Sungyeol stopped the bike suddenly, causing you to almost crash onto his back. You pushed yourself up using his shoulders as you blinked the blurriness out of your eyes, “What’s wrong?”

Sungyeol looked at you from over his shoulder, “Isn’t it cold outside today?” You nodded, not understanding the question. For a moment, you thought maybe he couldn’t tell how cold it was and was just asking to make sure. Yet, his question seemed a bit too nitpicky to be asking that. His tone especially made it seem as though he meant something else entirely by his question. “So then, why are you standing on the spokes of my bike? Isn’t the air cold?” Before you could even answer, he started up again, “You should be sitting down, arms wrapped around my waist with your head hidden behind my back.”

He was scolding you. He was scolding you on how he wanted you to sit on his bike. As you continued to stare at him, wondering why he was complaining in the first place, he stared right back at you, eyebrows furrowed downwards in irritation.

You decided to go ahead and listen to him. You stepped down from the spokes of his bike and swung your leg over before sitting on the back of the bike sideways. He faced forward again now and you slowly wrapped your arms around his waist whilst laying your cheek on his back.

The next second, he went peeling off down the road again, causing you to squirm and have to hold onto him tighter. “Sungyeol, wait.” You gasped as his bike hit a small rock on the sidewalk, causing it to jump slightly. You held onto him tighter as his speed only seemed to increase, the rock not deterring him in the least.

As you clenched your eyes, your arms wrapped securely around him and your head buried in his back, you felt something. Something that caused your anxiety and worry to fly out the window. It was a small tremor. You felt it under the palm of your hands. The feeling of his chest palpitating. Once, twice, then again a third time. It was coupled with a light sound that invaded your eardrums. The sound of him laughing. You didn’t know what he was laughing at. At this moment, you could’ve cared less.

You focused on it, the feeling of his body shaking as he laughed. And when he stopped, your ears picked up a different sound. A sound you heard as your cheek lay against his back. The sound of his heart beating. And without realizing it, your fingers unclenched and sprawled outwards, reaching upwards.

It was weird. The sound of it. You never knew someone’s heart could beat so fast. Riding a bike wasn’t tiring for Sungyeol, you knew that. It was fast and steady. It was weird. Yet, you liked it. You liked the fast rhythm. It made it seem like time was flying by. As though time didn’t matter. And you got lost in it. As your nerves started to relax, your fingers losing the tension that had once filled them, you sunk into a dream-like state.

Only to be pulled from it a second later as Sungyeol stopped his bike once more. Your eyes fluttered open and you pulled away from his back. Before you could ask what was wrong, he turned to you again, except he didn’t look annoyed anymore. He looked conflicted. As though he wanted to say something but couldn’t. He diverted his eyes and looked away from you before coughing once and turning forward again, “You shouldn’t.”

That’s all you heard. You shouldn’t. The rest of his sentence mumbled out, fading into the sound of the town as cars drove by and people went about their daily lives. You shouldn’t what?

He coughed again, and this time, without turning to you, you heard a whisper. A whisper that stuttered to speak it’s intended message and ultimately is what caused you to jump off of his bike immediately, “You shouldn’t touch me like that.” You felt like crawling into a small cave and hiding from your embarrassment there.

“I’m sorry. Really, I,” You struggled to spit out your words. You had felt him up. Obviously he was feeling uncomfortable. You shook your head, reproaching yourself for doing such a thing as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “I’ll walk the rest of the way.” You pointed down the street meekly, clearing your throat as though that would somehow make the situation less awkward.

As you pivoted to do just that, Sungyeol grabbed onto the back of your backpack, stopping you. “No, don’t.” He stammered, “I want to give you a ride there. Just um, just watch your hands please.” He laughed nervously as he let go of your bag, running his fingers through his hair. He felt like a bumbling idiot. He wanted to give you a ride. He wanted to be with you now before you got to school and everyone else swarmed on you like flies. He wanted you to hold onto his waist. To shield yourself from the cold using his back instead of standing on the spokes of his bike as usual. He just didn’t expect it. He didn’t expect your hands to trail up the front of his jacket the way they had. He didn’t know how to react to it. His body involuntarily shook and that’s why he stopped his bike.

