chapter 2; hours of pokopang

            ignorance is what kept me from walking closer to where you're sitting

entry 1807;

vixxhyuk hereu.

today at the studio was really tense. so me and jaehwan-hyung came early and hakyeon-hyung did too, then he got angry at wonshik-hyung who was late for 2 hours. god knows what he’s been doing. jaehwan-hyung did a good thing by calming down hakyeon-hyung, though it didnt get wonshik-hyung away from the scolding. in the end wonshik-hyung ended up with extra practice and i went home alone. i stopped by the café near the camera shop. and there he was, the mystery guy from yesterday. he was reading a book and i got caught staring at him again. why am i so embarrassing omg. i embarrassed myself and seungmi even laughed at me. ugh i swear. its not my fault for staring at someone who looked so good just by reading a book and chuckling at me when he noticed i was staring. well no use getting angry at her because its totally normal to laugh at people who are being fools and idiots hahahaha.

guess thats enough for todays rant lol.

oh remind me to go to the electronics shop tomorrow.

ppyong.

“You were staring at him? Even after you got caught before? Wow, now that’s what I call a true stalker,” Jaehwan-hyung added a high-pitched tone on the last sentence, obviously making me whine and the annoying ringing it caused into my ears. The members of the class are all there, except for Hakyeon-hyung. We’re all gathered around in the middle of the room, waiting for the giraffe to come.

“Of course I'm not, hyung!” Jaehwan-hyung is just teasing me.

“Then why did you kept on staring at him, hmm?”

“I-I can explain!” Jaehwan-hyung is seriously just teasing me.

Jaehwan-hyung laughed out and replied, “Then explain!”

Jaehwan-hyung is now just testing my patience. I didn’t reply, I only pouted slightly at his command.

He chuckled as he ended his laughing session. He patted my shoulder and grinned. “Why can’t you just explain, hm? You’re pretty smart right? Or are you just too shy to admit that your eyes were fixed on him.”

I swear if I see him wriggle his disgusting thick eyebrows at me with that annoying off-tuned voice, I will scream and call the university security to arrest him for mental and emotional harassment, if it was really a thing here.

“I’m not shy.”

Jaehwan-hyung stepped back and made his sad-and-somehow-scared face, “Ohhh Hyukkie is mad! What should I do?” He started leaning against Taekwoon-hyung’s arm as he faked a choked sob, earning a roll of the eyes of the other.

I stomped my feet as I shot straight up. “I'm not mad, hyung! Stop teasing me!”

The others looked up at me from below. Jaehwan-hyung with his annoying puppy eyes, Taekwoon-hyung with his famous poker face, and Wonshik-hyung with a smug face and a grin.

“Yes you are.” Wonshik-hyung now started to add with a smirk.

“I told you.”

I whined again as I turned to Taekwoon-hyung who was looking up at me as well.

Jaehwan-hyung and Wonshik-hyung are against me. Taekwoon-hyung, please help me!

Luckily, Taekwoon-hyung was smart enough to understand the expressions drawn on my face.

“You’re not mad, you’re angry. Mad and angry are two different things, in my opinion.” Taekwoon-hyung added, averting his eyes from mine as he talked softly.

I huffed and sat back down, crossing my arms. “Good enough.” I mumbled.

Jaehwan-hyung and Wonshik-hyung scooted closer to each other to read my blog entry. They were reading it while opening their mouths in audible language, then they stopped for a moment and loudly said, “You even said he looks good, Hyuk-ah,” then, even Taekwoon-hyung, eyed me with suspicion.

I hugged my knees and childishly rocking back and forth slowly, tilting my head. “So?”

“Are you gay?” Wonshik-hyung asked straightly.

I choked on my own saliva. “—Pardon?”

“Are. You. Gay.” Wonshik-hyung repeated slowly, with a hint of annoyance in it. Talk about his daily temper, sheesh.

“Of course not! Why would I be gay?”

The three idiots only exchanged looks as I eyed them curiously.

“He's still young. He wouldn't know.” I swore I heard Jaehwan-hyung whispered that to the others.

 “Excuse me. Know what?”

There he was, sitting at the same table on the corner of the cafe, wearing a white shirt and the same thick-framed glasses. I took a deep breath and opened the door, making the bell ring. I was greeted by Seungmi again, bowing at me as I stepped in.

