back into Somi's office.

"Lunch is here," He said and Minhyuk entered the office with Changkyun following behind him.

"Minhyuk!" Somi exclaimed in excitement. 

Changkyun froze at the door, not wanting to enter the room. He couldn't look away from Jooheon who simply smiled behind the iced coffee he was drinking.

"Yo, if I knew you were going to be here, I would have bought more coffee!" He beamed as soon as he spoke and Minhyuk bowed his head.

"If I knew you were here, I suppose I would have bought more food" Minhyuk replied with less enthusiasm to Jooheon, Jooheon understood instead of letting it bother him and offered his hand to Minhyuk.

"How are you man?" He asked gently as Minhyuk shook his hand.

"I'm doing well you could say"

"Uhm," Hyunwoo looked around the room as everyone looked at him, "it's a little crowded in here, should we move this to my office?" Hyunwoo smiled, turning to Changkyun and gesturing for him to move out of the doorway. Hyunwoo left first with Changkyun contemplating if he was going to follow or run and hide.

"I don't know if this will be enough for all of us" Minhyuk raised the takeout bag he was carrying and Somi waved the comment of reassuringly.

"I'm sure we'll make do, it was nice of you to bring food over" Somi gestured to the exit of the office and Minhyuk walked out, quickly catching up to Hyunwoo. Somi strolled out of the office with Jooheon behind her, rattling off something that had Minhyuk looking back at him, waiting for him to catch up. 

Somi looked at Changkyun, who hadn't moved since the start of their migration to the bigger office. She smiled and as if she knew what he was thinking, wordlessly took his hand to walk with him. Changkyun lips parted and he gasped, no words could escape him despite the open passageway. Instead, Changkyun could feel his chest closing up, getting smaller and tighter, making it feel like Somi was walking him to his execution rather than to lunch. Somi didn't say anything, didn't comment on his conflict and didn't comment on the fact that holding hands was probably a line into the relationship that they weren't ready to cross.

She walked slowly instead, not rushing Changkyun who was still slower than the snail pace that Somi was travelling in. She looked forward, even as Changkyun stared at her, stunned by her actions and bewildered by the fact that she would pull him into a room full of people he could not yet handle. 

Hyunwoo left the door to his office open, Somi could hear him asking what food Minhyuk had graced them with and smiled to herself. Jooheon looked back at her once but quickly looked away when he saw Changkyun linked to her by the hand, not wanting to put him off any more than what his presence alone already did.

"I don't know about this" Changkyun stopped in front of Hyunwoo's office and Somi looked back at him, more relaxed than Changkyun was able to understand.

"I just got fried chicken from a place nearby, it said online that their pretty decent" Minhyuk spoke and Changkyun's eyes widened, he swallowed the saliva that formed in his mouth and Somi's smile grew knowingly.

"Why don't we find out?" She pulled Changkyun into the office and Changkyun in a sharp breath that they both heard, he would have to talk to her about boundaries and understanding what being on rocky terms with someone meant after this, because she was pushing through walls he wouldn't want to even have her look at.

Their was something energetic mixed in the air with the smell of the lunch presented by Minhyuk, more noise than what should have been possible came out of the mouths of the three already sitting down and Somi added to it, jumping into laughter filled words as she ever so slightly tightened her grip on Changkyun's hand as they too sat down on the chairs that Hyunwoo had dragged away from his desk.

"Jooheon, can you get some glasses out of the cabinet there?" Hyunwoo pointed and Jooheon got on his feet and travelled to the cabinet without protest.

"This smells great" Somi sighed, she her lips as her stomach gurgled at the prospect of finally getting food. Minhyuk passed her and Changkyun cutlery, asking if they wanted any of the drinks he had provided.

Changkyun sat back, looking at the people he was suddenly surrounded by all at once, he blinked and let out a sigh, nervously fiddling with the chopsticks that had been handed to him. A cold air passed by Changkyun he shivered, eyes moving around the room, he found the air conditioner, with its blinds closed and its lights off, he knew it wasn't blowing any fresh air down on them.

Suddenly, Changkyun didn't feel as if he was the only one sitting back and watching.

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"Well you did it"

"I would hardly call it anything exciting, I just sat there" Changkyun rested his temple against his fingers.

"You sat down and had lunch with not just me and Somi, but Jooheon and Minhyuk as well, that's progress, more than I had seen you making at this point, to be honest," Hyunwoo told him and Changkyun shrugged, recalling the lunch meeting.

"I would have gone and eaten on my own if I had it my way" He admitted in a mumble and Hyunwoo sighed, turning back to his computer to keep typing up the report he was filling out.

"Maybe I'm glad you didn't get your way then" He muttered, and Changkyun looked up at Hyunwoo with wide eyes.

"What?" Changkyun's eyes grew as he sat up straight.

"I said what I said" Hyunwoo answered carefully and Changkyun swallowed, opening and closing his mouth as he gripped the arms of the chair he was in.

"Changkyun," Hyunwoo closed the lid of his laptop and turned to his old friend, "I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not saying you're feeling or your pain is invalid, it wasn't then and it won't be now or tomorrow. But how long does this go on for? How long do we pretend that you're fine when you haven't been able to face any of our old friends? How many times are we going to have the conversation of how well you're doing, knowing very well that when you see Somi next, you're going to retreat, that when Jooheon turns out to be stopping by, you're going to go the opposite way to avoid him?" Hyunwoo rose an eyebrow and Changkyun swallowed, averting his gaze and adjusting his position in his seat.