And as you protested to taking his offer a second time, apologizing again, before he pleaded enough for you to get back on, he was cursing at himself. Cursing at himself the entire way to school as you kept your hands unmoving on the side of his waist, clinging not to him but to his jacket, his curses got louder in his head for stopping you in the first place.

 

 

 

You breathed out as you entered the school. You were sure you were red faced now and not because of how cold it was outside. Sungyeol told you he was waiting for a friend by the bike racks which was a bit odd considering you hadn’t seen him with anyone other than Hoya, Woohyun, Myungsoo, Sungjong, and Dongwoo. Still, you decided to believe him, for your own sake. The ride to school after he got you to take his offer for a ride the second time was complete silence.

You felt bad because even after that, he waved at you, a childish smile on his face as you left him by the bike racks. You couldn’t help but smile back only to remember once more that you had felt up his chest less then ten minutes ago. And you could see out of the corner of your eye, him laughing as you walked away. To his eyes, once more your embarrassed waddle back into school made it all worth it.

“Hyunjoo.” You stopped in your tracks and looked up to the voice who had called you. Dongwoo stood there, a slight grin on his face as he waved hello and approached you.

“Dongwoo, is everyone here at school today?” You couldn’t help the question. After two weeks they returned as though everything was normal. You wanted to know what had happened during the time they weren’t here but at the same time, you wondered if you should even ask. It was already enough if they were here. They could tell you the reason later, whenever they felt necessary. You were just glad to be done with all of it. With the Containment Zone. With the mayor. And with the full moon battles.

You felt as though it were over for now. For now. Oddly, you had thought that without thinking. For now things were normal. What would happen next now that things had calmed down? And what was normal anyway? You hadn’t known normal since you first moved to Springfield. You weren’t able to dwell more on your conflicting thoughts as Dongwoo answered your question.

“Something like that.” He said in a singsong voice as he walked with you up the stairs. You narrowed your eyes at him and leaned forward, peeking over to see him as you two climbed up to the second floor.

“Something like that?” You pursed your lips, trying to read the meaning behind his words. He nodded once, acting oblivious to your suspicion. You leaned back again and cocked your head to the side, continuing to look him over as he began to go up the stairs to the third floor. He was happy. The usual happy-go-lucky Dongwoo. You decided to let it go just this once as you quickly took steps to catch up to him.

As you reached the last step up the stairs to the third floor, you found Dongwoo there waiting for you, a grin on his face. You didn’t expect what happened next. Not in the least. As you finally got to the third floor, Dongwoo grabbed onto your arm and tugged you forward, causing you to hit his chest face first. You heard people yelling as they ran past, saying something about being late for review day as they trampled along the place you once stood. Once their voices faded away, Dongwoo let up on the hold he had on you.

“You alright?” He asked as he pushed you away by your shoulders. You looked up at him, finding him still smiling widely.

You shook your head up and down before questioning him, “What are you smiling about?”

Dongwoo leaned to one side, seemingly checking your face, before leaning to the other side and doing the same. Once he was done, he smiled again, “Well, this time I didn’t hurt you.”

Your lips parted in understanding. You knew now why he was smiling. Before, when there was an earthquake that shook the werewolves’ home, an earthquake you now understood to be the Containment Zone shifting from underneath it, he had stopped you from falling over moments before. You had almost broken your nose then but this time, you actually ended up knocking into him as though falling into a warm, werewolf pillow. And he was excited about it. Excited to the point where you couldn’t help but smile right back at him.

“And I for one am happy about that too.” You said back to him as you began to walk to your class. He stayed behind and it only took you a few steps forward to notice. He answered the silent question you posed to him as you looked back at him.

“I’ll see you later, Hyunjoo.” He pointed up the stairs to the forth floor where his own classroom was, saying with his gestures that this was as far as he’d walk with you. You honestly wanted him to walk you all the way to the classroom but you definitely weren’t spoiled enough to ask such a thing.

Dongwoo waited until you disappeared among the other students, until he could no longer see you as students began to rush to homeroom. He secretly wished you were the type of girl who would have forced him to walk you all the way there, all the way up to the door of your classroom. But, that's what he liked about you. You didn't take him for granted. You didn't make absurd requests to him. He looked down at his hands, the ones that had held you against him moments before and he smiled. Then, he his heel, put his hands in his pockets, and walked back down the stairs.