“Sanghyuk-ssi! Welcome back. What brings you here today?” Seungmi asked as I walked closer to the counter. She raised her hand, ready to press the screen of the touchscreen. Flashing a smile at me, she tilted her head to the side and asked, “The usual caramel macchiato, perhaps?”

“Yes please.” I smiled back and paid for the drink.

Seungmi pressed the screen a few times as the cash register opened. She swapped the money from my hand with the exact amount of change. As she handed me the change, I saw her face was hiding a small smirk.

“Let’s not embarrass ourselves today, shall we?”

If she wasn’t my friend, I would shove the change down .

I scoffed and turned around, then my eyes met the mystery guy's. I froze as the brown haired stared back. I wasn't entirely sure why he was looking at me. I quickly searched for an empty table and walked to it in a quite fast pace. I was kind of panicking because of the guy looking at me. I sat down, dropped my bag down beside me and gulped. I slowly glanced at the guy, making sure if he was still staring or not. I swear that when I glanced at the mystery guy, he calmly avert his attention to his now opened book, sipping his drink, as if nothing happened. Well, acting cool now are we? I huffed. It’s not like I was expecting something, more like I was hoping that I was interesting as well in his eyes.

Maybe I should ask for his name later.

But it’ll be too fast.

But I need to know his name.

There’s a big chance he won’t tell me though.

Who would introduce themselves to their new obvious stalker?

Ugh, what should I do! Should I text the hyungs for advice? Or the followers on my blog? Or maybe I should just ask Seungmi!

 “Sanghyuk-ssi.”

But first, I should regain my image.

I stood up and walked over to the counter, accepting and thanking for the drink. I walked back to my table and sat down. I put down my cup on the table and inhaled softly, thinking that so far my image hasn’t been ruined today.

I took out my cellphone, plugging in the earphone. Fixed to the screen of my phone, I scrolled down the song choices and played a song. I sighed in content as the intro of my favorite song playing. I started nodding my head along with the beat, then picking up my cup and blew into it. Steam puffed out of the drink, making the smell of the warm scent of caramel and coffee beans spread throughout my surroundings. I let out another sigh and sipped the drink carefully.

Well what do you know, it’s not boiling hot anymore.

I put down my drink and leaned back against the chair. I slowly shut eyes and swayed my head right to left along with the beat of the song. Then I heard a familiar sound hovering outside as I plugged one of the earphones out.

It’s raining. Hm. Good thing I’m inside. I didn’t bring an umbrella though. What if my dad yells at me again when I get home late? Maybe I should buy one by the store next d—

Wait. How’s the mystery guy doing?

I glanced over at the guy. He was still fixed with his book. The book still has like hundreds of pages left seen as the book was tilted to the side; maybe the guy would stay here a little longer. I let out a soft sigh and returned to my cellphone again.

Time flies fast when you’re playing with your phone. Like seriously fast.

I just realized I was playing Pokopang for too long, and what is that it was already 7 PM. I just checked my notifications from the hyungs—and my dad.

. I’m going to get yelled at again.

I shot straight up and grabbed my bag. I shoved my phone into my pocket and ran out of the cafe, sadly sacrificing my half-empty macchiato at the table. I ran past the counter and rushing myself out through the door. “Come again soon, Hyuk-s—”

As I stepped out of the cafe, it was still raining. I groaned loudly. I wouldn’t dare to step out under the rain or dad will scold me for not taking good care of my body. I have a few choices; to run like a cheetah on mating season to the house, or stay a little longer in the cafe. I realized that my cellphone’s battery has only 2% left. I groaned louder. I was about to turn around to step back in the cafe, but then I saw the mystery guy beside me, opening up a black umbrella. I completely forgot about him. I froze, watching the guy beside me struggling to open the umbrella. He successfully opened the black umbrella, hoisting it up to cover himself from the rain. And here I am, staring at him again. Wow.

“What’s wrong?”

My thoughts were dissolved by a voice I have never heard before. I focused my vision to where the voice was coming from. It was from the mystery guy holding the umbrella. He was looking directly at me, with his head tilted to the side, accidentally tilting the umbrella slightly. His eyes were blank and it stared right into mine. I swear his blank face is the cutest thing I have ever seen; other than the Iron Man plushies dad bought me when I was 12.

“Uhm, nothing,” I tried my best to to not stutter, “it’s just that it’s still raining, and I have to get home.”

