09
Nothing's Over
--
Nine
--
You heard Sunggyu calling your name behind you as you stormed home.
“Wait! Would you just listen to me? Your hand is bleeding!” he pleaded behind you. You glanced down at your right hand to see blood dripping down your middle finger. You hand started to throb, feeding your anger even more.
“Great. How wonderful.” You were about to open the gates to your house when Sunggyu caught up with you and grabbed your good hand, making you whip around and slam your already injured hand into the metal bars.
You let out a string of swear words before cradling your hand as tears sprung to your eyes. You hated showing weakness in front of anyone which made you even more frustrated.
“Oh, jeeze...” Sunggyu pushed the gates open and helped you inside. Your dad looked up from the newspaper to see Sunggyu dragging you inside.
“Honey? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” you practically yelled at him, yanking your arm out of Sunggyu’s hand and hurrying up the stairs. He called your name again, but you slammed the door to the bathroom and locked it before sinking down on the toilet and running your hand through your hair.
Your dad gave Sunggyu a weird look as he hurried up the stairs and stood outside of the bathroom door. He raised his hand to knock on it, but stopped when he heard you sniffling through the door.
After a few minutes, you stood up and the faucet, running your hand under cold water. You winced when it stung, feeling your hand throb even more. After the blood washed away, you examined your hand and saw the skin on your knuckle split. You could see dark purple bruises forming on the rest of your knuckles. How hard did you hit that railing?
Sunggyu called your name softly through the door. You could hear the pleading in his voice, but you were too emotionally exhausted to care.
“Just... go home, Sunggyu. Go home.” He shifted uncomfortably outside of the door before he said something about seeing you in the morning for your jog before he left.
He stepped outside of the gates of your house to see Junhyung across the street, finishing up his ice cream with a smirk on his face.
“Step it up, Leader Gyu,” he called from across the street before he opened up the door to his house and disappeared inside.
Sunggyu tightened his fists and took a few deep breaths to keep from blowing something up.
--
You wrapped up your hand by yourself, wincing slightly as your hand protested. You were glad you were ambidextrous, even though you preferred to write with your right hand because it looked prettier.
When you finally came out of the bathroom, you hurried to your room and shut the door quietly behind you. Your dad looked up in concern, wondering what could’ve happened to make you so angry. You hardly ever lost your temper for real.
--
When Sunggyu came by for your morning jog, you didn’t speak to him. He kept stealing glances at you, but you ignored them and kept to yourself.
“I was just worried about you,” Sunggyu said eventually. Worried? What did he have to be worried about?
“How does your hand feel?” he asked as you two stopped in your yard.
“Fine. I’ll see you at school.” You turned to leave him without your usual morning kiss. Sunggyu sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“. Why can’t Woohyun be right more of the time so I’ll listen to him?”
--
Junhyung stared at you as you threw your book bag at him to carry. You didn’t even look at him as your put your shoes on.
“You’re mad at me, too? What did I do?”
“You’re meddling.” You saw right through Junhyung. You knew what he was trying to do.
“I’m not trying to break you and Sunggyu up, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“No, that’s not what I’m thinking,” you said as you stepped outside to open the gates. Junhyung raised an eyebrow and followed you.
“Then what?”
“Our team. You’re worried, aren’t you? Afraid they won’t be well prepared enough to keep me safe for The Games? You don’t think Sunggyu is a good leader, and you exposed the weakness in Woohyun’s power. I know you. You show things by doing.” You turned down the sidewalk as Junhyung followed behind you.
“You’re right. I am worried, and I have good reason to be. I’m your competition. If your leader and his right hand man can’t even outwit me alone, then what chance do you guys have on the survival course? Let alone The Games.”
“Like your team is any better,” you mumbled under your breath. Junhyung smirked and shoved at you lightly.
“They will be because I know what to fix. Tell Sunggyu to get his act together. He can’t just focus on you and only you. He has a full team he’s responsible for.”
--
You still looked slightly disgruntled as you made your way over to the group. Sunggyu swallowed as he sidled over to you. Junhyung handed your book bag to Sunggyu as he stared him down before turning to leave.
“I’ll see you later,” he called over his shoulder.
“It was all Sunggyu’s idea!” Woohyun yelled, making Junhyung raise his eyebrow at him before disappearing into the school.