 

 

 

You walked into the classroom, a smile on your face that you didn't realize was there. That is until Ricky and Niel pointed it out.

"I heard you're cheating on your boyfriend with that dinosaur senior." Niel rose his eyebrows at you as he leaned over onto your desk. "Really Hyunjoo, you should know better than to let others see you two embracing in the hallway like that."

Ricky walked around the front of your desk and nodded his head approvingly, "I always say if you're going to cheat, you should do it behind closed doors."

"Like you have anyone to cheat on." Niel rolled his eyes only to receive a swift punch to the shoulder from Ricky.

You laughed as you slipped into the seat at your desk. You knew they were joking around. The two told you yesterday they didn't believe those rumors that always circulated around you whenever you hung out with the werewolves. They said most of the time the rumors were so ridiculous they got a good laugh out of them and honestly, you had always ignored them before. Only when they told you they laughed at them did you actually start to see the humor of it. So really, this new rumor didn't bother you in the least.

"Good morning."

You froze, as did Ricky and Niel who were bickering about how long it had been since Ricky actually had a girlfriend, as someone walked by. Someone who you never thought would actually greet you in the morning.

Myungsoo.

And as you looked to him, he glanced out of the corner of his eye and you saw something that made you feel like you were dreaming.

He smiled. At least, that's what it looked like. Kim Myungsoo smiled at you.

"Did Kim Myungsoo just say good morning to you?" Ricky asked in disbelief, the same question you were asking yourself right now.

"More importantly, did he just smile at you?" Niel whispered as he leaned down, creating a circle that consisted of Ricky, you, and himself.

"I thought I'd never see the day that guy greeted anyone." Ricky said, his jaw almost hanging open afterwards.

"Same here." You mumbled as you turned back in your seat to see Myungsoo start unraveling his scarf from around his neck after setting his backpack down. The bell rung suddenly, causing you to face forward again.

"I can see the rumors on the horizon." Niel shook his head as he and Ricky returned to their desks in the back of the classroom.

 

 

 

You couldn’t help but let your mind drift all throughout class this morning. You thought about the embarrassing moment with Sungyeol this morning. The moment you spent with Dongwoo as he walked you to class, well halfway to class. And of course that Myungsoo actually said good morning to you. Yep, today was a bit more full of werewolf than usual. You had no idea what to expect next but of course, there was one thing that happened no matter what.

As you waited, sitting in your seat as students started to head off to lunch, you wondered briefly if he was even here today. You caught sight of something brown poking in the doorway of the classroom and you couldn’t help the smile that came onto your face, even before he looked in and called out to you.

And when he did, and he saw you smiling at him, he didn’t say a word and simply stuck his hand out, waving you to come with him.

“Having lunch with the pretty boy again?” Ricky asked from behind you, noticing obviously that the person at the door was there for you. That Sungjong was waiting for you. Now glaring as he saw Niel and Ricky next to you.

“I have to say, I’m not going to deny that he’s not.” You said in reply, your smile getting wider.

“You sound like you’re proud of it.” Niel laughed as you stood up from your chair and grabbed your lunch.

You pursed your lips as you walked backwards, away from the two who got the hint that Sungjong did not want them coming along. A hint you were also dropping from the look in your eyes. A look they understood as “just this once, okay?” as though you were asking for permission. And they couldn’t exactly stop you nor did they want to know the curses they would face if they didn’t let you go with Sungjong, “Maybe I am.” You smiled coyly before waving goodbye and exiting the classroom.

 

 

 

“So you think I’m pretty.” Sungjong let out a single laugh, a sarcastic laugh. He had overheard the brief conversation you had with Ricky and Niel. He had used his supernatural hearing to hear it, and he knew you knew he was listening. He could tell from the smile you were giving him once you left the classroom and stood in front of him with your lunch in your hands.

“I do.” You mumbled as you took another gulp of the soup you had cooked for yourself this morning. It really hit the spot. Especially since Sungjong had decided the two of you would be eating in the gym today. And the gym, whilst it wasn’t nearly as cold as it was outside, it was definitely still chilly. You shivered in satisfaction as you felt the soup hit your stomach.