The guy turned around completely to face me. “Want to walk together?” he offered. “This umbrella is quite big for both of us.” he explained as he raised his shoulder to move the umbrella back to the crook of his neck.

.

The last thing I wanted was help from a stranger. I gulped down the saliva caught in my throat.

“No, thank you. I can just wait.”

“But it’s pouring. And it looks like it won’t stop anytime soon.” The guy replied, looking up at the dark grey sky. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was because the night sky, but the sky was certainly pitched black. It’s actually pretty scary.

“I don’t mind sharing my umbrella with a stranger.” The guy said, smiling lightly. I swear my eyes melted at his smile, and I think my heart sort of stopped beating for a while there.

It’s not like I couldn’t say yes to him, but my sickness—yeah.

I looked down and bit on my lower lip as I gripped onto the hem of my shirt, contemplating on accepting his kind offer or reject it. He could just be the normal nice guy who just wanted to help, but I can’t take any risks. What if he’s actually a serial killer? What if he’s kidnapping me and will trade me for money? What if he takes me to a dark place and—ugh—

No.

No.

I can’t accept his offer.

I can’t—

“Okay.”

Great job, Han Sanghyuk.

The guy’s smile went slightly wider, his white teeth showing. I could tell somehow that he was indeed true on his words to help me get home. I cautiously stepped closer to the guy, not close enough to protect my outer shoulder from the rain though.

“Where do you live?”

 “—Pardon?”

“Where do you live?” The guy repeated, chuckling softly at my lack of focus. “At least we’ll know if we’re heading the same direction.”

I coughed, realizing that I was awkwardly spacing out that I didn’t hear his question. I pointed to the direction I usually go through on my way home. “That way.”

The guy smiled as he saw the road I was pointing at.

“Same as where I’m going.”

I hope he’s not going to drag me into the dark alley near the basketball court.

“Where do you live exactly?”

I stayed silent at the guy’s nth attempt on knowing where I live.

He sighed as we kept on walking. I knew that all he wanted was to make conversations other than to hear the sound of pouring rain, peoples’ footsteps and vehicles passing by. But I couldn’t possibly tell him where I live. No one knows what he could do if he knew.

 “You’re tough to talk to, huh?”

I shrugged and avert my attention elsewhere, trying to avoid eye contact, or any contact with the guy. After all, all I wanted was his name, nothing more.

“Well, at least tell me where you’re turning to in this intersection.”  He stopped as we reached an intersection. I looked around and pointed left. He nodded and started walking left as I pointed. It seems like we’re going the same direction, again.

Suddenly, the guy stopped in front of a quite large and minimalistic house. It was dark, and the street lights weren’t that many, so all I could see are the main gate’s color and the brick wall surrounding the tall house.

“This is my house. Sorry I could only help this much.” He said while flashing a smile at me, then stared blankly into my eyes, as if he was thinking deeply.

This is it.

He’s going to drag me into his house and kill me—or worse. He could—

 “Why not you use this umbrella?”

Wait. Hold up.

“Uhm. Pardon?”

He laughed softly and handed over the umbrella handle to me with a warm smile. Obviously I accepted it with total confusion. “You’ve been going to the café nowadays, right? You can just return it to me tomorrow, or if you can’t, any other day is fine.”

I couldn’t believe that he was this kind.

“Are you sure?” I blinked. Maybe I just misheard all that. Hungry Sanghyuk is a problem, anyways.

But he nodded sincerely and smiled again. “Yes. Just remember to return it, okay?”

I nodded slowly and unsurely, guiding him to the front gate of his house. As he opened the gate and locked it, I watched the guy ran across his front yard and onto the porch. I bowed hesitantly in front of the gate, still puzzled at him for letting me borrow the umbrella. He just smiled a dimple smile fully and bowed back.

Just as he was about to open the front door of his house, I called out. I spoke out the question that never left my mind since the first time I saw him.

“E-Excuse me, but, what’s your name?” I shouted, trying to overpower the sound of the rain from the long distance of where I stand to his front porch.

He stopped his movement and turned around, tilting his head slightly to the side with a small smile as he shouted.

“It’s Hongbin! Lee Hongbin!”

a/n;

finally i updated this fic heheheheh ;;;

so for the next chapter im adding another new character! hint; he eats a lot, and is a member of (obviously) another group besides vixx.

i told you guys there's gonna be characters from a bunch of different groups!

subscribers are loved, upvotes are very much appreciated, and comments are more than welcome!

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