“Woohyun, would you just...”
“Hey. Hey. If you listened to me in the first place, your girlfriend wouldn’t be mad at you and have a busted hand.”
“Busted?” Sunggyu asked, looking over to you.
“Let me see.” Sungyeol slipped between you and Sunggyu and held up your injured hand, tutting at the bandaging.
“This is a terrible wrapping job. All you’re doing is cutting off blood circulation to your fingers,” Sungyeol said as he unwrapped your hand.
“Sungyeol is a pro at fixing injuries. Probably because he hurts himself with his power so often,” Myungsoo said with a slight smirk on his face.
“Not my fault that I’ve gotten used to you holding on to me all the time so I pass through solid objects. You should really stop doing that. I could accidentally kill myself someday.” After the bandages were gone, everyone tried to get a look at your hand.
Hoya frowned as he saw your hand, and Woohyun got a little bit more scared. “Forget Junhyung. I think I’m more terrified of you,” he said, eyeing the cut and bruises. You protested as Sungyeol straightened your fingers out.
“This is going to need stitches so it’ll heal right over the knuckle. Does this not hurt like hell?” Sungyeol asked, looking at you in the eyes. You sighed.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Sunggyu asked, frustrated that he couldn’t do anything to help you. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”
“I’ll take her to the nurse so she can get it fixed. You guys go on ahead to class,” Hoya said, taking your book bag from Sunggyu and grabbing your good hand.
Sunggyu started to protest, but Woohyun shook his head, motioning for him to let you go with Hoya. Sunggyu was starting to feel more and more like a failure as your boyfriend.
--
“What happened.” Hoya said it more like a statement than a question, which meant that he expected an answer, and he wanted it soon.
“I hung out with Junhyung last night. Sunggyu and Woohyun followed us, Junhyung messed with Woohyun’s mind reading, gave Sunggyu the wrong idea. I got mad he was following us, punched railing, and broke my hand.”
“Your hand isn’t broken.”
“It feels like it.”
“Then why didn’t you say something?” You didn’t really have a reply to that. What could you say that didn’t sound too cliche or like you didn’t care about yourself? You didn’t want them to worry? You were too mad to care if you were hurt or not?
“Sunggyu is right. We can’t help you if we don’t know what’s wrong. You’re not in this alone. Just another thing to add to the list of things to work on,” Hoya said with a sigh as you two stopped in front of the nurse’s office.
He didn’t let go of your hand until the nurse made you sit down so she could look at your hand.
“I’ll have to disinfect this, then stitch it up. It’ll probably need two stitches so I won’t numb it or anything.” You frowned heavily.
“Just squeeze your boyfriend’s hand or something,” she said, making Hoya start and you stutter.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” you said, motioning for him to give you his hand anyway.
“Oh. I heard you were dating someone that wasn’t Junhyung,” the nurse said, ripping open packages. Was everyone up in your business at this school?
“Gosh, I watched the two of you grow up together and- this will sting- and I’ve always wanted the two of you to date.” You hissed as the alcohol touched your hand, squeezing Hoya’s hand with your other one.
“Holy mother of- Loosen up!” Hoya said frantically, trying to loosen your death grip on his hand.
“You’re going to break my hand!” You forced yourself to let go of his hand, making him shake it out and take a deep breath.
“Good grief! Who are you, Hercules?” The nurse finished disinfecting your hand before getting out the needle and thread.
“Hoya,” you whimpered, staring at the needle. He blinked a few times before sighing. He didn’t understand why he had a weak spot for you, especially at times like this. He held out his other hand and sighed.
“You might have to fix my hand later if she breaks it,” he said to the nurse.
“That’s what I’m here for. Now, take a deep breath.” Hoya yelled louder than you did.
--
Sunggyu saw you and Hoya already at the lunch table by the time he got there with Woohyun. He stared curiously at Hoya’s bandaged hand.
“What happened to you?” Sunggyu asked, staring at his hand. Hoya blinked a few times before grinned and flicking his eyes over to you.
“Ask your girlfriend. She’s secretly Hercules.” You gave Hoya a look, making him smile and go back to his food.
“The nurse fixed up my hand without numbing it, and Hoya, being the gentleman that he is, offered for me to use his hand to squeeze so it wouldn’t hurt so bad.” Sunggyu frowned again.
