Myungsoo felt an intense gaze beside him so he turned to his right. There stood a male school mate of his, craning his neck as they did their business. Zipping his pants, he rolled his eyes and walked up to the person. The boy bit his lips and backed away from the urinal nervously.

“Yah. Are you a saesang fan?!” Myungsoo yelled.

“N-No, I-I am not. I-I am just a simple fan of yours. I-I didn’t mean to-”

“Forget it. Save your breath, you saesang.” Myungsoo wiped his hands on the boy’s blazer in a disgusted manner as he walked out of the washroom.  

He looked through his phone and realizes that the members are done with their photo shoot. Shutting his phone, he let out a long sigh. He hated being trapped in this darn school, just because the CEO tells him to. He hated how the scandal broke loose. He hated how everything wasn’t going as planned by him. It was as if someone was deliberately against him, making all odds against him.

“Irritating!” He yelled as he kicked the vending machine.

The lights of the vending machine went off, and he couldn’t help but scoff at his luck. Hearing sounds, he made his way out of the scene lest he got himself into new troubles. Myungsoo deliberately avoided the crowded area because he hated the cameras taking shots of him and he wasn’t allowed to stop them. He wasn’t afraid that he would turn out badly on the cameras but he was just not in the mood. There was nowhere to go now, he thought to himself. He wasn’t allowed to visit the members nor was he allowed to return for dance practice.

“Remember: You’re withdrawn from INFINITE temporarily.” His CEO words replayed.

And he wondered how long temporarily meant. A few weeks? 1 month? 2 months? 6 months?

“Aish. This is driving me crazy.” He muttered as he ruffled his hair.

Then, something diverted his attention. It was unusual to hear sounds at this isolated part of the school, he thought. Myungsoo was pretty sure he had heard a commotion and saw something which resembled flashes from afar. Walking closer, he saw a group of girls surrounding a familiar girl who had her hair messed up. It did not take long for Myungsoo to recognize who they were though.

“Park Sohyun.” Myungsoo thought to himself.

Joohee dropped the books which she poured water on and shredded upon seeing her bias. Myungsoo tilted his head to the right and stared for a moment. He met eyes with Sohyun’s pleading eyes. He studied her state for a second and noticed her cheeks were slightly swollen. It was obvious what the inspirit club leader was doing to her at the very moment, and he knew it all so well. She thought he was an angel sent from above.  She thought he would walk over and save her from distress. She saw the fear in Joohee’s eyes and she knew he could have stopped them. But he didn’t.

Sohyun thought she saw a smirk tugging at his lips as he walked right past them. As if she wasn’t being bullied, as if they were nothing but air, he walked past just like that. The bully got worse as L gave his silent approval for the inspirits to carry on. And from there on, Sohyun found herself crying not because of the physical pain inflicted anymore.

Sitting in the puddle of water with a swollen right cheek and torn text book, Sohyun had never felt so empty and drained. The man whom she stare at every day on her phone, in the computer, on her posters turned out to be so scary. It intimidated her how he turned out to be such a different guy. He was so cold. Too cold. L and Myungsoo, she wondered if they were all the same, equally frightening.

Sohyun did not call JR or Hoya. She merely sat there until her tears dried and her hair turned from wet to damp. She missed all the lessons but she couldn’t care less. Standing up with wobbly legs, Sohyun found herself falling back to the ground on her knees. This time, she cried harder because the scene of L walking by was still burning at the back of her mind. She wanted to forget so badly and continue believing her bias didn’t just do this to her but she couldn’t. She simply couldn’t.

Cold. She felt cold.

-

“Where are you going, hyung?” Sungjong asked.

“Somewhere unimportant. I will be back at the dorm soon.” Hoya reassured.

“The manager is going to ask about you.” Sunggyu warned.

“Say I left something in school and I went back to retrieve it?” Hoya suggested and Sunggyu could only smile at the younger’s smart excuse.

“Come back early and don’t get into trouble.” Sunggyu dismissed him.  

“I will.” Hoya said before rushing to the doorstep.

Hailing a cab, Hoya got onto it swiftly after ensuring there were no fans following or his manager around. He put on his shades and fished out his phone to check his notifications. It did not take long for him to arrive at his destination. Looking up at the agency building name, he blocked out the blinding rays of sunlight. Then, he felt someone tap his shoulder. It made him frightened for a moment. He prayed it wasn’t a fan or something because he had sneaked out. And now, he was supposed to be ‘in school’.

“Sunbaenim.”

Hoya relaxed his tense shoulders upon recognizing the voice.

“You.” He pointed at JR in amusement.

“Seems like great minds think alike.” The two guys said in sync and laughed.

Walking into the press agency, the boys sat in the editor’s office. They scanned the clean office environment as they waited for the person to return. When the door swung open, the two stood up modestly and bowed down. The editor smiled and returned the greetings. Crossing his leg, he stared at the two visitors.

“It’s rare to have both of you in my office. What is the matter?” He began.

“Frankly speaking, the thing is…” Hoya began.

“We have a favour to ask.” JR continued.

The editor lifted an eyebrow in amusement as he folded his arms.

“We wish to know something. The article written by you regarding Park Jiyeon and Kim Myungsoo sunbaenims… Who gave the pictures to you?” JR asked straightforwardly.  

The editor’s face changed at the topic raised and he straightened himself unknowingly.

“I suppose both of you know that us, editors’ sources are kept confidential. We have to protect our information providers.” He stated matter-of-factly.

"Please, hyung." Hoya begged.

"Stop asking. I really don't know anything." He muttered unconvincingly and looked away.

“The person… is an idol, isn’t it?” Hoya asked as he stared at the editor’s face for the slightest change.

“I-I have something to attend to. You guys should leave before your managers start finding you.” He said and shot up.

After the glass door closed behind them, JR let out an exasperated sigh.

“We got to go.” Hoya informed.

And as the two left the agency with their disguise on, Hoya looked to Jr.  

“This trip isn’t completely wasted. At least we know that the person is an idol.” Hoya concluded.

“How did you know? Didn’t he not say anything?!” JR exclaimed in shock.

“His face changed when I mentioned about the person being an idol. In the first few seconds, a person reflex is always the honest answer.” Hoya explained with a slight proud smile.

“So it’s really not Sohyun.” JR said in relief.

“Never once have I thought it’s her.” Hoya said as he looked up at his phone mindlessly.

Sohyun did not reply his message and he wondered if she was coping fine alone in school.

Hoya did not realize he was worrying about her (a little too much).

Author's Note:

I took long enough to update, I am sorry. I hope you guys enjoy reading the new chapter. ^^
Writing 'Melting Ice' is like writing a drama with many characters. I had fun and I hope you do too.
Thank you to all subscribers, for subscribing and also, for your patient wait.
It would be lovely to see comments so do write me a comment? Thank you for reading! :D