They played halfway through the night and the both fell asleep in the living room. Eunbi in the armchair and Sehun on the couch. The former woke up hours later, her eyelids fluttering open as rays of sunlight shone through the windows. Her body ached a bit as she stood up. It wasn’t too painful but just enough to make Eunbi frown when she stretched her back. A few pops could be heard and she realized her body must’ve been uncomfortable laying in such a cramped space. Sehun on the other hand, was already awake. He’d not slept too well in the couch and had instead lay awake most of the night. His thoughts filled with doubt of what he was supposed to do. He’d tried to come up with a solution to his ever so obvious problem. One that couldn’t get out of hand.

“Are you awake?” Eunbi leaned over him, staring down at him where he was laying. She took his wide open eyes as a yes and moved over to the kitchen. The remains of yesterday’s dinner was still standing on the kitchen counter, completely forgotten and spoiled. Eunbi felt bad about it. That they’d let food go to waste. But it was nothing she could do about it now because it was already bad. As if that wasn’t enough, the fridge was close to empty. The more part of the food their parents left was either eaten or needed to be thrown away. In other words. One of them had to head out. Eunbi sighed, she’d rather stay inside then go out. It’s wasn’t so much the cold or snow that bothered her, but more the fact that it was quite a distance to the closest supermarket. With that in mind, Eunbi headed back to the living room and Sehun. The latter was still laying down, his gaze set on the roof above.  

“There’s no food left.” she slumped down in the armchair and waited for him to answer. She wanted to know what they were going to do and what he wanted. If he was hungry. Sehun mumbled something Eunbi wasn’t able to hear, which in turn made her ask what he’d said, if he could repeat himself.

“Just order something.” he didn’t feel like going out. But his tone of voice made Eunbi question what’d happened. She was curious about his sudden change of attitude. Even more so since he’d looked rather happy the day before. Whatever it was, Sehun seemed to have been affected by it. Eunbi shrugged her shoulders, deciding that he could probably deal with his problems, before reaching for her phone. One she used to dial a nearby restaurant.

Sehun remained silent and in a bad mood even when the food arrived. This however, only increased the worry Eunbi felt. It didn’t make any sense to her. Why he’d become so depressed in a few hours. Had he not slept well? Was that it? Was he so tired that it’d affected his mood? Anything was possible. But even though she could have asked, she didn’t. Eunbi wasn’t sure that it would’ve made any difference and instead retorted to the food that now stood before her. They ate in peace, neither of them saying anything.

The silence was later interrupted when the front door flew open and the voices of their parents flooded the hallway. Eunbi was up on her feet in no time and went to welcome them home. The two adults looked really worn out however, with bags under their eyes and expressions that showcased they couldn’t have gotten much sleep. Eunbi ignored all that as she headed up to her mother and wrapped her arms around the older woman.

“Have everything been alright?” Eunbi nodded without as much as a second thought. Then again, it’d all worked out just fine. Sehun hadn’t caused any trouble whatsoever and Eunbi wasn’t too disappointed about how it’d turned out. The said girl was no longer bothered or irritated either, that she’d had to celebrate Christmas with only Sehun.

“Where is Sehun?” the said male appeared before Eunbi was able to answer and it wasn’t too hard to see that he was still upset. Whether the two adults saw it or not, she couldn’t know. But they didn’t say anything about it. Maybe neither of them wanted to bring it up? Either way, Sehun sported a frown and she sent him another quick glance when he walked right past the three of them and headed up the staircase. Something was so obviously wrong that it distressed her. Not only because he’d never acted like this, but also because she thought she’d done something wrong.

“We’re both really tired so we’re going to sleep a couple of hours.” Eunbi needed her mother to repeat everything for she hadn’t paid attention to any of the words. Her reaction to the fact that her mother and stepfather would head to bed was a hasty nod because for once, she was focused on someone else besides her mother, Ahbin or Yixing.

“And could you tell Sehun that we are all going out to eat tonight.” with that, her mother and stepfather trudged up the stairs and thereby left Eunbi to herself. The said girl sighed and it was not long before she took the same way up to the second floor, where she hesitated. Eunbi felt a certain need to speak to Sehun, but a part of her was a bit unsure whether it would be a good idea. Her deliberation of what to do was hastily cut short though, for Sehun’s bedroom door opened and he stared right at her. Eunbi cleared , as if nothing was wrong, before she walked up to her own bedroom and shut the door. She hid herself from him. She was ignoring him and the countless of questions floating around inside her head.  

She was a coward for shying away.

But there was one thing Eunbi remembered as she stood there, leaning against the door. How she was supposed to tell Sehun about the restaurant visit. She couldn’t believe she’d completely forgotten all about that. A sigh slipped past her lips as she pushed away from the door. Eunbi knew she would have to go out there again. The uneasy feeling increased even after she’d pulled open the door, for she found herself staring right into Sehun’s eyes. The latter was standing a mere meter from her, his expression just as unreadable as usual. Eunbi was so perplexed by his appearance that she found it hard to formulate what to say. It wasn’t like she’d expected for him to be standing outside her bedroom. Had he been waiting for her?

“Is something wrong?” Sehun remained silent, he didn’t answer her question and instead kept his gaze locked with hers.

“Sehun?” Eunbi blinked when a frown became evident on his lips. It was sudden and a bit overwhelming and she felt her heart swell the second he spun around and walked away. Eunbi couldn’t comprehend his action. She couldn’t understand his reasons for suddenly behaving like an . Really, what the hell was going on with him? Irritated by his act, she decided to just brush it off and head back into her own room. He could do whatever he wanted for all she cared. Or that’s what she wanted to think. Truth was, Eunbi grew more and more annoyed as the minutes ticked by. Not even her try to fall asleep worked and it didn’t take long before she was up on her feet again. This time determined to find out what the heck Sehun was up to.

He was in the living room, sitting in the couch and playing the same video game they’d done the day before. The male didn’t even look up from the screen when she walked in. In fact, it seemed more like he was trying to ignore her.

“My mom told me to tell you that we’re eating out tonight.” nothing. There was not a single word or any kind of acknowledgment from Sehun’s side. Just silence.

“What’s wrong with you?” to her utter bafflement, the older male gave her a hurried glance, dropped the game control, and then stood up and left. Fine. She was not going to bother with him anymore. There was no reason for Eunbi to be nice when he treated her like crap. And because of that, she remain quiet when Sehun pushed open the front door and headed outside. That he could miss out on the dinner later that day was no concern to Eunbi, who simply shrugged her shoulders.

The nonexistent concern however, grew into a slight feeling of anxiousness the longer the time passed. It shouldn’t have caused such worry. But it did and Eunbi tried calling him. But to no success for he wouldn’t pick up. There were still no sign of Sehun several hours later, and the girl panicked the moment she heard the alarm go off upstairs. Her mother and stepfather was waking up.

Why hadn’t Sehun returned home yet?