“And you wouldn’t let me do this why?”
“Because you can barely control your power with two good hands. What happens if she breaks one?” Sunggyu furrowed his eyebrows this time before raising one at Hoya.
“Wait. You knew she was ridiculously strong? How?”
“Saw her training one day. She took down a hundred and twenty pound punching bag. Junho was complaining about how he wasn’t getting paid enough to have his equipment destroyed.”
“That explains a lot,” Woohyun said, sliding carefully into the seat in front of you. “I mean, honestly, who dents metal railings with one punch?”
“Apparently, she does,” a voice said from behind you. You turned around and saw Junho staring at you with concerned eyes.
“You missed training this morning. Are you okay? I heard from Junhyung you broke your hand or something.”
He leaned over your head and picked your hand up from the table to examine it.
“Sheesh, I swear... Well. Perfect opportunity to learn one armed combat then. You’ll be here after school?”
“Shouldn’t she take a break for a day or two to let her hand stop hurting for a bit?” Sunggyu asked. Junho shook his head.
“A little bit of pain’s never stopped you before,” he said, patting you on the head.
“See you after school!” He waved to you as he disappeared from the cafeteria.
“Don’t worry so much, I’ll be fine,” you said to Sunggyu. He sighed.
“You always say that. And look at your hand.” You couldn’t stay too mad at Sunggyu. He was genuinely worried, and you felt bad that you were making him feel like he wasn’t a good boyfriend.
“I’m not mad at you anymore, okay? Just don’t think that I can’t take care of myself. You said so yourself. I can take care of myself.” You grabbed onto his arm and shook him back and forth slightly.
“But it’s okay to need help, too,” he said, laying his hand over yours.
“You two especially need help,” Hoya said, looking back and forth between Sunggyu and Woohyun.
“You need to work on being able to follow people without getting caught. Plus, who spends an entire evening fail stalking their friend’s girlfriend?”
“Hey! Don’t make me sound like the loser here!”
“You’re the one that reads minds.”
“It’s not my fault,” Woohyun said quietly. He was still brooding about the fact that Junhyung managed to trick him so easily. He talked about it with his trainer, and they were now working on getting Woohyun to see through mind barriers.
“Have you progressed to basic telekinesis yet?” Hoya asked, finishing up his food.
“No,” Woohyun said, looking the other way. “There’s only a small percentage of mind readers that are strong enough to progress to telekinesis.”
“I’m sure you can do it.” Hoya patted him on the back before getting up and leaving with his try.
“Compliments from Hoya. You should treasure them,” you said to Woohyun.
--
Friday came, and you were packing for your three day, weekend bonding time with your team at Hoya’s house.
“I don’t think I like the idea of you staying in a house with a bunch of boys,” your mom said from your doorway as you packed.
“I packed modest clothes, Mom. I’m not going to be flaunting anything.” You packed nothing but t-shirts and sweat pants, and a two pairs of jeans.
“But still, you and a house full of boys...”
“Hoya’s mom will be there. And Hoya. And Sunggyu. And Sungjong. None of them are going to let anything happen.”
“I’d feel better if Junhyung were there.”
“If Junhyung gets word of anything happening to me, I’m sure whoever that offending person is will find themselves pinned to a wall.”
“But three whole days.”
“Two and a half,” you said, running to the bathroom and grabbing your toiletries before throwing them into your bag.
“I rounded up.”
“Mom,” you said in exasperation. She laughed and walked in to hug you.
“I’m just worried about you, baby, that’s all. Who’s coming to get you? I know Hoya’s house isn’t within walking distance.”
“Junhyung is taking me.”
“Oh. So he knows where it is? Good enough for me. Have fun!” Your mom patted your cheek before leaving you alone to finish.
“What? So it’s okay now, now that you know Junhyung knows where it is?” you called after her. When you didn’t get an answer you sighed. You looked around your room once more, mentally ticking things off, hoping that you didn’t forget anything.
“If I do forget anything, I can just pull it from the paper,” you said to yourself before zipping up your bag.
--
“You better not let them do anything to you.”
“Hardly.”
“Don’t sleep in the same room.”
“I’ll have to share tents with them on the survival course, won’t I?”
“I don’t care. Don’t sleep in the same room.” You rolled your eyes as Junhyung grabbed your bag from the backseat of his car.