Sungjong was going to argue with you. He had intended to do so as soon as the two of you got here. There were a few other people who decided to eat lunch here but he didn’t care about the stares he would get if he did so nor the stares he was getting right now. And he would have. He would have argued with you. But then, he saw that look of content on your face as you gulped down a spoonful of that soup again. You weren’t in the least bit lady like. You didn’t try to eat prettily in front of him. He knew girls like that. Girls in his class. That girl Hyeri who had been annoying him lately to the point where he was glad he got to skip school for two weeks. He had missed it, watching you eat. He had missed you.

He was missing you even now as he watched you eat in silence.

And he didn’t feel like arguing anymore.

You thought he was pretty and the longer he let that settle in his mind, the more he liked it.

“That good?” Sungjong asked as he leaned forward, getting closer to you.

You nodded in response and turned to him, planning to ask him about where he’s been. Sungjong would tell you. You knew he would. But you froze. You couldn’t ask him a single thing because as you turned, he was right there. His face close to your own. He leaned back first. He did.

And then he called out to you. He called your name in a low whisper that caused his voice to sound deeper than usual.

“Hyunjoo.”

And then, he said something that made you feel like you were dreaming. You had to be.

“I like you.”

And then, he continued. He continued because he saw the blank look on your face as you processed his words. He spoke slowly, deliberately, not wanting you to forget anything he was about to say.

“I don’t mean I like you like a friend. I mean, I like you. In that way that you probably never thought any of us could like you. I don’t know how else to say it. How else to make you remember it because I really want you to. Tomorrow, a week from now, a year from now. I want you to remember that I like you.”

His lips tugged upwards into a smile and he scooted closer, spotting the soup in your lap that was in danger of slipping off. He moved it, slowly. He knew you were still trying to understand it, to understand what he was saying. But the fact that you hadn’t brushed it off meant it wasn’t a lost cause. That you hadn’t considered liking any one of them. Which was good for him.

He wanted to be the first one to tell you. And now was as best a time as any.

He wasn’t going to be close to you. He wasn’t going to wrap his arms around you and pull you to him, but he couldn’t help himself. Because right at that moment, realization crossed your face. He saw your eyes flutter to look away from him. He heard your nervous heartbeat. And he couldn’t help but do it.

To wrap his arms around your waist and pull you close. And your arms stayed limp by your side, your fast heartbeat seemed to match his own for a moment. And he didn’t regret a thing.

Not a single thing as lunch ended and he walked out of the front gate of the school right after.

 

 

 

Your eyes stared at the ground as you walked, watching your feet go back and forth. There were no thoughts in your head. For a moment, you forgot how to even walk anymore. So, you just let your body takeover. You simply walked forward, bracing against the cold as your mind replayed the memories of lunch. And you didn’t feel cold anymore.

You had to admit, you were not expecting that. Not at all.

Sungjong likes you.

He didn’t even ask if you liked him back. Wasn’t that how it was supposed to go? A large part of your was disappointed he didn’t ask but a small part of you, in the recess of your mind was glad he didn’t. Because you wouldn’t know the answer if he did. You had never thought of Sungjong like that. Never thought of any of the werewolves or the used-to-be hunters like that. And it boggled your mind.

And you felt as though some kind of door that was sealed shut opened. A door that lead to thoughts like that, about them.

“What did he do?”

You flinched as you looked up, finding Hoya standing next to the front gate of the school. You blinked a few times, not understanding his question.

He cocked his head to the side, “Sungjong. What did he do? You were saying his name just now over and over again.” You could feel your face begin to flush again but you pushed it down, refusing to let it show.

“Nothing.” You shrugged it off and smiled his way, hoping that would steer him off of his questioning path. He obviously noticed something was wrong but he chose to ignore it, something you were thankful for.

“Well, since nothing happened, you wouldn’t mind if I walked you home would you?” He rose an eyebrow at you, gauging your reaction. Waiting to see if you would give away what happened through your facial expression.

“Since you’re offering, I’m not going to refuse.” You joked back, and his skeptical frown faded into a smile. You weren’t sure if he caught onto you. Hoya was too perceptive. As much as B-Bomb and Jaehyo.