"Changkyun, the people around you are trying, I'm here, Somi's here and now Jooheon and Minhyuk are here, all with regrets and apologies, time that they'll make to amend their mistakes, they're trying, so won't you try too?" Hyunwoo asked him and Changkyun stood up, bowing to Hyunwoo.

"I just remembered something, I'll be going" He rushed out, turning around and walking out of the room without waiting for Hyunwoo to answer him. Hyunwoo watched Changkyun leave with the door swinging shut, he let out a breath and turned, looking at the photo frame on his desk, turned to face him so that only he could see.

"Kihyun, buddy," Hyunwoo hummed, "Am I being too hard on shy little Kyunie? Or is this the right thing to do for him?" Hyunwoo looked at the photographed memory of himself mocking Kihyun's height, the offended adolescent pointed to a young Han Somi, who looked just as offended as her counterpart was as everyone else in the photo laughed in delight, he could still hear it when he thought back on the memory. His eyes trailed to the young girl in all her anger, a breath falling from him as he smiled bitterly.

"Why am I asking you huh?" Hyunwoo muttered to himself, picking up the picture frame.

"Your way of giving advice was a slap over the head and a prompt hint to get over it"

"So get over it then" Kihyun whispered sadly from behind Hyunwoo, wishing his friend could hear him, so that he would know that he was there, watching them all try and fix the mess they had made in the past. Hyunwoo suddenly shivered and Kihyun took a step back, realising he had gotten to close. Hyunwoo huffed out a chuckle, his fingers dusting over the photo.

"She's come far, are you seeing that from where you are?" Hyunwoo asked the air knowingly.

"I know it better than anyone" Kihyun whispered his answer and Hyunwoo's arms tingled as goosebumps rose.

"She was always you're favourite," Hyunwoo continued to talk, "but she's making me see that I'm improving too" Kihyun reached his hand out towards Hyunwoo, the tips of his fingers went unseen through Hyunwoo's desk chair and he hesitated, a breath in. He dropped his hand again and took a step back, deciding it was time for him to walk away to. Hyunwoo put the photo frame down and clasped his hands in front of it, that was when Kihyun took his leave.

"We have to set up another meeting, even if it's just a video call or group phone call to get more information from the brand they haven't provided us with enough and I can't get anything started-"

"I'll tell Hyunwoo that we need to do so" It was days like this one that Somi wished Minah wouldn't follow her around, treating her friendship with Hyunwoo as if it made her his assistant that could make all their project decisions on his behalf. She nodded her head, hoping her distant attitude and hurried footsteps would tell Minah she really wasn't in the mood to do work outside of her job role at that moment

"We also need to know how many models they want since they haven't said what they want. They're ideas to, do they expect us to come up with that or are we meant to read their mind-" Minah jumped back as Somi gasped and her things cluttered across the floor.

"My gosh Changkyun. I'm so sorry that I didn't see you coming" Somi reached out for Changkyun instead of her laptop and books. Changkyun hissed, holding his hand to eye level as he shook his head.

"It's fine, I was rushing too much"

"What's wrong? Oh god, you're bleeding, come in and I'll fix that up for you" Somi opened the door to her office and Changkyun entered as Somi picked up her things and rushed in after him. She swung the door shut, making Minah jump in her spot as her eyes grew.

"We need to talk about that meeting though" She grumbled, sighing in dismay at Somi's urgent blabbering coming through the door.

"Where did I put it?" Somi asked herself, pulling all her drawers open, only to slam them shut in dismay when she couldn't find her first aid kit.

"I'm sorry Changkyun, let me see" Somi rushed over to where Changkyun was sitting with the located first aid kit in her hands. She sat it on her desk and took Changkyun's hand, wincing at the blood. 

"How did this even happen?" She looked at her things that she had disregarded, confused by what was making Changkyun bleed so much.

"Minah's scissors" She gasped and opened the first aid kit. She went to work on Changkyun's hand, apologising profusely the whole time she took care of the wound. Changkyun sat stock still, shock running through him as he watched unblinking while Somi wrapped up his hand.

"There, let me know if it bleeds through the bandage" Somi put Changkyun's hand down gently. Changkyun finally blinked, letting out a big breath that had his head dropping.

"Changkyun?" Somi asked in concern when Changkyun's head thumped against her stomach, she held her hands up, unsure of what to do with them as she frowned.

Changkyun's eyes fluttered shut and they fell into silence. Somi put her hand on Changkyun's head, fingers nestling under his hair and they remained the way they were until Changkyun sighed, pulling Somi away her thoughts to look back down at Changkyun.

"I'm tired," He told her and Somi hummed.

"Well maybe you should go home and rest"

"I don't know if that would help" Changkyun mumbled, telling Somi that it wasn't the kind of tired that came from getting no sleep.

"Then I'm not sure what to do, I'm tired too"

We've reached forty subs! Thank you for being here, I hope you're liking this little story :)

I know last week I said that I was gonna try and do double updates, but my writing time decreased and I didn't think I would have a chapter ready for today if I made an early update, I'm still going to try and do that when I have chapters available, I just have to get some writing done first.

I don't really have much to say today, so I'll see you in the next chapter :)