Hoya lived in a mansion. You wouldn’t be surprised if there was training equipment in his gigantic backyard ready for everyone to use. Hoya was good at gathering information and putting it to good use, but Sunggyu was better at taking care of people and getting people to listen to him.
Hoya opened the door before you could knock, staring at your bandaged hand.
“How is it?”
“Swelling went down, I can bend my fingers without feeling like they’re gonna snap off,” you said, stepping into his house and whistling.
“You’ve been here before. I don’t know why you’re surprised,” Hoya said, padding over to the couch.
“I have?” you asked, completely confused.
“Yeah. We all came here for his birthday party that one year, remember?” Junhyung said, setting your bag down.
“Huh... I don’t... remember.”
“Yeah, well. You’re the first one here. Make yourself at home.” Junhyung looked around once before leaning over you and pressing a kiss to your forehead.
“Have fun. Don’t hurt yourself,” he said sternly before ruffling your hair and turning to leave.
“Same as always,” Hoya muttered under his breath.
“What?”
“Nothing. Where’s your boyfriend?”
“I don’t know. He said he had to do something after school, then he’d pack and head over here with Woohyun.” Hoya nodded before getting up from the couch again and moving a gigantic white board over.
“We’re going to talk for a bit about our powers. Strengths, weaknesses, limitations. I’m sure people have heard other things about other types of powers, so all information will be helpful.” You thought about Woohyun’s mind reading power. Junhyung’s mom was a mind reader, so you knew quite a bit about it from Junhyung.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be helpful.” Hoya was about to say something else when his doorbell rang again. You heard voices coming from behind it and bounded over to open the door.
Sunggyu and Woohyun were arguing about something while Sungjong put in his two cents on the side, rolling his eyes at Woohyun. Sungyeol and Myungsoo walked right through them, making the three of them protest as they felt around their bodies.
“Well. What’s the point of a power progression if I don’t practice it? Use it or lose it,” Myungsoo said as Sungyeol randomly jumped on his back and fell through to the floor.
“Hey! I wanted you to carry me!”
“I didn’t feel like it.” Myungsoo nudged the boy on the floor with his foot and smirked.
“Were you waiting long?” Sunggyu asked as he walked up to you, planting a kiss on your cheek.
“No. I just got here.” Hoya pushed his way in between you and opened up his arms.
“What? I don’t get one too? I was waiting for longer.” Sunggyu rolled his eyes.
“You are so weird. Why do you brood at school, but act like this at home?”
“It makes me more mysterious. Plus, I let out a few waves in the backyard, so it doesn’t feel like my head is about to split.”
“Hoya!” Dongwoo came running through the door and turned into a large husky before landing on Hoya’s chest and his face.
“There. Dongwoo’s got that taken care of.”
“Dammit, Dongwoo! Get off of me!” Hoya growled, trying to shove Dongwoo off of him. Sunggyu grabbed your injured hand gently and pressed kisses to the bandages softly.
“I wish I could make this better,” he said with a frown.
“Stitches come out on Monday. Then you can kiss it all you want,” you said with a smile on your face.
“I think there’s another part of your body I’d rather kiss,” he said with a smile before giving you a kiss on the lips.
“Oh god. Okay. First rule. No lovey dovey mushy crap. That goes for you two, too!” Woohyun said, pointing to Sungyeol and Myungsoo. “Keep your thoughts to yourself! Oh god- STOP SENDING ME THOSE YOU FREAKS!” Woohyun yelled closing his eyes tight and ruffling his hair.
“What’s the matter Woohyun, what’s the matter?” Sungyeol asked, chasing after him.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“He had another power progression this week. Apparently, he doesn’t have to look at people anymore to read thoughts, he just has to focus on them. And if Sungyeol is running after him screaming, guess what his focus will be on?” You snickered as Woohyun tried to shove Sungyeol away and missed.
“I hate you guys!”
“Okay guys, bags upstairs in the bedrooms.”
“Guys in one room, girls in the other.”
“Girls?” you asked, confused. Hoya smirked at you before answering.
“Yeah. You and Sungjong.”
“Jerk.” A bolt of electricity went flying through the air, shocking Hoya enough to make him fall to his feet. He was breathing hard, but laughing breathlessly.
“Totally worth it.”
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