Hoya however had other things on his mind. He was too preoccupied to wonder what Sungjong had done to make your heart start beating at a mile a minute when he asked about it. He could only assume things of course, and he’d rather not assume. He’d rather not think about it.

Not right now.

 

 

 

“That homeroom teacher of yours still giving you a rough time?” Hoya asked, hands in his pockets as he walked beside you. You wanted to throw a fit as soon as he even mentioned the short man who was your homeroom teacher. He still held a grudge towards you for messing up on the first day of school. The guy just wouldn’t let it go. You sat in the wrong seat back then, your mistake sure, but you listened to him and sat in the front of the classroom where no one else wanted to sit. You had no worries when it came to people wanting to trade seats with you because no one wanted to.

“Rough time would be an understatement.” You sighed as you remembered the look he gave you this morning. The stank eye that was clearly obvious not only to you but to your classmates, a few of whom started to laugh quietly. And why? Because girls outside of the classroom were blocking the way as they talked about you and Dongwoo walking up the stairs together. Everything you did seem to have a negative effect on the guy, or at least that’s how you swore he saw it.

“Well it’s better now though. Minus him, of course.” Hoya comforted and there was no doubt in your mind that he was right. Things were better now. Better than what though? Better than never knowing about werewolves? About what was going on behind closed doors in Springfield when it came to the hunters? You knew a lot of things now and in the end, the trouble is over. There’s no more person to go against. The mayor has his own problems to deal with when it came to Daeryong and Soryong after all.

But, it was better. Better here in Springfield than you could have ever imagined.

You wouldn’t have believed yourself if you said that in the span of a few months, you’d be exchanging everyday pleasantries with a werewolf. You’d call yourself crazy. Yet, here you were. Talking to him as though all was right in the world.

And all really did feel all right in the world.

Everything except the itching at the back of your throat. The feeling that something was wrong. But, you put it behind you and focused back on Hoya next to you.

“I’d say it is. Yeah.” You smiled as you continued down the sidewalk with him. You could still remember the shock you got when you turned to find him in the house. Back then, you had no idea who he was. And thus, it was better now, knowing him. Knowing everyone. “Better than I could have ever imagined.”

“Same here.” He said without hesitation. You stopped walking and turned to him. The way he had said that. That feeling came back to you. The weird feeling from before.

Hoya saw the look in your eyes. You were onto him. Onto them. He didn’t want to be the one to tell you, so he didn’t. He didn’t hug you either, the two of you never did such a thing together. The sudden skinship would be awkward and that’s not what he wanted. So he did something more natural, something his fingers itched to do now.

You stared up at him with wide eyes as he ran one of his hands through your hair, smoothing it back, “Wild as always.” He commented, his comment referring to not only to your hair but to something else, a serene smile on his face. And after that, he dropped you off at home. Dropped you off at home where someone else was waiting for you on the porch.

He shouted at you from a distance, his hands around his mouth to form a pseudo-microphone, “Cook for me Hyunjoo!”

 

 

 

Woohyun grinned in satisfaction as he watched you put your hair up into a ponytail. Your body moved by itself as you went to work doing just what he had asked you to do; cook for him. And he simply sat watching you. Watching you as you cooked spaghetti for him. The process wasn’t difficult. He knew that. He knew you had a bottle of sauce in the fridge. You weren’t exactly making the noodles from scratch either. He wasn’t that hungry anyway. He just wanted an excuse.

An excuse to be able to watch you without making you go shy on him, as you usually did when he stared. He wasn’t able to enjoy this moment as much as he thought he would though.

There was something off.

Something different in the way you moved. And he couldn’t figure out what it was.

As you opened the fridge to pull out the sauce he knew you had, he stood up from the breakfast table in your kitchen and walked near you. You were reaching back for the sauce, it being wedged behind a pack of eggs. He peered over your shoulder and when he spotted your fingers reaching out, attempting to stretch themselves to get at it, he laughed. Softly. Lightly. From right behind you. And you jumped, your whole body twisting itself around as you came face to face with him.

His eyes widened in surprise at the look of shock that crossed your face right before your legs backed you up into the fridge and you slipped, falling right onto your bottom. It all happened so fast and Woohyun was so stunned that his hands went out to catch you too late. There was silence now as he looked down at you on the floor, your back against the fridge whose contents were shaking slightly.

