Two
Rise of the PreyHanmi placed her bowl of steaming ramen on the kitchen table before sliding into her chair to get started on her dinner. She stared ruefully down at the same brand of instant noodle she had eaten for three nights in a row, and glanced longingly at the kitchen counter. An image of her and D.O happily cooking side by side flashed into her mind, and she tightened her grip around the chop sticks in hand.
They had stopped making meals a long time ago, once they realized that most of it would go to waste from being thrown angrily on the ground, or left abandoned on the table to go cold.
Shortly after the whole burning down MAMA situation occurred, Two Moons transferred you all to an actual home. It wasn’t as large as the one they previously lived in, but nevertheless had plenty of room for them all – each room was filled up with three members, and Hanmi of course had a room to herself. Kisook had come to mutual terms with his mother, and the Kangs eventually adopted Jieun as their own, much to Kisook’s satisfaction. Hanmi and the others wondered how that would all work out in the future seeing as how they pretty much knew that the young pair would grow to develop mutual feelings of affection for one another.
She took a small bite of her ramen and felt her bitterness burn even stronger as the bland taste slid down . With a quiet sigh, she pushed the remainder of her dinner away, no longer feeling an appetite. She gazed longingly at the long kitchen table, imagining the members sitting in their rightful spots, laughing and joking as they shared the events of their day.
When did it all go wrong?
“Holy , you scared me Hanmi,” Chanyeol jumped when he spotted the lone figure sitting quietly at the table. He headed for the refrigerator and pulled out a can of beer, snapping it open and taking a long sip before he turned to the girl. “What the hell are you doing, sitting here alone?”
“Just thinking,” Hanmi responded quietly as she stared down at her fingers.
Chanyeol frowned at the girl’s meek tone, and he slid into the chair besides her as he stared on with concern. “What’s up?”
Hanmi remained silent for so long that Chanyeol opened his mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by her quiet murmur, “Can I ask you a question, Chanyeol?”
“Yeah, sure,” Chanyeol replied as he lounged his long legs across the table in front of him.
Hanmi lifted her gaze so she was staring into his eyes. His eye brows furrowed slightly, concerned for the amount of sorrow that he could detect swimming in the girl’s orbs.
“Are you happy?” Hanmi asked quietly.
A dark shadow casted itself over Chanyeol’s eyes as he let out a small, bitter laugh. “I don’t think any of us have been happy in a while, Hanmi.” He tossed her a meaningful look. “You included.”
Hanmi bit down on her bottom lip, not wanting to admit that the other’s words were correct.
Chanyeol sighed as he stretched his arms above his head. His chair scraped against the floor as he pushed it backwards to climb out of his seat. “Things will get better eventually, Hanmi, they always do,” Chanyeol called out as he strolled out of the room. He added another line under his breath with the assumption that the girl wouldn’t be able to hear it, “At least I hope they do.”
Hanmi wanted to laugh bitterly at those words. Better? When? When would it all get supposedly better? How was it supposed to get better? They all wouldn’t wake up simultaneously one day suddenly feeling great about themselves and each other.
“What a joke,” Hanmi muttered under her breath as she poked at the bloating ramen in her bowl. She pushed her bowl away and pressed the side of her cheek against the cold wooden table with closed eyes. She wished time would just fast forward until everything was better – if things were to ever improve.
“What are you thinking about?” a sudden voice blew air against her ear.
Her head snapped up in surprised and banged painfully against the head of another.
“Goddammit Hanmi!” Himchan explained as he clutched his now throbbing forehead. “Did you really have to react like that? You knew that it would have been one of us!”
“Who are you to yell at me when it’s your fault?” Hanmi snapped in return as she rubbed the side of her head. “Why is your head so hard, anyways?”
“Took the words right out of my mouth,” Himchan muttered in response as he slid into the chair that Chanyeol had just abandoned. “Why were you just lying down on the table anyways? I thought you fainted or something.”
“I was just thinking,” Hanmi puffed out air as she ran her fingers through her hair.
“About what?” Himchan asked as he grabbed her abandoned bowl of ramen to take a bite without asking for permission.
“Just some stuff,” she shrugged, not wanting to repeat her worries all over again. “Finish the ramen, alright?”
“Asa!” Himchan grinned as he rubbed his hands together. “Thanks for the food!”
“Mhm,” she nodded in response as she pushed herself up from her seat. She stopped as she passed by the living room, staring sadly at the empty couches. Memories of them all from just a couple of months ago filled her head, and she envisioned the familiar sounds of laughter. It had been a while since they had gathered around the couches to share the events of their day or to just enjoy the company of one another while they watched a movie.
Hanmi leaned against the wall as she thought off the occurrences from the past few months. After the whole burning MAMA incident, she and the other boys immediately engaged in tough and tedious training. They would find themselves training, always training from the moment the sun rose to the moment the sun set – and then the problems began.
At first, it was all just petty arguments that would voice themselves through the house and the training center. They all didn’
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