{12:}

haphephobia

Minji openly glared at In Hye as she quietly put on her apron.

"Ahem." Minji snapped, gaining the attention of In Hye. "Yes?"

"Where were you the past two weeks and why didn't you return any of my calls or messages?"

"I was planning to, but um..." she shifted her gaze such that she was avoiding Minji's menacing glare, "my phone broke when I dropped it on the floor." 

Before Minji could respond, a loud "ding" was heard and In Hye's eyes widened. Minji went over to In Hye's bag and fished out her phone and rolled her eyes.

"Talk, now. What's up with you? Why have you been ignoring everyone?" 

"I'd rather not talk about it." In Hye mumbled, turning away. Minji let out a sigh as she placed her hand on In hye's shoulder. "I have to show you something." 

Minji took out her phone, logged into her naver and twitter account, searched around and handed her phone to In Hye.

"Look at all the news about Luhan." Minji mumbled. In Hye took the phone in her hands and scrolled, reading through every single article. Each of them mentioned something about how sad he looked even when he was smiling happily and some even mentioned how this was her fault. 

"I don't understand. I stayed away from him because I didn't want his fans to get upset." In Hye whispered, putting down the phone. 

"What?" Minji asked, her eyes widening. In Hye sighed. "I guess I have to tell you why this happened." 

"You better." Minji mumbled as she took a seat next to In Hye.

"Two days ago I told Luhan that we should stop hanging out." Minji let out a gasp. "I thought it would be better if we stopped because we weren't in any form of relationship and though we knew a lot about each other I felt that it wasn't right seeing how his fans were so dedicated to him. It was wrong if I just took him away from them. Also, they just had their comeback. It wouldn't be nice if they had a scandal, right? So why is it that there's still so much news?" 

"Because, In Hye. Many people saw both of you together and most of them were pretty much warming up to you but you disappeared and hurt him. That's why they're blaming you. You hurt their idol. There'll always be fans who'll hate you no matter how much you try to please them. You just have to ignore them and take in the positive. There's a fanmeet going on later, I'll be going for it so if by the time our shift ends and you decide on tagging along, let me know." Minji gave her a smile of assurance before standing up to walk into the store room to stock up on the candy. 

In hye spent the next 3 hours busying herself in the candy shop, attending to customers and stocking up on the candy, with Minji's words ringing in her mind. Take in the positive, flush out the negative.

"What time's the fanmeet?" In Hye turned to look at Minji who was smiling widely at In Hye's decision, "it's at 5 but I plan on going early to get a good spot. We can leave when my Mom comes." 

Two hours later, In Hye and Minji were running towards the entrance of the venue for the fanmeet. They were led to the waiting area by a kind security guard and when they saw the large amount of fangirls waiting already. In Hye instantly had cold feet while Minji was full of excitement. "um, Minji, I should tell you that-"

"Hold on, let's queue up first!" Minji interrupted, grabbing hold of her hand and pulling her forward. In Hye gulped as they neared the large group of fangirls- some holding large fanboards and unique fanmade items.

"Minji, I need to tell you something it's really important." In Hye shook her friend's hand desperately. "What is it? Oh! we're not too far from the front, which means we get to see them earlier!" 

"I have haphephobia*, Minji." In Hye bravely announced, but to her dismay, Minji had been whisked away by the large crowd of fans queuing up and she was left alone to fend for herself. 

In Hye was shoved forward by the number of people behind her and she started to feel queasy. When the fanmeet started, there was even more pushing and touching involved and In Hye turned pale. The feeling of being touched was unbearable. Thankfully, when she thought it could get any worse, it was her turn and she bravely but unstably walked up to the table where the EXO boys were sitting at. Luhan was seated on the other end of the table to her dismay but she took a deep breath and mustered all the courage she had to walk up to him.

"Hello, what's your name?" Luhan asked rather unenthusiastically, his eyes on the table instead of her.

"Lee In Hye." She whispered, a smile tugging on her lips. Luhan slowly looked up and his eyes widened. "I-In Hye."

"Hi." she smiled, her heart pounding against her ribcage. Luhan stood up from his seat, his eyes glued on In Hye's. "Hi." 

"I...um..." In Hye scratched her head, unsure of her words. Luhan gave her a small smile.

"What are you doing here, don't you hate being in crowded places?" Luhan stated. 

"H-how'd you know?" She asked, stunned. The ends of Luhan's lips curled upwards. "It's a secret." 

In Hye smiled, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Before she could say anything more, her head started to pound. She massaged her temples like she always did when this happened, but it wasn't working. Luhan had noticed she was pale too and quickly sat her down on his seat, handing her a fresh bottle of water. 

Loud screams from fangirls were heard as they witnessed the gesture and In Hye, despite feeling sick, felt uncomfortable.

"I don't think it's a good idea to let me sit. So I'll just go." In Hye mumbled weakly, standing up after she drank the water. Luhan sighed, he understood her reasons for wanting to leave so he quickly scribbled a note on a piece of rough paper before slipping it into her hand, whispering "read it" before allowing her to leave. 

Once In Hye was relatively far from the venue of the fanmeet, she sat down on the kerb of a carpark and pulled out the note Luhan had handed to her, a smile forming as she read the note; 

I missed you, my little secret.

✿✿✿

Hey guys c:
firstly, haphephobia is the fear of being touched in crowded places, I hope you didn't get confused!
Secondly, I have no idea if this was touching or not but I really hope it was because I spent 2 days writing up this chapter 2 days!!!
Nontheless, I hope you guys liked it! 
Do remember to subscribe and comment about what you think!
The next time I'll update is probably tomorrow since I cut short this chapter, don't want you guys getting confused now, do we?
The next chapter will be all about Luhan so anticipate! 

Thanks to lancaster for commenting! 

be✿tkk✿t