He was going to ask if you were okay. He was going to help you stand back up. He thought he had scared you by suddenly appearing behind you.

That was until he saw from above the reddening of your ears.

You were embarrassed. He hadn’t scared you into falling down, he had startled you into doing so. Surprised you with how close he was and out of embarrassment, you went falling onto the floor. And as he realized this, he had to stop himself from laughing outright. You were so brave in the face of mysterious men in black, in the face of werewolves, in the face of any and all danger, yet when it came to this kind of stuff, to romance itself, you were so weak. So vulnerable.

So adorable.

And he couldn’t help the laugh that escaped his throat.

You cursed profanities at your actions inside of your head as soon as you heard him laugh from above. He had been that close to you before and it felt uncomfortable then. Your heart felt as though it were always suffocating in your chest. But now, it felt different. Since Sungjong hugged you this afternoon, since he confessed to you, being with them felt different.

The kind of different you couldn’t put your finger on.

The kind of different that caused you to go red faced from being so close to Woohyun.

It was the aftereffects of being confessed to. You decided to write it off as that.

And with that, you were able to stand up, with the help of a grinning Woohyun.

“Should I get the sauce?” He asked, one eyebrow raised up in amusement. You nodded once and shifted past him to check on the noodles. He turned his head slightly, taking in the view of your ponytail again. And as he mindlessly reached back to get the sauce, he kept his eyes on your frame, “Hey, Hyunjoo.”

“Yeah?” You asked, looking at him from your peripheral. He caught the glance and he relished in it for a moment, the sound of your voice as you said that one simple word and that expectant look you gave him afterwards as you awaited his next words. He relished in it because he felt he may never be able to see it again. To hear it again.

“Over dinner, I want you to tell me about yourself. The simple stuff people wouldn’t know about you unless they asked.” You were visibly confused and the cheesy smile that appeared on his face afterwards did not help. What didn’t help even more was what he said next, “Why are you so adorable?”

You cleared your throat and quickly turned back to the noodles, mumbling a “What’s with you?” under your breath that he caught. He pulled his hand from the fridge, pulling from it the sauce for the spaghetti. The reason he wanted to hear about you, wanted the following dinner to be filled with you talking while he listened was because he wanted to do just that.

To listen. To memorize the small hitches as you went on from one syllable to the next. To memorize the pacing of your words as you spoke them one after another. To memorize the sound of your voice.

And thus, that night, you told him about your favorite color. Why it was your favorite color. About your past pets. About your favorite kind of sandwich. About the ice cream you always wanted when you craved the frozen treat. As he wanted, you told him about small things he wouldn’t know otherwise. And he listened as you spoke on and on, only offering his input when you didn’t know what else to say. Edging you on to speak more by asking you another question.

That’s how the night passed. How dinner drew on for three hours before he left with a smile on his face, not saying if he would see you tomorrow or not.

 

 

 

It was late at night when you began to toss and turn in bed. It was late at night when you buried your face in your pillow, pretending you didn’t hear it. It was late at night and the doorbell was rung. Three times now. Which meant that your mom wasn’t here since she hadn’t answered it yet. You were mentally exhausted, your mind so full of thoughts you just wanted to sleep it all away.

But as the doorbell rang a forth time, it looked like you wouldn’t be getting rid of them right now. After you pushed yourself out of bed and made your way down the stairs, having to lean onto the wall to stop yourself from falling over, and checked who it was that was here so late at night, your thoughts flew from your mind immediately and one question replaced them. A question you posed as soon as you unlocked and opened the door, “Myungsoo, what are you doing here?”

Myungsoo looked up from the wooden flooring of the porch, locking eyes with you in that way that made it hard to look away from him. He answered your question. He answered because unlike the first time he visited you late at night, unlike the first time when his feet dragged him here on his own, he knew why he came. He had found the answer to why he would seek you out as you held onto his hand, dangling over your death in the Containment Zone. It was an answer that made sense. An answer that was obvious to him now to the point where he wondered why it took him so long to find it in the first place. 

His lips parted, and from them came his resolute answer, unwavering and stated without question, “To see you.”

His eyes traveled down to find that this situation had indeed happened twice now. He noticed it and then as your eyes traveled downward to figure out what he was looking at, you noticed it as well. The situation in which you had opened the door for him without putting on pants first. You gripped onto the ends of your long sleeve shirt and pulled it downward. It went all the way down to your mid-thigh without you tugging on it but that didn’t make this any less embarrassing.

“I’ll be right back.” You held up a hand as you hunched over, inching backwards back into the house.

“It won’t take long.” He said, unfazed once more by your appearance.

You definitely weren’t going to stand there and talk to him while you were like this though. No matter how okay he was with it. You held up one finger, signifying you’d be back in a minute, and closed the door. As you took the first step up the stairs, about to sprint up, he knocked on the door.

You heard his muffled voice say, “Could you also grab my jacket while you’re up there?”

That’s right. You had almost forgotten. His leather jacket, the one he had given to you while in the Containment Zone. You had it still after bringing it home from the hunters’ house. You were too lost in the moment, too lost in a daze of half sleep when Sunggyu drove you home, that you forgot to give it back.

You had spotted it on the handle of your closet, hanging where you left it, as you slipped on a pair of fleece leggings. The ones you were wearing before the house’s heater kicked in and you didn’t need them anymore. You pulled them up quickly and went to grab the jacket. Your fingers halted, stalled over the sleeve of it and you realized something.

You didn’t want to give it back. It was the only thing of his you had and you didn’t want to give it back. You didn’t want to give it back the same way you gave Woohyun his scarf back before he left after dinner. You had faltered then too.

But this was it, your last connection. Here, in the form of this black, leather jacket. This black, leather jacket that seemed to glisten like it was made up of the stars in the night sky every time Myungsoo wore it.

You didn’t want to give it back.

Perhaps you had chosen to forget to give it back because you didn’t want to.

But, you knew you had to and your logical reasoning won out.

You gripped onto the sleeve of the jacket and pulled it from the door handle, taking it with you as you descended the stairs and once more opened the front door.

Myungsoo was looking down, his hands in the pockets of his pants, but he turned to you once the door opened all the way. He outstretched his hand, telling you through his gesture to give it to him. Your fingers trembled as you slipped it from your grasp and handed it to him. And you watched as he inspected it. Watched in silence as he slipped it on top of the white long sleeve knit shirt he was wearing.

You saw it again. The shine it took on as soon as he put it on. The shine it had only when he wore it. It was like taking a peek at the vast mysteries the universe held all right there in front of you.  You couldn’t look for long. You drew your eyes away from him. And he saw it. He saw it all there written on your face. In the frown that etched your features, causing your eyebrows to go furrowing downwards. In the way your eyelashes fluttered slowly as you kept your eyes away from him. He saw it. Your silent desire.

He decided he would indulge you in it. He would give you what you wanted. What you probably didn’t even know you wanted.

He rotated his arms backwards, shifting his jacket from his shoulders. One sleeve at a time, he took it off. Then, he held it out to you. You noticed that he was holding it towards you again and looked up at him, confused.

“Keep it safe for me.” He gestured it towards you again, lifting his hand that held it higher. He would give it to you. This last thing that told you all of this was real. That everything that’s happened since the first day you got to Springfield truly happened. You hesitated to grab onto it, but when you did, he spoke again, “I was wrong.” You locked eyes with him, your hands on the jacket in his own. He pulled his hand away, leaving it with you, “You were good for us. You were the best thing for us.”

You had stopped the full moon fighting. You had stopped the mayor from influencing them. You facilitated a connection between them and the hunters. You had caused them to join forces. You had caused them to do what they were doing now.

Something Myungsoo knew was necessary. Something that was for the best. Something he wasn’t going to complain about. And he wanted to see you before then. He wanted to tell you again before then. He wanted to tell you again the words he had said so many times but never seemed to mean as much as they did when he said them now.

“I never hated you. Never.”

He gazed at you for one moment longer, one second longer. It felt so fleeting. As though he were slipping away from you, getting farther and farther by the second.

Then, he smiled. A sight that you saw only half of this morning. Now, you saw it from the front, in all of its rarity. In all of its subtlety.

And from his lips came out a simple phrase.

“Good night Hyunjoo.”

And you knew now. You knew now what you had been onto before as you walked with Hoya. Why Sungyeol waited by the bike racks instead of going into the school with you. You knew now why Dongwoo didn’t walk you all the way to homeroom. Why Sungjong didn’t ask for an answer. Why Woohyun hadn’t said he would see you tomorrow. Why the hunters held that party yesterday in the first place.

As Myungsoo turned, walking down the porch of your house, leaving with you his black, leather jacket, you called out to him.

“Myungsoo.”

He stopped. That back of his that you had always wanted to gaze at, that you always got lost in stopped. Stopped getting farther away as you always wanted it to. All it took was for you to stop it yourself. And he turned his body slightly, looking back towards you and you were reminded again that you liked looking at his front much better than you did his back because it meant he wasn’t walking away. He wasn’t leaving.

But, you decided that this would be the first and only time you stopped him.

“Good night.”

You spoke, your voice a soft hush against the against the sound of the night that engulfed you. The silence that you had forgotten the sound of after being with all of them. With P.O., Taeil, Kyung, Jaehyo, U-Kwon, B-Bomb, Zico, Sungjong, Dongwoo, Sungyeol, Hoya, Sunggyu, Woohyun, and Myungsoo.

But, the silence didn’t sound as lonely as it used to.

He smiled, one last time, before turning and walking down the street, the street lamps making him light up then fade out, then light up again as he walked on.

“Goodbye.” You whispered as he disappeared from your sight.

 

 

 

You slept well that night. So well, you almost didn’t hear the ringing of your phone by your bedside. So well, you chose to ignore the unknown number that was calling. So well, you forgot to check the voicemail that the caller left until lunch the next day at school.

And when you did, you found it to be a rather long message. A message that was four minutes long. So, you put off listening to it until after school, as you were driving down the street with your phone’s speaker on. 

And right after the first sentence, you stopped the car on the side of the road.

“Hey, Hyunjoo.”

It was Sunggyu’s voice that echoed from your phone.

“I wonder what time it is for you now. Probably early in the morning. Probably so early you didn’t feel like picking up the phone.”

He laughed. He laughed and your lips twitched upwards at the fact that he knew you so well.

“It’s pretty lively here though. The plane ride was hell. The fourteen of us plus an enclosed space thousands of feet in the air is a bad combination to be sure.”

There was talking and yelling along with the sounds of honking cars in the background. Yet, he didn’t say a word. A minute went by like that, with him saying nothing as you heard the sounds of a bustling city behind him.

“I didn’t come to see you. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t be a good leader if after seeing you I changed my mind suddenly. Especially when everyone has come to terms with it now.”

He laughed again and you felt your heart tremble at the sound.

“You probably know it by now. That we left. That we left Springfield. I don’t know what’s going to happen now. We’re going to deal with our problems as they arise. But, we’re fine. And I know you’re fine too.”

Again, the line went silent. You heard as he coughed once, and mumbled. A small mumble of how he needed to find some change. There was the sound of coins falling down onto metal. The reason the number was unknown was clear now. He was using a pay phone. Using a pay phone far away from where you were now, where the city was beside him, beside everyone, instead of you.

“You’ve done enough for us. You’ve done more than enough. More than I ever expected you to do. At times, more than I ever wanted you to. Hyunjoo.”

His voice called your name faintly. Despite that, it felt like he was there. Next to you, calling out your name. And before you knew it, a tear fell down your cheek, gathering at your chin before dripping down onto your lap. More time went by. More time as you listened without a single thought of skipping through the message. Then, after a few minutes, you heard him breath out. Then, he laughed again.

“I ran out of coins, Hyunjoo.”

And that was the end of the message. It ended without a goodbye. It ended without a definite ending. And you wanted to take back your words from last night.

This wasn’t a goodbye. No matter how much time went by. Be it 60 seconds or 60 million seconds. This wasn’t goodbye.

“See you later.” You muttered as you leaned forward, your head laying on the steering wheel as tears streamed down your face. 

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A/N:

This chapter was a long one. 17 pages in Microsoft word and 7647 words all together. All of it worth it. I hope you all enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope you all felt your heartstrings being tugged at just as much as I did when I read through it. 

The next chapter will be the last chapter of Springfield. Click here for the link to the sequel.

Anyone else feel like crying? 

 

 

 

See you later Infinite, whenever that may be!